Saturday, July 26, I did a solo trail run starting at Red Box. I took the trail to the Lawlor/Strawberry Pk saddle and then headed up Lawlor's west ridge to the summit. I then ran down Lawlor's east ridge along the fire break towards Barley Flats.
I was amazed at the beautiful green pines and flora along the up-and-down firebreak. Another real treat was the amazing views of Strawberry Pk as you ascend the main ridge towards Barley Flats. I lost the use trail a lot of times but managed to keep on track. At the summit, I climbed the big light green tank to get the views. I ran back down the road that leads to the tank and traversed left cross-country until I found the Barley Flats Trail that descends back to Red Box.
A WARNING: The fire break/ridge route from Lawlor to Barley Flats is extremely overgrown as is the Barley Flats Trail to Red Box. Running up the ridge towards Barley Flats, I picked up so many thistles in my shoes and socks that I had to retire the shoes and throw away my socks when I got home because there was no way to remove all the deeply embedded thistles.
I also paid the price for wearing running shorts: particularly while descending on the Barley Flats Trail back to Red Box, in some places I had no choice but to simply push between the yucca, thistle and buckthorn overhanging the trail. One yucca stabbed me real good in the leg and blood streamed down my leg in a small gush (I took a picture of my leg; it looked almost gruesome). This trail is also washed out in many places so you have to detour.
Because of the overgrown conditions, I would not recommend this route as a trail run, nor even for hiking unless you want a real brush-fest experience. It was disconcerting to see sections of the trail where the yucca left no gap to get through. When I last did this exact route, last April, the route was in much, much better shape; someone had trimmed a lot of the yucca but now the razor tips have grown back. While at Barley Flats, I sought out the summit register (it is located in an out of the way location and you definitely have to know how to find it) and noted that the last entry was me and Travis and Tom Becht this past April. Travis noted in the register that this was his last hike in the San Gabriels before his move to Washington state.
Did I say I had a good time anyway despite the route conditions and got a good workout in ?
