EISPIRATEN

This is more of a 'need to write' than plea for help.

I'm having a tough time deciding on a hike for Saturday. Originally wanted to bag Dawson & Pine from Baldy but assuming snow from last week would not make that suitable without winter gear.

Tentative plans were then switched to either hiking up Monrovia or Rattlesnake peaks, but I am for some reason not in the mood to deal with tons of steep, brushy ridges.

Now I am thinking about doing this, but not sure what at what level snow drops off on north slopes. So that may not be good.

Hmm

JMunaretto wrote:I'm having a tough time deciding on a hike for Saturday.

Condor.

One hiker wants to do exactly that, but some others going just did it like a month ago. I've never done it, so tempted. Would be nicer if more elevation gain to that mileage though.

JMunaretto wrote:...I am thinking about doing this, but not sure what at what level snow drops off on north slopes. So that may not be good.

Hmm

Yeah, coming through the trees from Islip Saddle to Little Jimmy could get ugly. You can bypass that section by heading east from Islip Saddle on the closed section of the ACH and then taking the service road to Little Jimmy. There are still some drop offs beyond Little Jimmy, but those are a little bit more exposed (to the sun). You would need to be prepared to abort, but I think you'd have a good shot at Hawkins. From Hawkins I would think it would be relatively snow free.

ALTERNATIVES
Certainly Condor and Fox would be good alternatives. You can do a good loop from the old Condor/Fox trail head ("A") to the peaks ("B" and "C") and then to Indian Ben Saddle ("D"). From the Saddle, descend to Tom Lucas Camp ("E"), and then back via Trail Canyon to Big T road ("F"). You'd have a short hike to link up the two trail heads or you could do a car shuttle. The last time I did this hike, I bushwhacked down Big Cienaga after climbing Condor Pk. I'm not sure the bushwhack was worth it.

The Brown Mtn. Loop (or loops) might be interesting.
Shorter Loop: Start on Sunset Ridge Fire Road ("A") near Millard Campground. Leave the road on the well used trail at approximately "B," and drop into the canyon above the falls at approimately "C." The short walk downstream to the top of the falls is worthwhile. Head upsteam to the Dawn Mine (approximately "D") and then to Tom Sloane Saddle ("E"). There is a trail up from Millard Canyon to the saddle, but you have to look for it sometimes. From the saddle, turn left (west) and ascend Brown Mtn ("F"). Downclimb from Brown Mtn. down the west ridge and hit the Brown Mtn. Fire Road ("G"). Take the road generally ESE back to Millard CG ("J") (passing through the road junctions at "H" and "I"), and then walk the short distance back to your car ("A").
Longer Loop: Same as above but instead of turning ESE on the fire road ("A"), continue past the fire road on the Ken Buron trail all the way to Oakwilde ("B"). From Oakwilde, take the Gabrieleno trail down past the USFS housing to the fork with the fire road going up El Prieto Canyon ("C"). At the first major bend in the fire road going up El Prieto ("D"), there's a trail that takes off and then rejoins the fire road higher up. Take the trail to the Brown Mtn fire road ("E") and the fire road back to Millard CG ("F") and then walk to your car ("G"). You'll have to zoom out a couple of clicks on the map; I set the focus incorrectly.

The PCT trail could easily be annoying at best. You should still consider trying this hike though as Copter ridge is certainly cool. There are a lot of variants to this hike if things dont work out. You could go to S.Hawkins fire lookout and then return via the fireroad&Windy Gap trail. The worst case would be an Islip hike and combined with either Williamson or S. Big rock creek.

Condor Peak is a good one....dont stop there and go to Condor Jr 8)

JMunaretto wrote:Would be nicer if more elevation gain to that mileage though.

Add Fox #2 for very little extra distance and about 500' extra.

Iron #2 is a really cool peak too, in my opinion. The Trail Canyon trail is nice way to get there.

Or, as AW mentioned (LOL), add Condor Jr. and take a bunch of pictures!!!

or maybe Cucamonga from Deer Canyon...has anyone done this?


http://www.summitpost.org/route/159562/deer-canyon.html

http://www.mapmyhike.com/route/us/ca/ra ... 1076199182

I have no idea what Condor Jr is, but I'll assume its something ridiculous to get to

Another option is San Gabriel Peak from the end of Lake Ave in Pasadena. 90% trail, 10% fire road. 4360' minimum gain. There's actually more gain because of ups and downs, but I leave that calculation up to you.

Start at the N end of Lake avenue at the iron gates of the old Cobb Estate ("A"). Proceed along a trail to the right of the gates that follows just north of a chain link fence to the edge of Las Flores Canyon ("B"). The trail takes an abrupt left here and follows some old pipes along the contour line to approximately "C." Cross the canyon to the east and follow the major trail that switchbacks up the ridge on the east side of Las Flores Canyon to the flatish area on top of the ridge ("D"). From "D," it's a short walk to the remains of "White City" ("E") where the incline railway terminated and the Mt. Lowe Railway originated. It's a worthwhile side trip. In the vicinity of "D," there are three options to continue into the mountains: the old railway bed to the left, the Sam Merrill Trail up the middle, and the Castle Canyon Trail to the right (hard to see on the map). Take the Castle Canyon Trail to where it joins the OMM rail bed (now a fire road) near Inspiration Point ("F"). The view tubes at Inpiration Point are kind of cool. From "F," walk the fire road to where it "T's" with another fire road. Turn right, and follow the fire road looking for a lesser used trail heading to the right ("G"). Follow this trail around Mount Lowe to another trail that will join in from the left (not shown on map). The trail that joins in from the left will take you to the summit of Mt. Lowe, a bit of extra gain if needed. After passing the trail that comes in from the left, proceed to the saddle between Mt. Lowe and Mt. Markham. From the saddle, it's a short, easy side trip to Mt. Markham via a use trail. Mt. Markham is interesting since it is very narrow on top and has dramatic drop offs to the east. Mt. Markham can also give you a little extra gain. Getting back on track, from the saddle between Mt. Lowe and Mt. Markham, follow the trail NE to where it joins the fire road just short of Markham Saddle and then follow the fire road a short distance to Markham Saddle ("I"). Turn left, NW, onto a small trail that climbs toward the old Nike missle base ("J"). Somewhere between "I" and "J," a trail takes off for the summit of San Gabriel Peak. I can't remember where (I think it's very close to "J"), but it's pretty obvious. Follow the trail to the peak. Return the way you came or take one of the many other routes back to Pasadena (all would require a short car shuttle or walk to get back to your car):
1. Idlehour Trail (comes out at Henninger Flats)
2. Valley Forge Trail to Gabrieleno trail (comes out at Chantry Flats)
3. Mt. Wilson Trail (comes out near top of Baldwin in Sierra Madre)
4. Rim Trail to Gabrieleno trail (comes out at Chantry Flats)
5. Sturdevant Trail to Gabrieleno trail (comes out at Chantry Flats)
6. Devore (aka Rattlesnake) Trail to Gabrieleno trail (comes out at Chantry Flats)
7. Mt. Wilson trail to upper Winter Creek trail (comes out at Chantry Flats).
8. Mt Wilson toll road (comes out at Henninger Flats)
9. Sunset Ridge Fire road (comes out at Millard Campground)
10. Tom Sloane Trail or parallel trail to Tome Sloane Saddle to Dawn Mine (comes out at Millard Campground)

Lot'sa options.

Rattlesnake is fun. I'd go primary route (south ridge), there and back, as the secondary route (east ridge) is the brushiest one.

Should be fun, I think. Not that hard.

I thought the snow was mostly melted off Baldy, but maybe I'm assuming something that isn't true.

damn Jim! well you've given two new hikes, which though I may not use this weekend, I'll definitely check out in the future.

with the snow questionable I guess I'll be sticking with Rattlesnake Peak. I was hoping to wait to do this when I could trek all the way up to S Mt Hawkins, but I suppose part way will have to do.

Should be enjoyable either way. I'm still deciding, 7 or 8 am start on Saturday if anyone wishes to join up with the group.

JMunaretto wrote:damn Jim! well you've given two new hikes, which though I may not use this weekend, I'll definitely check out in the future.

Like I'd let a brother suffer from Hiker's Block? Not happening.

The area from the Arroyo Seco to Santa Anita Canyon and including Mt. Wilson and environs is a hiker's mini paradise. There are so many options; options that I didn't even mention in my list of options.

JMunaretto wrote:Should be enjoyable either way. I'm still deciding, 7 or 8 am start on Saturday if anyone wishes to join up with the group.

Sprained my knee. I'm out for a couple of months.

HJ, that hike from Lake to San Gabriel Peak is on my soon to do list.

Joe, if everything comes together (famous last words) I'll see you on Rattlesnake. I want to start by 7a, but I'm sure you'll catch up.

SG PK is kind of a cool one. It's the only peak in the Front Range over 6k'. It's probably the maximum elevation gain hike that you can get in the Front Range, although if you tried some of the options I listed, you might be able to come up with more total elev. gain.

Probably the most gain would result from starting at the nature center in Eaton Canyon, taking the road (Mt. Wilson Toll Road) to Henninger Flats, then to Idlehour, and then coming up to hit the trail to Mt. Lowe where you'd join the route as I first described it. The Nature Center parking lot is a pretty low elevation trailhead, quite a bit lower than the top of Lake Ave.
Nature center parking lot = 1000' elevation.
San Gabriel Pk = 6161'.
That's 5161' raw elevation gain.

Just using the following points and rough elevations: I get 6841' as your round trip elevation gain. Not too shabby for the Front Range.

Of course you could always descend SG Pk via the trail down Mt. Disappointment to Red Box, cross the Hwy and bag Strawberry and Lawlor if you needed a bit more gain for your day.

Hey, if y'all head up Rattlesnake, count me in! What time?

we'll be meeting at 8am there, which in all likelyhood means start hiking at 8:20 or something.

I'm in.

Oh yeah, and if anyone needs a ride up, I have space for one passenger... so long as they don't mind my driving style. 8) 8) 8)

There is a good "park and ride", if you will, near the Ranger Station at the base of Route 39/San Gabriel Canyon Road. It's the parking area for the San Gabriel River thingy for bikes and whatnot, just up on the left right before you get into the canyon itself.

Looks like I'll be on the trail ahead of you guys. Please be kind enough to step over my body. I'll understand if you bag the peak before going for help.

I survived Rattlesnake Saturday. Met Taco, Joe and friends. Tim Le blew past me on the way up. Didn't know it was him until I saw his register entry. Don't know where he went though - we speculated he went down the east ridge or north to South Hawkins. I think his car was still there when I left.

Great meeting you guys.

Likewise!

Who wrote my name on the summit?

TacoDelRio wrote:Who wrote my name on the summit?

I couldn't resist. You're famous!

Great meeting you Taco. Very nice hike and I enjoyed the east ridge very much despite the thick brush at times.

Yeah, shorts are a bad idea on the east ridge.

Hikeup, thanks! I just said I did that by sprinting ahead of everyone so fast they didn't see me. Wrote it, and ran back.

Nice meeting you HikeUp, hope to see you again and chat a little longer.

Nice having Taco on the hike, and fearlessly leading us down the east ridge. The way you ran down, you might like to join us when we do Monrovia peak in the future.

I'll go... just need new pants.

Y'all git yer crampons and axes... there are two sides of Iron I doubt anyone has seen before. Helmets too.