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
