Wow, there were a lot of people out on the trails last weekend. I wanted to get away for a night so after clearing my schedule at home I went up to Icehouse Canyon. Despite cloudy skies in the valley, at 3pm on Saturday afternoon I was relegated to the last available parking spot. This was also the maiden voyage of a new backpack and I learned that I still need some fine tuning before going on a longer trek.... Not knowing the exact conditions above I filled up with 3 liters of water at Columbine Spring and advised others on the trail to do the same. That turned out to be unnecessary as some water was flowing at the higher elevation. There was a little snow on the way to Icehouse Saddle and then enough so that I put on spikes for the last mile to the camp - the drifts were still about 4-5 feet deep. When I got there it was pretty crowded and also had snow covering most of the flat area but I was fortunate enough to get one that was mostly level. I had enough light to set up my tent and fix some dinner before watching the sunset colors high on the flank of Bighorn Peak. Although a bunch of other folks were nearby it was pretty quiet and I managed to drop off to sleep soon after retiring to the tent. In the morning I learned that I used up all my stove fuel the previous night as I had just enough to turn the water from cold to not-cold. (Actually I used most of it on the grilled cheese a few weeks ago) Oh well, pop tarts and stream water still make for a great trail breakfast so I found a bit of sunshine and had a grand feast. After talking with some others there and looking at the snow-covered slopes I decided against summiting either of the two nearby peaks and just headed down in the morning. Turned out this was a very popular time to be out as I ran into backpackers everywhere. There were 18 people camped at Kelly, 16 at the saddle and I talked to a guy on the way down who said at least 25 people stayed at Cedar Glen.
Just another great 20 hours in the San Gabriel Mountains, about 9 miles with 2400 feet of elevation gain. The best part was I got to spend it all above the clouds, it was once again a bit dreary heading back down the mountain.
Tall trees.
Wet trail
Wilderness
Up canyon view. Around here I saw my first snow patches.
New signage. It was hot going up this long hill.
The boot track weaves around trees and rocks, in places 50 feet below the actual trail. Slushy snow on this slope can be hazardous.
I briefly debated staying at this spot midway between the saddle and Kelly.
Buried sign.
Watching the sunset glow.
Headed home.
"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
Donald Shimoda
