Jeez, its been a while since I posted anything here. Place has cleaned up quite a bit! I kinda moved over to just sharing my trip reports on my website trvrsapparel.com, except this report included a very special discovery that all of my friends and I agreed should not be published publicly.
Still, I couldn't help but sharing my potential discovery with you guys. Here is the link to a trip report on ascending the North Ridge of Iron Mountain :
http://bit.ly/ironvianorthridge
and HERE are some photos of our discovery along the ridge... Any of you mountain goats ever see this? Thanks for reading. If you need any more information from me, let me know. Happy Hikin'!
My Discovery along the North Ridge of Iron
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headsizeburrito
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:18 pm
Very nice find! I have not seen that mentioned on any of the north ridge trip reports I've read, though I wouldn't be surprised if one of the local experts here knows about it or has it mentioned in an old book!
As I said in /r/socalhiking, I plan on doing this route this week, and would love specifics about the location.
As I said in /r/socalhiking, I plan on doing this route this week, and would love specifics about the location.
If you were where I think you were, based on the topography in your photos, then it's most likely the remains of a miner's shelter from the old gold rush days. The site appears on an old map from 1903. That should be enough info for serious folk to find it. Email or PM me for details. This location should probably be kept a semi-secret.
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_kick_rocks_
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 5:53 pm
I got the info to you by email. If I don't chime in on your report, feel free to send it to me. I'd love to see how that other approach goes and maybe not its location in my trip report for others.headsizeburrito wrote: Very nice find! I have not seen that mentioned on any of the north ridge trip reports I've read, though I wouldn't be surprised if one of the local experts here knows about it or has it mentioned in an old book!
As I said in /r/socalhiking, I plan on doing this route this week, and would love specifics about the location.
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_kick_rocks_
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 5:53 pm
Cool! I would love to see a photo of that map. Thanks for the feedback.Sean wrote: If you were where I think you were, based on the topography in your photos, then it's most likely the remains of a miner's shelter from the old gold rush days. The site appears on an old map from 1903. That should be enough info for serious folk to find it. Email or PM me for details. This location should probably be kept a semi-secret.
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headsizeburrito
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:18 pm
Will do, thanks for the .gpx!_kick_rocks_ wrote: I got the info to you by email. If I don't chime in on your report, feel free to send it to me. I'd love to see how that other approach goes and maybe not its location in my trip report for others.
Cool! I'd assume it was some sort of mining thing, but if so, there should be lots of equipment nearby. You didn't see any? Think this was something else, or the mine and equipment were hidden in brush? I checked the really old plat maps, and this wasn't listed, but neither are any of the medium-old mines.
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_kick_rocks_
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 5:53 pm
I did not see any other equipment. We were curious enough to keep our eyes peeled from where we were, but didn't explore much else since we had good amount of work cut out for us already. I am interested in going back to inspect further. We shall see!dima wrote: Cool! I'd assume it was some sort of mining thing, but if so, there should be lots of equipment nearby. You didn't see any? Think this was something else, or the mine and equipment were hidden in brush? I checked the really old plat maps, and this wasn't listed, but neither are any of the medium-old mines.
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headsizeburrito
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:18 pm
Made it to the ruin and summit today. Not sure if there really is a best way to get from Fish Fork up to the north ridge, but I may have found the worst way. Also lost an expensive piece of gear on it's maiden voyage in the process. Other than that it was fun and a major ass kicker. I'll piggyback on this thread with a full report tomorrow or Saturday when I have time to put it together.
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headsizeburrito
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:18 pm
After doing Iron Mountain via the west ridge in December I've been wanting to go back and try another off trail route to the summit. The north ridge of Iron has been on my list for a while, and since this winter has been so dry I was finally able to fit it in.
(warning below written for the more general audience of /r/socalhiking where I also posted this report)
Warning: This hike is considered by many to be one of the most difficult routes in the San Gabriels. It requires significant endurance and has several sections of hard class 3 scrambling, as well as lots of class 2 and moderate class 3. Once you start the ridge you are in an extremely inaccessible place and past around 6,500' it would be even harder and more dangerous to try and go back down than to continue up. If you aren't fit enough to do 10k feet of vertical gain on trail, I would not attempt this route. If you aren't comfortable with class 3 scrambling, I would not attempt this route. There are multiple places where if you lose your grip you might fall/slide several hundred feet. Some sections of the ridge are very loose and some minor sliding and rock fall is inevitable. If there is ice or more than very minor snow patches, this route should be avoided until it melts.
Ok, with that out of the way, on to the fun part.
I started from Heaton Flat a little after 6am and was a little surprised at the number of cars already there for a weekday. There were several tents set up at the campground, but these were the only signs of life I saw all day until I passed by the campground on my way back. The first few miles were uneventful and I made it to Bridge to Nowhere in an hour and a half. Shortly after I passed the hobo hut where I had turned off last time I was here to get to Stanley Miller Mine. From here it was all new terrain for me. The trail pretty much disappears, but it's easy to just follow the water and cross back and forth as needed. Other than a couple momentary toe dips I was able to stay dry, though I'm sure that will be much more difficult if not impossible if we ever get more precipitation. Past Iron Fork there are some very cool stalactites on the western wall and Falls Gulch shortly beyond that had a little trickle that I'm sure is a very nice waterfall when it's got more flow. Just after that things open up into Fish Fork Camp, which has lots of places for camping and some nice rock benches and fire pits. At this junction you go right to continue up Fish Fork.
This next bit is the only point where your route isn't obvious. Everyone seems to take a slightly different route and while none seem very good, I found one that was very bad! Some reports start climbing up to the ridge a little earlier and some go further east before climbing up. I was aiming to reach the ridge around the 5k point and basically split the difference. This proved to be a bad plan, as I found the steepest section possible, which was also extremely overgrown. If I was with anyone else I would have quickly turned back to find a better route. Since I was by myself I figured it would be a good exercise in stupidity fortitude to just push through and see if it got better. It didn't get better. About halfway up to my target on the ridge it got slightly less steep, but got even more overgrown. In a few points along the second half I was able to follow minor animal trails, but overall it was a major slog through very dense vegetation mostly over my head. Luckily I had packed for bushwhacking, including some work gloves purchased at the hardware store a few days earlier that worked much better than the lightweight ones I usually wear. This section was less than half a mile, but gained nearly 1000' and took almost two hours. Somewhere along the way all that bushwhacking pulled one of my brand new and quite expensive trekking poles out of one of the outer pockets, never to be seen again.
I eventually made it through all that and emerged onto the ridge pretty much where I was originally aiming for, with fantastic views of Pine Ridge and the peaks to the north. The first section is easy class 2 with a bit of bushwhacking, but gets increasingly steep and rocky as you approach 6k. Soon you find yourself looking up towards the summit of Iron and wondering how you are supposed to find your way up that extremely steep and rocky route. Some sections are pretty solid, but most is loose rock with occasional scree and dense patches of vegetation in a few spots. In several places it was safer to struggle through a dense patch of brush than risk sketchy rock with major exposure to the west slope of the ridge. At one point I took a step and a rock above my foot larger than a microwave oven started sliding. I slid with it for about six feet before I was able to move to the side and catch my breath for a moment. The biggest rock scrambling is around 7k and is actually pretty fun if you ignore the fatigue! Around here were some very small snow patches that have held on in the shade, but nothing that wasn't easily avoided. Around 7,700' the steep climbing ends and you can finally see the summit of Iron. From here it's a short and easy walk to the high point. To return I took the standard route along the south ridge trail back to Heaton Flat.
Stats: 17.9mi, 6,600ft elevation gain/loss, 12 hours
Continuing upstream past Fish Fork
Cool stalactites
Falls Gulch outflow
Fish Fork Camp
This looks like a good place to start climbing, right?
Looking back with regret from a momentary gap in the bushwhacking
Nice view of Pine Ridge on the way up
Finally on the north ridge heading to the steep part
Going up!
Lots of loose rock on the way up
(warning below written for the more general audience of /r/socalhiking where I also posted this report)
Warning: This hike is considered by many to be one of the most difficult routes in the San Gabriels. It requires significant endurance and has several sections of hard class 3 scrambling, as well as lots of class 2 and moderate class 3. Once you start the ridge you are in an extremely inaccessible place and past around 6,500' it would be even harder and more dangerous to try and go back down than to continue up. If you aren't fit enough to do 10k feet of vertical gain on trail, I would not attempt this route. If you aren't comfortable with class 3 scrambling, I would not attempt this route. There are multiple places where if you lose your grip you might fall/slide several hundred feet. Some sections of the ridge are very loose and some minor sliding and rock fall is inevitable. If there is ice or more than very minor snow patches, this route should be avoided until it melts.
Ok, with that out of the way, on to the fun part.
I started from Heaton Flat a little after 6am and was a little surprised at the number of cars already there for a weekday. There were several tents set up at the campground, but these were the only signs of life I saw all day until I passed by the campground on my way back. The first few miles were uneventful and I made it to Bridge to Nowhere in an hour and a half. Shortly after I passed the hobo hut where I had turned off last time I was here to get to Stanley Miller Mine. From here it was all new terrain for me. The trail pretty much disappears, but it's easy to just follow the water and cross back and forth as needed. Other than a couple momentary toe dips I was able to stay dry, though I'm sure that will be much more difficult if not impossible if we ever get more precipitation. Past Iron Fork there are some very cool stalactites on the western wall and Falls Gulch shortly beyond that had a little trickle that I'm sure is a very nice waterfall when it's got more flow. Just after that things open up into Fish Fork Camp, which has lots of places for camping and some nice rock benches and fire pits. At this junction you go right to continue up Fish Fork.
This next bit is the only point where your route isn't obvious. Everyone seems to take a slightly different route and while none seem very good, I found one that was very bad! Some reports start climbing up to the ridge a little earlier and some go further east before climbing up. I was aiming to reach the ridge around the 5k point and basically split the difference. This proved to be a bad plan, as I found the steepest section possible, which was also extremely overgrown. If I was with anyone else I would have quickly turned back to find a better route. Since I was by myself I figured it would be a good exercise in stupidity fortitude to just push through and see if it got better. It didn't get better. About halfway up to my target on the ridge it got slightly less steep, but got even more overgrown. In a few points along the second half I was able to follow minor animal trails, but overall it was a major slog through very dense vegetation mostly over my head. Luckily I had packed for bushwhacking, including some work gloves purchased at the hardware store a few days earlier that worked much better than the lightweight ones I usually wear. This section was less than half a mile, but gained nearly 1000' and took almost two hours. Somewhere along the way all that bushwhacking pulled one of my brand new and quite expensive trekking poles out of one of the outer pockets, never to be seen again.
I eventually made it through all that and emerged onto the ridge pretty much where I was originally aiming for, with fantastic views of Pine Ridge and the peaks to the north. The first section is easy class 2 with a bit of bushwhacking, but gets increasingly steep and rocky as you approach 6k. Soon you find yourself looking up towards the summit of Iron and wondering how you are supposed to find your way up that extremely steep and rocky route. Some sections are pretty solid, but most is loose rock with occasional scree and dense patches of vegetation in a few spots. In several places it was safer to struggle through a dense patch of brush than risk sketchy rock with major exposure to the west slope of the ridge. At one point I took a step and a rock above my foot larger than a microwave oven started sliding. I slid with it for about six feet before I was able to move to the side and catch my breath for a moment. The biggest rock scrambling is around 7k and is actually pretty fun if you ignore the fatigue! Around here were some very small snow patches that have held on in the shade, but nothing that wasn't easily avoided. Around 7,700' the steep climbing ends and you can finally see the summit of Iron. From here it's a short and easy walk to the high point. To return I took the standard route along the south ridge trail back to Heaton Flat.
Stats: 17.9mi, 6,600ft elevation gain/loss, 12 hours
Continuing upstream past Fish Fork
Cool stalactites
Falls Gulch outflow
Fish Fork Camp
This looks like a good place to start climbing, right?
Looking back with regret from a momentary gap in the bushwhacking
Nice view of Pine Ridge on the way up
Finally on the north ridge heading to the steep part
Going up!
Lots of loose rock on the way up
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headsizeburrito
- Posts: 279
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:18 pm
Definitely too busy not dying. Unfortunately it's very hard to get photos that give any sense of angle when you can only see them head on, plus being solo it makes seeing scale more difficult as well. The photos _kick_rocks has in the report on his site with a person in them gives a slightly better idea.
Most of it is in line with the tougher sections of the ridge you and I took getting to Iron from Stanley Miller, but there are quite a few significantly harder sections as well. There are a couple short spots you would probably call class 4 for a couple moves, but I didn't take pictures and haven't found any other shots of them either. There may be alternate routes around at least some of them that may or may not be easier. The terrain is very mixed, so it's a short section of tough scrambling then a section of loose soil with a little rock, then some scree, then some bushes, etc etc. None of the tough scrambling sections along the line I took were as long as Gunsight Notch, but some were definitely steeper, with looser rock, fewer holds, and more exposure. I'm not going to act like it's super bad ass since I managed it, but I would say it's near the upper end of what I would do without feeling reckless.
If you are interested in doing it and want a partner I'd be up for it again, but probably not right away!
Most of it is in line with the tougher sections of the ridge you and I took getting to Iron from Stanley Miller, but there are quite a few significantly harder sections as well. There are a couple short spots you would probably call class 4 for a couple moves, but I didn't take pictures and haven't found any other shots of them either. There may be alternate routes around at least some of them that may or may not be easier. The terrain is very mixed, so it's a short section of tough scrambling then a section of loose soil with a little rock, then some scree, then some bushes, etc etc. None of the tough scrambling sections along the line I took were as long as Gunsight Notch, but some were definitely steeper, with looser rock, fewer holds, and more exposure. I'm not going to act like it's super bad ass since I managed it, but I would say it's near the upper end of what I would do without feeling reckless.
If you are interested in doing it and want a partner I'd be up for it again, but probably not right away!
Thanks! Got a 3 yr old and another one on the way. Still get to cycle / trail run up the Santa Cruz mountains here, but long hikes are out for a while 
I'm got caught in these tech jobs for a few years, but even with good pay the housing is so crazy, I think we are going to move in a year. San Diego seems most likely right now, LA just too much traffic probably! But still SD would be close enough to visit some old haunts once a in while...
Back in my day, we didn't have gps files to upload, just incorrect old trails leading to crumbly rock (ahem Stanley Miller)! lol
I'm got caught in these tech jobs for a few years, but even with good pay the housing is so crazy, I think we are going to move in a year. San Diego seems most likely right now, LA just too much traffic probably! But still SD would be close enough to visit some old haunts once a in while...
Back in my day, we didn't have gps files to upload, just incorrect old trails leading to crumbly rock (ahem Stanley Miller)! lol