Fortalezas, San Sevaine Road, Joe Elliot CG and Beyond

[David R]

It has been a while since there was a route from the valley floor to San Sevaine Road. Rock Hound Hiker who has posted on here numerous times has spend significant time working trails in this area including Calamity Peak. There is an old fire break that used to go up from North Etiwanda Preserve. He had opened the route about five years ago along a very rough route that I had tried to follow then but fog and visibility stopped me. The route got grown over and was impassable until this year when he decided to name points on the ridge as peaks Baja Fortaleza, Fortaleza and Alta Fortaleza which is Rafael BM. Once you put a sign in register and name something then it becomes an irresistible draw with a little social media advertising and hikers started going up increasing the interest and push to reclear out the upper section. Finally a couple of months ago the final cut was made and access to San Sevaine was restored.

I went up yesterday hitting the two Fortaleza peaks. Last person on Baja Fortaleza was Hiking Girl who hiked on a hot day and had left an Eispiraten flag. This section while very steep is pretty nicely cleared and sections I had done before. From here the real challenge is getting around a rocky outcropping and a very wide bushy ridge. The route meanders all over this ridge to get through the path of least resistance. There was some serious work done to get through this brush pretty brutal and probably won't last too long unless it is maintained. I got a couple of nasty buckthorn spikes that went through my sneakers in this section. I finally hit the San Sevaine Road, I looked for a cut up to Rafael BM and didn't see much, not sure how they were getting up there.

I continued along the road to Joe Elliot CG. The road is fully cleared but pretty rough with one narrow section where a slide went through. I could see the gully that you would use to climb Buck Point. The CG trees have started growing back and I can see in another 5-10 years this being a really nice spot. I decided to give the Etiwanda Trail a shot as I had heard that it had been reworked last year. The first section was a bit overgrown but all easily passable. After the first switchback you could see minimal if any work had been done on the trail and it became a slog with lots of buckthorn, slumped trail and downed trees. I got about 2/3 of the way up to the saddle and decided that was enough for the day. Found a rock and sat down to enjoy my sandwich before heading back.

The total mileage was just under 17 miles with 5,700 feet elevation gain in just under nine hours.

[Nate U]

I don't know this area at all so figuring out your route on Caltopo was a helpful exercise.

[dima]

Thanks for the report. Have you talked to Rock Hound Hiker? Do you know the current conditions of the truck trail to the Calamity peaks? And any idea if there's any work or plan to open the truck trail past Calamity canyon? Being able to transit that whole thing again would be amazing

[David R]

Thanks for the report. Have you talked to Rock Hound Hiker? Do you know the current conditions of the truck trail to the Calamity peaks? And any idea if there's any work or plan to open the truck trail past Calamity canyon? Being able to transit that whole thing again would be amazing

He has talked about it but his updates on IG have not shown any work on the truck trail past Calamity. The route up to the Calamity peaks should be open and I know he was up there yesterday. On the upper section I believe you need to take the ridge not the truck trail now to get to the peaks.

[Sean]

Thanks for the report. It's been awhile since I endured the thorns of San Sevaine. My days being punctured by nature are over--hopefully.

[Matthew]

Got pics?

[JeffH]

My days being punctured by nature are over--hopefully.

I doubt it if you continue to hike in the Gabes.

[Girl Hiker]

David- So my friend Justin (rock hounder) recently did some trail work up to Baja Fortaleza if you start from Etiwanda Preserve. That is where I started with the intention of doing all three peaks. But yes, it was a very hot day! So, I shall go back.
Justin is planning on making a route through that buckhorn somehow. No one has found the Rafael benchmark that SG found back in 2018.
Hopefully when I go back I can do all three peaks in a day and find the BM on Alta Fortaleza.
Good job on getting up there. I haven't had time to post my trip report.

[Girl Hiker]

Here are a few pics

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Lots of Mariposa Lillies

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