San Gorgonio 9 Peak Traverse
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:04 pm
Ron and I discussed doing the San Gorgonio 9 Peak traverse in winter several times over the past year. After considering various options for where to start and end, we decided starting at the South Fork and ending in Angelus Oaks would be the best way to complete the traverse. After much discussion and planning we were ready to give it a try.
Ron, Cory and I met at The Oaks restaurant in Angelous Oaks at 5:30 AM on Saturday. We left 2 cars in front of the old store because the road to the San Bernardino Peak trailhead was muddy and rutted. We drove my truck up to the South Fork parking lot where Jeremy was waiting for us. By 6:15 we were on our way. We tried to go as light as possible on gear, knowing we would have to haul it all up to San Gorgonio, then across the entire ridge. With our moderate size loads, we made excellent time, arriving at the meadows around 8:30. We filled up on water then left the packed down trail and snowshoed toward the north side chutes. Once the slope increased, the weight of all the gear slowed us considerably. Getting up the chute with a full pack was very exhausting but by 12pm, we were on the summit of San Gorgonio.
Jeremy wasn't feeling good and decided to head back down. We stopped near the top of the NW ridge to melt ice for water while we watched Jeremy descend the ridge. (He ended up making it back to the trailhead by 6, for a 12 hour round trip to San G, with a full pack!) Cory, Ron and I then set off for Jepson, Little Charlton and Charlton. This was much harder than we thought it would be. The long day was beginning to wear us down and we were really slowing. The sun was setting as we descended the slope from Charlton to Dollar Saddle, where we set up camp a little below the saddle.
After quickly setting up tents, we were finally able to relax while we melted snow, ate and drank. Knowing we still had 5 of the 9 peaks remaining, we were up at 5:30AM Sunday (after loosing an hour because of the time change) and headed to Alto Diablo by 7AM.
We felt good and were making great time. Form Dollar Saddle to San Bernardino Peak was much more enjoyable than the previous days climb to San Gorgonio. The weather was perfect, snow conditions were great and the peaks along the ridge had great views of the area. The large drifts along the ridge were amazing. They made the normally scree and talus covered Shields Peak a lot more fun.
The views got better and better as we continued across Anderson, East San Bernadrino and San Bernardino Peaks. The views of the Yucaipa ridge from this section are amazing! By 12pm, we were on the 9th peak and feeling good.
We had studied the map and planned to descend the north ridge of San Bernardino peak and reconnect with the regular trail around the saddle at 8,500'. This ended up being a great way to get off the ridge, making for a quick descent back to a trail. Shortly after the saddle at 8500' we began following a set of tracks that basically stayed with the summer trail. We cut a few corners down snow filled gully's rather than walk the switch backs and arrived back at The Oaks at 4:45. It was an exhausting but fun 2 days and a great variation on the 9 peaks traverse.
More pictures are here
Ron, Cory and I met at The Oaks restaurant in Angelous Oaks at 5:30 AM on Saturday. We left 2 cars in front of the old store because the road to the San Bernardino Peak trailhead was muddy and rutted. We drove my truck up to the South Fork parking lot where Jeremy was waiting for us. By 6:15 we were on our way. We tried to go as light as possible on gear, knowing we would have to haul it all up to San Gorgonio, then across the entire ridge. With our moderate size loads, we made excellent time, arriving at the meadows around 8:30. We filled up on water then left the packed down trail and snowshoed toward the north side chutes. Once the slope increased, the weight of all the gear slowed us considerably. Getting up the chute with a full pack was very exhausting but by 12pm, we were on the summit of San Gorgonio.
Jeremy wasn't feeling good and decided to head back down. We stopped near the top of the NW ridge to melt ice for water while we watched Jeremy descend the ridge. (He ended up making it back to the trailhead by 6, for a 12 hour round trip to San G, with a full pack!) Cory, Ron and I then set off for Jepson, Little Charlton and Charlton. This was much harder than we thought it would be. The long day was beginning to wear us down and we were really slowing. The sun was setting as we descended the slope from Charlton to Dollar Saddle, where we set up camp a little below the saddle.
After quickly setting up tents, we were finally able to relax while we melted snow, ate and drank. Knowing we still had 5 of the 9 peaks remaining, we were up at 5:30AM Sunday (after loosing an hour because of the time change) and headed to Alto Diablo by 7AM.
We felt good and were making great time. Form Dollar Saddle to San Bernardino Peak was much more enjoyable than the previous days climb to San Gorgonio. The weather was perfect, snow conditions were great and the peaks along the ridge had great views of the area. The large drifts along the ridge were amazing. They made the normally scree and talus covered Shields Peak a lot more fun.
The views got better and better as we continued across Anderson, East San Bernadrino and San Bernardino Peaks. The views of the Yucaipa ridge from this section are amazing! By 12pm, we were on the 9th peak and feeling good.
We had studied the map and planned to descend the north ridge of San Bernardino peak and reconnect with the regular trail around the saddle at 8,500'. This ended up being a great way to get off the ridge, making for a quick descent back to a trail. Shortly after the saddle at 8500' we began following a set of tracks that basically stayed with the summer trail. We cut a few corners down snow filled gully's rather than walk the switch backs and arrived back at The Oaks at 4:45. It was an exhausting but fun 2 days and a great variation on the 9 peaks traverse.
More pictures are here
Awesome! Inspiring! And a little 