I parked at the end of Harter Lane which I guess is technically in La Canada. I was the only car there, probably because it was 2:30 p.m. and no one else starts hiking at that time. Right out of the small clearing at the trailhead, I noticed some blue-green hued trees in the canyon which appeared out of place. Some sort of olive maybe? I didn't stop to investigate.
A short distance from the trailhead, the path bends back on itself and gently climbs out of the canyon bottom. There's trail signage here denoting a trail continuing up canyon (which I see on CalTopo), but that trail, at least at the junction, is obliterated and not really passable.
A short distance beyond, the trail merges onto a fire road which it follows in a general westerly direction for a short distance before returning to single-track where the climbing begins. Initially, the grade isn't bad up to the clearing with the picnic tables. Beyond that, there are some steep sections until you top out at the Tee Pee which sits on a flat at about 3,250'. The path is pretty decent most of the way, although there are some eroded sections and a couple of areas where the trail is sloughing off.
After a brief stop for water and obligator pics, I continued around the west side of the flat and followed the "road" to the junction with 3N27 which is Lukens Road. Along the way, I observed either a telescope, an alien spaceship, or Sasquatch's kegerator. At the junction with 3N27 sits the world's most random mailbox.
From this point, I followed the fire road up to scout a route to the summit of Hawks. I was thinking that the low saddle on the northeast side would provide the best option, so I blew past the southern ridge which ultimately looks to be the most advantageous route up. I believe this is the route David went up when he ascended Hawks. Anyway, I discovered that the road cut all along the eastern and northern side of Hawks is too high to really gain access to the north ridge. There's a bench along the road at near the low saddle that I planned to stop at, but two guys were hogging it so I continued a bit further up until I could get a glimpse of Pickens. Then I turned around and retraced my steps back to the car.
Even with mild temps, it was still a little warm going up. Probably explains why I only saw other folks on my way back down. Anyway, it was good to be back in the Gabes again. I still love it.
