Trail Canyon to Iron Mountain

[David R]

I had heard a rumor that the final section above Tom Lucas Trail Camp had been cleared and that after 13 years we could finally access the Condor Peak Trail. I was really stoked because this had been one of my favorite trails when I first began hiking in the early 2000s. I had been up to the Trail Camp a couple of times checking out passability but on this write up I'll give more detail. The waterfall on Trail Canyon unfortunately has become Instagrammed and is now becoming as popular as the Eaton Canyon's of the world. The only saving grace is it is a little bit of a hike but there are still more people on this trail then I've ever seen. Many are clueless and somehow see the waterfall but continue up canyon not realizing they passed it. I met two parties a half mile up canyon on the way back looking for the waterfall. However once above the waterfall the people disappear. I saw no one else for the remainder of the hike.

The trail up to Lazy Lucas is in normal shape and you can move at a regular pace. It appears that most hikers stop here. From this point to Tom Lucas Trail Camp the trail varies from bushy to decently passable and your pace will vary. The trail and the creek crossings are clear and you shouldn't get off trail. There is one section where you drop into the creek itself and walk along it which also should be pretty clear. You then switchback up the side of a ridge just before the camp, this section used to be really brushy when you dropped by the creek but it has been cleared up nicely and is also easily passable. The camp itself has been cleared and there is now a turnoff to the right that'll take you to the fire pit and the spot where the picnic table used to be.

This next half a mile was the crux of clearing up the trail and connecting to the upper section. There is some over the head high growth that needed to be chopped down and credit to the person or people that did it because it must've been some hard work. You leave the main canyon and head up the west fork to the ridge. It is quite evident that the connector work was done from the bottom because soon after you head up the fork, the more groomed trail ends and you're on a rough section of trail. The builders from above were into quick fast work and must've done their portion a while ago as there is little evidence of their work with brushy sections and lots of healthy yucca growing. You switchback again and can see the evidence of the ferrous rock from Iron around you. After dipping through a drainage, you hit an odd section of trail that is completely clear almost like a highway and you think you're done with the rough trail but alas you hit the final switchback and are back into rougher trail proceedings. This all ends pretty quickly as you hit the saddle and connect to a good Condor Peak trail.

I continued to the left and soon connected to the fire road and saw my old friend the water tower. I hadn't seen him in 13 years I went over gave him a hug and kiss and continued on. The fire road is as flat as it is comes and connects to the fire road coming down from Gleason. A sharp left and immediately the ridge leading up to Iron is in front of you. Lots of people appears to hike it from the back route as there were plenty of foot prints and even some idiot who had spray painted orange at the fork and at odd places on the ridge. There are three bumps with the dark brown one at the end appropriately the peak. The benchmark was there but no sign-in can. The views were hazy as the low pressure system had started to push into the valleys but mainly I was happy to get back my trail.

The route back wasn't much faster with the state of the trail but at least I had gravity on my side. Only had to remove one tick and my feet were a bit thrashed on the last mile with some hot spots on my heels. Whole hike was 15 miles with about 3,800 feet elevation gain in 6 hours 20 minutes.

[HikeUp]

This is great news. A fantastic route into that part of the San Gabes.

In Dec. 2007 I did this exact hike. Saw absolutely no one until on my way back to the trail head (between the falls and the car park). It was 3 kids looking for the waterfall, which was a trickle. The trail was in great shape except for the stretch just above Tom Lucas (where you mention the overhead growth). The camp was fairly clear though and, other than that one stretch I just mentioned, the trail up to the saddle was in great shape. I ran into snow in the shade above Tom Lucas. I followed mountain lion and deer tracks up the final ridge to the peak - they were really fresh (it had rained the night before). Despite the fear of being in the same neighborhood as a cougar I took a nice long nap on the peak. On the way back, I took a shortcut by leaving the ridge at a point just east of the peak and scree surfed my way down to the fireroad to a point just north of the water tank.

You beat my time by 40 minutes (about the length of nap I took)

[HikeUp]

Some google erf of the route I took...

[Uncle Rico]

David, what was the poison oak situation like?

[David R]

Not bad, it was there but only one area where I had to really be aware of my movements. For as lush as the bottom of the creek is PO is not as large a problem as it typically is. You're more likely to get hit by one of those thorny vines while hiking through the canyon.

[Sean]

Thanks for the report. I think Ledy's group, SoCal Hikers and Trailbuilders, were/are working on that.

[Girl Hiker]

Thanks for the trip report.
And yes my friends from SoCal Trailbuilders have been working on that trail for awhile now.
It's nice that you were able to hike through it.
I still need to check it out!