This past Friday I hiked up to Iron Mountain. A flat patch of ground South East of the summit caught my attention. Loaded with thick, tall pines it looked very inviting and worth a visit. I wondered how often this flat of Pines gets visited?
But first I went hiking along the San Antonio Ridge to the Gunsight Notch. I was surprised at how well-worn the trail is along the ridge. Someone (or group) put in a lot work to cut back many bushes and tree limbs to clear the trail. Upon arrival I took a good look at the Gunsight Notch, but decided not to pass. And I needed to keep moving if I wanted to visit this flat of Pines.
On the return to Iron Mountain Summit I pulled out my topo maps to identify this flat of Pines. It was clearly visible on a smaller scale map at 1:32,000, but just a widening of a counter line on a larger 1:50,000 scale. Exact GPS coordinates are 34.2772 N, 117.7124 W. Unnamed on the map, I decided to call it Pine Flat.
The turnoff from the trail is located exactly 1.0 miles below Iron Mountain Summit. Once you leave the trail the tree cover is pretty thick, so you won’t know you are there until you are right on top of it.
Pine Flat was a very peaceful and serene place. Nature in its most preserved state.
Enjoy the video and photos. And I would love to hear stories from anyone who has been here before.
http://hbandrew.smugmug.com/Pine-Flat/
Video Tour of Pine Flat – Just Below Iron Mountain Summit
Very cool vid of Pine Flat, yet another place I will need to visit. If you like Pine and sheep Flat, you would also like Browns Flat in the San Dimas experimental forest. Not easy to reach but worth the effort...as all the best places are. John Robinson wrote of Browns Flat in his book the San Gabriel's. Thanks for the great pictures, can't wait to get to your Pine Flat.