EISPIRATEN

On Saturday, I did a day climb of Jepson Peak's NE Face and then hiked over to San Gorgonio. Besides the ferocious winds in the Big Draw and across the ridge to Gorgonio, it was a nice day.

Jepson Peak...


San Gorgonio...


San Gabriel Mountains...


My Pictures:
Jepson Peak & San Gorgonio - 3.13.10

Giga, nice work, great pictures, you didn't happen to take any pictures looking at the route I'm considering next Sat. did you? Or could you give me a clue as to snow conditions going up Jepson's bowl? As it should be very similar since both are in the same vacinity?

Send me a PM if you could, thanks.

What time did you make up and down?

Was there anyone else up or out there?

Seriously! Those winds were insane. They ripped the sunglasses off my face and sent them way, way down the north face even though they were under a balaclava (why is it that my stuff seems to want to fall off north faces?). Was immobilized with skis on the pack so I had to drop them 300 yards from the summit between a couple boulders. Wind notwithstanding, I had a great time on the north side and was very impressed with the quality of terrain (Saturday was my first time); I can't wait to go back to explore.

Nice outing and great pics, GigaMike. How long did it take you to get to the summit of Jepson Peak? How were the snow conditions? It didn't look as though you were sinking too much.

Patrick- Thanks. It took me about 4.75 hrs to summit Jepson Peak, 5.5hrs to summit Gorgonio and 3 hrs to descend. I saw one person on the way up just before Horse Meadow and then a few people between SF Meadows and the trailhead on my way down. It was a pretty quiet day on the mountain.

Hamik- I agree. The North side of Gorgonio has great terrain during the winter.

Sam- Thanks. The snow conditions were ok. Above SF Meadows the snow was still soft and snowshoes would of helped. The snow on Jepson was a little strange, the lower half had a crusty layer on top of powder while the upper half was mostly consolidated. I climbed to the side of the chute just to be on the safe side. There was also a small avy field at the base of Jepson, but it was not recent.

Nice job, GigaMike!

Mike,

Great photos and great climb. I'm hoping to climb Gorgonio in a few weeks and am trying to figure out if I'm in shape. Before reading your last post I figured your times from the photos- It looks like you took 4:40 from parking lot to Jepson; then :45 to San Gorgonio; then about 2:50 back to the parking lot. Total time was about 8-1/2 hours (5:48 to 14:24).

How do you rate total effort for this trip (or San Gorgonio alone) compared to Baldy from Manker Flat? It looks like total elevation gain is not too much more, but obviously the air is thinner and distance is much greater. If you could relate your typical Baldy vs. San Gorgonio "time to summit" that would be helpful. (I figure I'm capable of Baldy +50% max)


Thanks,
Jim

Nice route!!!

Mike - you just have to rub it in.... Dont you?

hey giga, did you hear me shout hello to you from the top of skyline saturday? i saw you at the peak, wanted to make sure you heard me though...LOL

Thanks everyone.

Jim- Thanks. I'll answer you question in the other thread.
Dave- Stop doing stupid human tricks then!
Tina- 60mph winds and I still heard you

Mike,
great photos and awesome hike! your hikes inspire me.

GigaMike is super human...

awesome pix