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Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:09 am
by JeffH
On what felt like the first day of Spring, I walked up Timber Mountain on Wednesday. After yet another storm cleared out I waited a day for things to melt before heading to Icehouse. Since only a dozen cars were in the parking lot I figured the trail would be free of congestion - meaning other hikers - and I was right. Edison was doing some work along Baldy Road and also had some trucks parked at Icehouse, and they were also digging around poles carrying power to the cabins here. Not a bad office view for the day.....
The trail is a bit washed out and easy to lose after passing the Cucamonga Wilderness sign, right where it crosses the first two washes. After the 2-mile post things are as expected and I only saw small patches of snow on the shady ground. Nearing Columbine Spring I heard a helicopter circling around below so I stopped to find it, and finally saw the familiar white and red rescue vehicle down in the lower canyon. It had a basket swinging below which looked like some kind of container rather than a body so I figured they must be dropping off supplies for the Edison crew.
I took a food break at the saddle, where due to the late hour I decided against Cucamonga Peak and instead walked up to Timber Mountain. Since this slope faces south I knew that snow would not be present, and once again only a couple of trees harbored any below. This mountain doesn't seem to get the attention of others around, maybe because it's not part of that six-pack business or maybe that it's just one of the Three-T's trail. It's actually a great hike up, with views over to Baldy and down Icehouse and across to Cucamonga, Bighorn and Ontario. I walked around the summit area and saw a sign attached to a tree recognizing some military group which I thought was odd, since it faced opposite of the summit and is attached to the side of a long-downed tree. Evidently they are not believers in LNT. While I was sitting there having another snack, a man walked up and we chatted for a while about hiking Mt Whitney and other places, he was just beginning to train to hike Mt Fuji later this summer.
My hike down was uneventful, I stopped to fill a couple of bottles with nice spring water just below the saddle and had to replenish my Camelbak just below the Chapman Trail junction. I also saw a couple of generators and figured that was what the helicopter was carrying, thinking the use of the rescue chopper was probably to get them more hours flying in the local mountains.


I haven't been here in a while, new building in the parking lot. No one was inside and the map holder was empty.
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Hot part of the trail, just past the two-mile marker.
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Typical of the snow fields I saw during the day.
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View from the Timber summit.
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Marker attached to the deadfall on the summit.
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Photo opp at the summit marker.
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Looking across at Baldy.
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One of two generators down near the cabins. I thought using power tools was not allowed in the National Forest.
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Lots of water flowing in the creek.
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AllTrails track.
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Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:06 pm
by Anthony
Timber is underrated, indeed. The views are great and I didn't see anyone on the trail past Icehouse Saddle when I went.

Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:07 pm
by Anthony
How did you generate that AllTrails image?

Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:36 am
by RichardK
The building in the parking lot has been there at least 6 years. It was open on weekends for one summer where a couple of rangers handed out day use permits and maps. It has not been used since. I guess the forest service could not get funding to continue it.

Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 8:55 am
by JeffH
Anthony wrote:How did you generate that AllTrails image?
It’s four different screen grabs pasted together. I wish we could get custom reports out of it.

Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:36 pm
by Girl Hiker
Timber is cool. Telegraph is my favorite of the three T's.

Re: Mt Chapman (Timber)

Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2019 3:21 pm
by Sean
JeffH wrote:One of two generators down near the cabins. I thought using power tools was not allowed in the National Forest.
You're probably thinking of Wilderness Areas.