I started at a turnout on Mount Emma Road where there was an official trail. Mount Emma (HPS #254) and Old Emma (HPS #274) are usually hiked together since they are close. On Emma, I found a triangle marker, register, and benchmark. Emma had nice views of the northern San Gabriels. The temp was about 45F, but the wind made it cold. I put my hood up and followed the wide, rolling, dirt road that connects to Old Emma. It's about 1.5 miles between the Emmas, with Peak 5080 in between. Old Emma had a summit cairn, but no register. Instead, beer and soda cans adorned the cairn, along with an old shoe and random bits of trash. I took a use trail down the ridge back to the road, then hiked 1.5 miles along the road to the truck. Eight cars passed me in that one. A black Nissan truck took interest and pulled over at a turnout a few hundred feet in front of me. After waiting about 30 seconds, it pulled back on the road and left. It was either a good samaritan who saw I was not in distress, or a serial killer who decided I was either not a lone female or not an easy target. I'll never know which.
Old Emma from Peak 5080
Old Emma
After the Mount Emma loop, I drove a few miles to a turnout on Angeles Forest Highway to hike Cole Point (HPS #222). The topo lists it as Cole BM. It is about half way between Mount Emma and Pacifico Mountain. It started on a dirt service road that led to an electrical tower. Before reaching the tower, a use trail snaked up the ridge toward Cole. The ridge was quite steep, but the trail was grassy and the ground was soft, making traction a non-issue. I took my time going up and enjoyed the calf burn. I had cell reception as long as the tower was in view, only losing it at the very top. Cole had another triangle marker and a register, but no benchmark I could find. Wide firebreaks led to adjacent peaks and it looked like the firebreak went all the way to Pacifico.
Cole Point looked sorta like a mini-Iron from Allison Saddle
