Forsee Trail and 4 peaks 7/22
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:47 am
I have been hiking quite a bit locally but haven't had a chance to get out to the San Gorgonio wilderness in a long time. I was originally planning on the standard Vivian Creek climb of San G but with no permits availble decided to go for the less travelled and almost as high San Bernardino Ridge on Sunday.
The Forsee TH was filled when I got there at 7:50 primarily with backpackers who I passed on the way up coming down who had camped at Jackstraw Spings (good water flow). I counted only three day hiking groups and I think two of them didn't even make the ridge. I was concerned with heat but instead it was cloudy most of the time with some slight drizzle as I headed down. The Forsee Trail gains more then 4k in elevation but you don't really feel it since it takes six miles to get to the Trail Spring Junction which is 1/4-1/2 mile from the ridge itself. The trail is pretty painful to hike as it meanders in large loops to keep the gradient gentle, at a certain point just get me there already. It took me 2 hours and 25 minutes to get to the junction.
From the junction I first went west to ESB peak where I met a group of young tween backpackers and their guardian. The views were still clear as the cloud cover was still minimal. From there you have a depressing 300 foot drop and climb up to uninspiring SB peak where I met a group from Angelus Oaks prepping for Mt Whitney. By then I was 3.5 hours into the hike and regaled the group about my Whitney adventures and gave them words of encouragement on their first ascent. I'm always concerned if I'm being a blowhard or not when I talk about hiking but I do love it so sue me.
From there back up ESB and up the west ridge of Anderson where the high point is on the east side and there is a use trail coming up from that direction, if you need some help. All the peaks have broken off signature registers other then ESB that doesn't have one at all. Anderson the highest point on the ridge, is the most forested and provides the least view for your buck.
From there it was time for the best peak of the day, Shields. I love me some Shields not Brooke, mind you. This peak is very jarring as you come out of the forested area and are thrown into a loose broken rock ridge. Best way to climb is leave the trail as it begins to decend to contour around Shields, this is prior to the rock showing its face so you need to be aware of the change in trail direction. The climb along the ridge was over all too soon and I reached the high point. By now San G was covered in clouds and Anderson was just starting to get covered.
I reversed my track and soon made the east junction back to Forsee as the dirzzle started. I still had a long 6 miles to go, down to the TH. There is a ridge on the other side between Anderson and Shields that appears to be a shortcut down but would be steep with 4K drop in 2 miles. I knew that would tire me out more then the trail, so stuck to what I knew. The whole hike was about 19 miles with 5K elevation gain in 7.5 hours. A perfect day in the mountains as everyone else roasted I was in 65-70 degree weather.
The Forsee TH was filled when I got there at 7:50 primarily with backpackers who I passed on the way up coming down who had camped at Jackstraw Spings (good water flow). I counted only three day hiking groups and I think two of them didn't even make the ridge. I was concerned with heat but instead it was cloudy most of the time with some slight drizzle as I headed down. The Forsee Trail gains more then 4k in elevation but you don't really feel it since it takes six miles to get to the Trail Spring Junction which is 1/4-1/2 mile from the ridge itself. The trail is pretty painful to hike as it meanders in large loops to keep the gradient gentle, at a certain point just get me there already. It took me 2 hours and 25 minutes to get to the junction.
From the junction I first went west to ESB peak where I met a group of young tween backpackers and their guardian. The views were still clear as the cloud cover was still minimal. From there you have a depressing 300 foot drop and climb up to uninspiring SB peak where I met a group from Angelus Oaks prepping for Mt Whitney. By then I was 3.5 hours into the hike and regaled the group about my Whitney adventures and gave them words of encouragement on their first ascent. I'm always concerned if I'm being a blowhard or not when I talk about hiking but I do love it so sue me.
From there back up ESB and up the west ridge of Anderson where the high point is on the east side and there is a use trail coming up from that direction, if you need some help. All the peaks have broken off signature registers other then ESB that doesn't have one at all. Anderson the highest point on the ridge, is the most forested and provides the least view for your buck.
From there it was time for the best peak of the day, Shields. I love me some Shields not Brooke, mind you. This peak is very jarring as you come out of the forested area and are thrown into a loose broken rock ridge. Best way to climb is leave the trail as it begins to decend to contour around Shields, this is prior to the rock showing its face so you need to be aware of the change in trail direction. The climb along the ridge was over all too soon and I reached the high point. By now San G was covered in clouds and Anderson was just starting to get covered.
I reversed my track and soon made the east junction back to Forsee as the dirzzle started. I still had a long 6 miles to go, down to the TH. There is a ridge on the other side between Anderson and Shields that appears to be a shortcut down but would be steep with 4K drop in 2 miles. I knew that would tire me out more then the trail, so stuck to what I knew. The whole hike was about 19 miles with 5K elevation gain in 7.5 hours. A perfect day in the mountains as everyone else roasted I was in 65-70 degree weather.
