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Iron Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:00 pm
by dima
My trips usually aren't eventful enough to warrant a TR, but this one was good, so here goes!

I'm getting back into shape after being injured for a while, and climbing Iron seems like a good test of one's fitness. This being a fitness hike, I took the "easy" route both ways: Heaton Flats trail to the South ridge of Iron.

There were two fires in the area in the last week: one in the Shoemaker Canyon area (Shoemaker fire) and another somewhere west of there (Tecolote fire). The Tecolote fire must still be going since Hwy 39 above East Fork Road was closed to traffic. The Shoemaker fire is done, and here's what the aftermath looks like:

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The "normal" route up Rattlesnake peak is on the ridge on the left side of this photo, away from the burned area (it's heavily burned from another fire a few years back, however). The secondary route up Rattlesnake peak travels right next to the burn area, however.

I left the parking lot before dawn to beat the heat. The trail is in good shape. Dawn broke when I was at Coldwater saddle, so it stayed cool more or less the entire way up. The view were great. The city was covered with the morning fog, and looked like this from the ridge:

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I kept a good pace, stopping periodically to listen for wildlife. This strategy paid off. At one point there was quite a bit of commotion around a manzanita bush. I took a quick photo:

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I promise there's something there; dead center. There were two black bear cubs, but no mother to be seen. One of the cubs scampered off the instant he saw me, but the other hung out long enough for me to get a better photo:

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I thought black bear cubs stayed with their mother for a long time. Does the mother ever leave for a while?

The South ridge has a fantastic view of San Antonio Ridge and Gunsight Notch:

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Looks terrifying. Views from the top were pretty great:

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According to the register, nobody has been on top for over 3 weeks. I have a bit of a hard time believing this, but that's what it said. The box containing the registers has a crack in the lid, and most of the notebooks inside were soaked:

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If anybody wants to be a good samaritan, bring a new box next time you go up there. Finally, there was a can of soup on top with a request that a review be left by whoever eats it. This was very tempting, but I had no utensils on me.

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On the way back down I saw one of the cubs again. This time he (she?) was on the path proper, and climbed the nearest tree upon seeing me. It was getting hot at this point, so I just kept on walking.

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 8:48 pm
by hvydrt
I love that soup, I am headed to Iron ASAP! Nice bear sighting!

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 9:50 pm
by HikeUp
Holy moly! Best pictures ever taken of the San Gabriels IMHO. Bonus feature - no sign of the sprawl.

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:37 am
by Mike P
Nice!!! You can see Brown's Flat peeking out beyond a ridge in your south-facing panorama.

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 12:57 pm
by tekewin
One of the best panoramas I've seen. Views sure are great from Big Iron.

Bear cubs a big bonus, but I would have been nervous to see cubs and no mother. Never mind, I'd probably be nervous either way.

I'm thinking it might be an interesting time to do the alternate route up Fried Rattlesnake. I think Shoemaker is still closed so you might have to start at Heaton or down at the road junction.

Thanks for the great report!

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 3:23 pm
by dima
tekewin wrote: Bear cubs a big bonus, but I would have been nervous to see cubs and no mother. Never mind, I'd probably be nervous either way.
I was really nervous. My camera has a fixed 35mm lens (which is fairly wide), so I had to get close to even get the shots I did. I hung around for a bit to make sure no adults were around, then went in for the photo.
tekewin wrote: I'm thinking it might be an interesting time to do the alternate route up Fried Rattlesnake. I think Shoemaker is still closed so you might have to start at Heaton or down at the road junction.
I did the fried-in-2012 route up Rattlesnake a few months ago, and it was borderline unpleasant. There was no shade of any sort up until the peak. Everything was burned and dead. Even the rattlesnakes had better places to be.

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 3:24 pm
by dima
Mike P wrote: Nice!!! You can see Brown's Flat peeking out beyond a ridge in your south-facing panorama.
Oh yeah! I've never been there, but that's when the map says it should be. There aren't any trees in the flat itself? What is it like?

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:14 pm
by Bobcat22
Thanks for the trip report. Really awesome pictures

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:51 pm
by Mike P
dima wrote:
Mike P wrote: Nice!!! You can see Brown's Flat peeking out beyond a ridge in your south-facing panorama.
Oh yeah! I've never been there, but that's when the map says it should be. There aren't any trees in the flat itself? What is it like?
According to Robinson's book, The San Gabriels , Brown's Flat is an ~80 acre "verdant mountain meadow unusual in the San Gabriels" with a rich history. Several fires (1960, 1975, 2003) have decimated the large Ponderosa pines that existed in the flat. A few trees look like they survived but I haven't been there to confirm. I've only viewed the flat from afar.

Re: Iron Mountain

Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 10:10 am
by Phil B
Nice post Dima, seeing a couple of bears must have made the endless uphill of Iron worthwile, that soup sure looks tasty, perhaps I will bring a can opener on my next trip up there. Thanks for the report.
Cheers Phil