San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek 06/07/2008

[JMunaretto]

Headed up yesterday with a group of 12. Split into a few groups and maintained a decent pace w/ some breaks up to some saddle 1500' below the summit, then split out making a big push to the peak. Made it up in 4 - 5.5 hrs.

I tend to push myself extremely hard near a summit as well as steep parts, which was probably not a good idea on this hike since they coincided with high altitude. Got a decent headache from that. Something I will not do on Whitney!

Nice views on this trail, and really nice on the summit. This was my first time on Gorgonio, and got great views in each direction! The trail itself is kinda annoying- a little to rocky for my taste- but not a big deal overall.

I measured almost exactly 5600 ft gain on the way up, plus 400 on the way down for a total of 6000 ft. This seems reasonable. Not the toughest hike, but certainly a worthy opponent. I would equate it to hiking old mt wilson trail plus a very tough 1500 ft at the end.

Across Vivian Creek:


Baldy and San Gabriel High Country:


Around Little San Gorgonio, or Galena Peak? I have no clue:


San Jacinto from a ~ 10k ft saddle:


The gf bulldozing her way up to the peak:


And a big heaping plate of chili afterwards thanks to that pseudo western place of the 38:

[Tim]

Around Little San Gorgonio, or Galena Peak? I have no clue:

Galena is the left-most peak. The peak in the center is slightly higher than Galena but is unnamed. I don't think Little San Gorgonio Peak is in this picture.

I'm not fond of that rocky portion between Vivian Creek and Mill Creek either, especially on the way down. The part between VC and Halfway Camp is pretty cool. I always walk across the two giant fallen logs that span the creek off the side of the trail just for fun. The squirrels at the top live there. They're pretty aggressive about stealing your food if you don't keep an eye on it. In the Sierras, the marmots do the same. Here's a marmot at the Whitney summit who's about to steal that bag of snacks. He was fast. He snatched the whole bag and dragged it into a crevice under a rock.

[FIGHT ON]

How are you going to avoid a headache on Whitney?

[JMunaretto]

How are you going to avoid a headache on Whitney?

Not going at + 90% max heart rate at high altitude should help!

[He219]

Keyword, acclimation.

Take an extra couple of days to camp out at lower altitude and allow your body to get settled in.
Exhale deeply to expel unused air and gain more fresh O2.
Pace yourself and take an Aspirin if you're feeling altitude at 11.5K, yet alone 14.5K ..

Check out the percentages for Accute Mountain Sickness at only 11.5K:

Percent with AMS:
Colorado skiers (7K sleeping alt., 11.5K max., 1-2 days to sleeping altitude): 15-20%
Colorado skiers (8.5K sleeping alt., 11.5K max., 1-2 days to sleeping alt.): 25%
Colorado skiers (10K sleeping alt., 11.5K max., 1-2 days to sleeping alt.): 25-40%
Everest trekkers (10-17K sleeping alt., 18K max., 1-2 day fly in to sleeping alt.): 47%
Everest trekkers (10-17K sleeping alt., 18K max., 10-13 day walk to sleeping alt.): 23%
Rainier climbers: (10K sleeping alt., 14.4K max., 1-2 days to sleeping alt.): 67%
Denali climbers: (10-17K sleeping alt., 20.3K max., 4-7 days to sleeping alt.): 30%

Good climbing JMunaretto!