Lone Tree Trail to Panorama Point
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:45 am
Jeremiah's post about his recent jaunt to W. Fuji with a return via the Lone Tree Trail inspired me to finally go check out the Lone Tree Trail. I've been to Echo by way of Las Flores Canyon and have been to Eaton, but Rubio was a gap in my experience. And all I hear is Fuji this, Fuji that, where Fuji at (the first person to get that reference wins, er…something). So I went yesterday to see for myself before the blast-furnace temps of summer are upon us.
I knew generally where to go, but in the lower stretches of the canyon nothing is signed so I felt my way up by intuition. I knew I was aiming for the Edison towers so I just ascended trails that looked like they ended up there and things worked out. There's a sign where a trail intersects the Lone Tree Trail from Rubio Creek, but there was a group of folks stopped right there blocking the sign so I didn't see it. No worries. I got where I was going.
Conditions on lower Lone Tree are as Jeremiah reports. The poison oak is quite luxuriant in the canyon bottom but entirely avoidable. Up higher, the black sage and ceanothus is going off and intruding a bit on the path, but nothing major. I came home reeking of sage which ain't a bad thing.
As y'all probably already know, the trail is unrelentingly steep. One of the steeper hikes I think I've done in the San Gabes. But you get a bit of a reprieve just before you reach the spur to West Fuji when you pass through a verdant and pleasant distraction that I christened the Enchanted Meadow. Since I was in the neighborhood, I went out to West Fuji to check it out. Expansive views. Summit cairn. No register.
From West Fuji to Panorama Point, things get more challenging. The route is obvious, but you gain an addition 900'+/- in about 0.6 miles as you climb a steep ridge where footing isn’t always optimal. About 3/4 of the way up, there's what appears to be an old road bed, so I followed that which made the going somewhat easier. Can’t imagine where that old road was going to or coming from. I finally topped out at Panorama Point and made my way to the water tank where I stripped off my sweaty shirt and shorts and dried out. Good thing nobody was around to see that. It would have been like gazing at the face of Medusa.
Anyway, Panorama Point does not afford the best views. The rocky outcroppings below Panorama Point offer better looks south. But I didn't know when I was going up. And I wasn't going to stop just shy of my destination so I had to settle for the second best view.
I’d post some pics but Tapa-Crap won’t let me so you’ll just have to use your imaginations.
I knew generally where to go, but in the lower stretches of the canyon nothing is signed so I felt my way up by intuition. I knew I was aiming for the Edison towers so I just ascended trails that looked like they ended up there and things worked out. There's a sign where a trail intersects the Lone Tree Trail from Rubio Creek, but there was a group of folks stopped right there blocking the sign so I didn't see it. No worries. I got where I was going.
Conditions on lower Lone Tree are as Jeremiah reports. The poison oak is quite luxuriant in the canyon bottom but entirely avoidable. Up higher, the black sage and ceanothus is going off and intruding a bit on the path, but nothing major. I came home reeking of sage which ain't a bad thing.
As y'all probably already know, the trail is unrelentingly steep. One of the steeper hikes I think I've done in the San Gabes. But you get a bit of a reprieve just before you reach the spur to West Fuji when you pass through a verdant and pleasant distraction that I christened the Enchanted Meadow. Since I was in the neighborhood, I went out to West Fuji to check it out. Expansive views. Summit cairn. No register.
From West Fuji to Panorama Point, things get more challenging. The route is obvious, but you gain an addition 900'+/- in about 0.6 miles as you climb a steep ridge where footing isn’t always optimal. About 3/4 of the way up, there's what appears to be an old road bed, so I followed that which made the going somewhat easier. Can’t imagine where that old road was going to or coming from. I finally topped out at Panorama Point and made my way to the water tank where I stripped off my sweaty shirt and shorts and dried out. Good thing nobody was around to see that. It would have been like gazing at the face of Medusa.
Anyway, Panorama Point does not afford the best views. The rocky outcroppings below Panorama Point offer better looks south. But I didn't know when I was going up. And I wasn't going to stop just shy of my destination so I had to settle for the second best view.
I’d post some pics but Tapa-Crap won’t let me so you’ll just have to use your imaginations.