I did my first hike in Los Padres yesterday. To avoid the heat, we went to the highest peaks in the park (Mt. Pinos and Sawmill Mountain). It's always nice to knock out multiple HPS peaks in one trip.
We wanted to hit Grouse Mountain as well, but only if the gate was open at Nordic Base so we could drive on 9N24. (We didn't feel like hiking very far this week after last weekend's scorcher to Will Thrall.)
Unfortunately, the gate was closed, so we parked at Nordic Base and hiked on 9N24. The forest road was pretty busy (not surprising given the holiday weekend), but nothing worse than what we see in the Angeles. It thinned out past the Tumamait trailhead.
Despite the smog in the Central Valley, we were able to see Mt. Whitney and surrounding peaks from Pinos. We spoke with a local who said that the view from Pinos in the clearer months is incredible. I wanna go back for that. The view yesterday was really nice though.
The view at Sawmill was great too, maybe better than that of Pinos. We only saw a few people in that area. I think we saw a baby condor, although I'm not certain. It appeared to have the same white and black color scheme. Does anyone know what they sound like? Here's a video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hvbc1v52434uk ... 2.MOV?dl=0
It was a pretty chill hike compared to last week. I look forward to returning to Los Padres. It's a new world for me, as I've spent the majority of time in the Angeles and San Bernardino.
GPS recording: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recor ... untain--50
Mt. Pinos + Sawmill Mountain
-
Girl Hiker
- Posts: 1403
- Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am
- Contact:
Yeah, the majority of my hiking has been in the ANF, SBNF, and deserts, so it was great to finally step foot in LPNF. It looks pretty much the same, but I noticed how it's less rugged than the ANF and SBNF. A veteran hiker that we encountered on the summit of Pinos pointed that out, too.Girl Hiker wrote: Looks like it was another beautiul day in Los Padres. I have hiked that area alot.
Thanks for the TR and pics. It has been about 5 uears since I hiked to Los Pinos and Sawmill peaks.
