Page 1 of 1

Condor Peak

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 8:34 pm
by Sean
Cecelia and I wanted to try a longer hike for Memorial Day. Neither one of us had done Condor Peak, and she got all excited when I mentioned it, so it seemed like a good choice for a mild May day. It's hike #12 in Trails of the Angeles (9th edition), which begins from MM 4.50 on Big Tujunga Canyon Road, at an unmarked trailhead above Vogel Flat.

DSC00450.JPG


Previously we had hiked to Fox Peak and started at the main Condor Peak Trailhead further up the road. But this time I wanted to check out the alternative beginning, which shaves off a couple miles from the main roundtrip total. Still, even with the shortcut, our total miles would end up being about sixteen, according to Trails.

Incidentally, the guidebook recommends calling the Forest Service to get a post-Station Fire update on the trail conditions. This gave me a chuckle--that the author assumes the FS would be the best source for such information.

Anyway, the shortcut trail is in poor but passable shape and starts off pretty steep before mellowing out and joining the main trail after a quarter-mile or so.

DSC00454.JPG


At the junction we turned left. At first the main path was decent with only minimal issues. There was a nice, early morning view of Mt. Lukens across the way.

DSC00461.JPG


But then, after contouring above Vogel Canyon, we crossed the ridge into the Fusier Canyon watershed.

DSC00465.JPG


Here the trail takes a turn for the worse. It's rocky and overgrown, especially in the water-bearing gullies, where we had to dodge poison oak and scramble over some logs and rocks.

DSC00476.JPG


DSC00480.JPG


In case you're wondering, the Fusier Springs were trickling, but not really enough to fill a bottle in a reasonable amount of time. A couple-inch deep puddle might be scooped if one were desperate. Still, it was nice to soak a bandana and cool off my head, as 95% of the trail is exposed to the sun. I doubt this water source will persist into the summer months.

A redeeming quality of this trail is the cliff section after the springs. Some bits are narrow and dangerous should you take a nasty spill at the wrong moment.

DSC00484_stitch.jpg


After contouring all the way across Fusier Canyon, we finally reached the opposite ridgeline and got a view of Fox Peak.

DSC00494.JPG


This next section of trail was particularly overgrown. Sometimes the flowering plants were full of bees. Thankfully they had no interest in stinging us. Also, a helpful rattlesnake provided us with a loud warning in one area of thick brush.

The path around the west side of Fox has definitely seen better days. It's narrow and slightly exposed with a couple spots where rockfall has taken out the tread. But the view of the ridge to Condor makes up for the hassle.

DSC00503_stitch.jpg


Once we reached Fox Divide, we took a break in some shade and stashed water.

DSC00509.JPG


It was getting a little warm, but a periodic breeze felt nice. The stretch of ridge between Fox and Condor took us down and up, down and up. The views and final bit of scrambling, though, made this section our favorite portion of the entire route.

DSC00537.JPG


DSC00517.JPG


DSC00520.JPG


The last climb is about 300' of gain on a steep, class 2 use trail. Several cairns marked the preferred way to the top, which apparently requires skirting the ridgetop for a bit.

DSC00530.JPG


DSC00522_stitch.jpg


20180528_2.jpg


Cecelia did her summit pose...

20180528_1.jpg


...and signed the register. Meanwhile, a big plane flew right over us.

DSC00527.JPG


At first I tried to squeeze my big body into the small shadow of a nearby bush, in order to cool off. But then Cecelia said there was a breeze on the summit rocks. So instead I enjoyed the refreshing wind. We noticed another couple down below on the trail, but they turned back and did not summit. How odd, I thought, to push up that trail for miles and miles, only to give up at the final hurdle! Maybe they ran out of water.

Condor Peak kept us company for an hour or so, then we said farewell. The return trip was thirsty and painful. We tended to cuts and blisters. But we were also treated to close encounters with three camera-friendly, sun-bathing lizards.

DSC00551.JPG


DSC00547.JPG


DSC00549.JPG

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 5:54 am
by Girl Hiker
This was a very long but cool hike. My favorite part was the last climb up to the summit of Condor Peak.

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 9:56 am
by AW~
I always see some cars parked at the official trailhead. Guess they dont venture very far!

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:26 am
by Sean
AW wrote:I always see some cars parked at the official trailhead. Guess they dont venture very far!
Some group has converted one of the peaklets over there into a meeting place, complete with a rope line and benches.

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:04 am
by oldcoot
Thanks for the nice report and pix!

The water thingie reminded me of my hike up Fox and Condor in 2003…I ran out of water about 5 miles from the car on the way back, and swore I’d never allow that to happen again…

The very next week, I set out to do those Shoemaker tunnels again (last time I’d set out to do that, about a month earlier, I got sidetracked by Rattlesnake…the peak, not the reptile). On the drive out, I realized the tunnels were like a 5-mile roundtrip with just 900 feet of gain/loss…not much of a hike for all that driving…so decided I’d do the Heaton Flat trail to Heaton Saddle (Allison Saddle?) first to get some gain in. When I got to the saddle, looked up at Big Iron and as was the case with Rattlesnake a month earlier, decided to climb up a bit just to say I did…but when I looked back down, it was so steep I was scared to go back down. So cleverly decided to keep heading up. 5 hours 3 minutes from the car, was atop Big Iron and couldn’t believe it (that was only HPS peak No. 15 for me...)…

Anyway, I’d started with two 1.5-liter bottles of water (twice as much as for the Fox/Condor hike)…finished the first one on the summit, and put the empty bottle in my little backpack and the full one in the horizontal waist-level pocket on front of my sweatshirt for easy access. After about a mile on the way down, I slipped…didn’t fall, but my water bottle slipped out of the sweatshirt pocket and off the edge…great, 6 miles to go and no water…just a week after running out on the Fox/Condor hike…

About a mile later, I saw a young lady climbing toward me, and hoped she had some extra water. Turned out she was with San Dimas Mountain Rescue, and had a backpack full of water bottles. The only time I’ve ever seen a rescue person while hiking…and the only time I could use one! It was only the next day that it hit me…she was climbing Big Iron with probably 50 pounds on her back!

From then on, I never carried more than half my remaining water in the sweatshirt pocket…the rest stays safely in the backpack…

Sorry ‘bout the ancient history…but after all, I am an…

oldcoot

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 6:58 am
by Sean
oldcoot wrote:From then on, I never carried more than half my remaining water in the sweatshirt pocket…the rest stays safely in the backpack…
Your stories are always very refreshing, like a cool drink of water on a long trail. I switched to carrying bottles in my pack because I had some trouble with bladders leaking. Bottles also make it easy to stash water and lose some weight during out-and-back summit pushes. Of course, bladders appeal more to speed demons who don't want to have to stop and retrieve bottles from their packs just to rehydrate. Then there are the SAR people who carry both a bladder for themselves and bottles for everyone else.

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:23 am
by HikeUp
Then there are times when you make the peak, celebrate by finishing the last of your bladder, open your pack to retrieve the bottles of water for the return trip and realize that said bottles are still chilling nicely in the ice chest in the car.

Re: Condor Peak

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:46 am
by Girl Hiker
Awesome story Old Coot!