EISPIRATEN

It has become a bit of a tradition now. Yesterday was the sixth time we've celebrated Uncle Rico's birthday by going on a group hike. In 2016 a few of us explored Copter Ridge.



In 2017, Hawkins Ridge.



In 2018 Rico and I explored Telegraph's east ridge to Peak 7465.



After missing a couple years, we did it again in 2021, hitting Hines Peak.



And last year we went up the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek.



Well, this year the tradition continued with a hike to Markham and San Gabriel. There were eleven of us: Madison (Uncle Rico), Kellie, Cecelia (Girl Hiker), Dima, Sondra, Jeff, Ira (Elwood), Brian (HikeUp), JJ, Nate and me. We dropped some cars at Redbox, then sandwiched into two SUVs for a shuttle to Eaton Saddle.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. It's always nice starting a hike at the top of Eaton Canyon. The rocky cliffs are amazing to behold.



Our first objective was Mt. Markham. We headed up the Mt. Lowe Trail and then made the left turn at the small saddle to join the Markham Trail. It's a steep but shortish ascent over nice rock.





Nate informed us that the rock is called tonalite. And here I've just been calling it granite or decomposed granite. You learn something new every day.

There were many other people climbing Markham, another big group. So the place seemed like a weekend on Baldy almost. We sat around the summit for awhile, chatting and taking in the views.



Then we headed down the way we came, en route to San Gabriel Peak.




The San Gabriel Peak Trail has some downed trees across the path. We removed a few but others need sawing. At the summit another group played music and annoyed us, so we eventually invaded their space like a boss and they got the hint and left.



I gave Madison his birthday gift of framed photos. Then we settled in for a grilled cheese and tequila lunch. Jeff made delicious sandwiches for everyone, and Madison brought the tasty tequila.




I think it was Elwood who brought the pickles, whose juice we later used to make pickle-tequila shots.


(Photo by Madison)

After a final group photo taken by Jeff,



we headed down the pleasantly shaded Bill Riley Trail to Redbox, completing the point-to-point. Happy birthday, Rico!

It was a great day out there! A few more pics....

Mueller Tunnel.


Long line of hikers.

The group on the steeper part of Mount Markham.

Birthday celebration.

It was a terrific day celebrating Uncle Rico's birthday at 6,164 feet. Big thank you to Sean for inviting me along, happy to be the "new guy" and put faces to forum names.

A few notes:
• As Sean mentions, the rock Mt Markham and San Gabriel Peak are forged from is "Tonalite" - an intrusive igneous felsic (felsic rocks have lot of the feldspar and quartz mineral and therefore predominantly light in color, as is apparent in that spectacular south face of San Gabriel peak!) Named for "tonale" pass in the Italian Alps. The Gabriel Peak tonalite originally crystalized a mile or so beneath the earth while the Dinosaurs were nearing their special date with an asteroid.
• thanks to Sean for all the interesting human history of the area, he's a great resource!
• big thanks to Jeff for the wickedly good loaded summit-grilled cheese with exquisite bread crunch
• props to Cecelia for completing this hike like a boss after a 12-hour work shift
• For those who want to recreate our "San Gabriel Peak" cocktail at home: 1 part tequila blanco and 1 part sun-warmed dill pickle brine and 1 part summit ingenuity. (Note: may taste considerably better at elevation in the San Gabes mountains then anywhere else)
• We had some exciting coordination adventures on the way down (this crew is understandably like herding cats when you've got 11 people who like taking the road less travelled) culminating in Elwood cruising the mountain like only a few proud ham radio operators can.

Happy birthday Uncle Rico! Look forward to more adventures.

Another beautiful day in the San Gabes celebrating Uncle Rico's b-day.

The weather was perfect and we had a great group of hikers.

Thanks to master chef Jeff for the scrumptious grilled cheese sandwiches that were oozing with cheese.

Thanks to Elwood for the pickles and tasty cupcakes.

Thanks to Uncle Rico for providing the tequilla shots and the tasty condiment of chili peppers to add to the sandwiches.

Who brought the avocados? They were an excellent addition as well.

Thanks to Sean for organizing.

It was nice to meet you Nate.

It was nice to see everyone again and share in this joyous occasion.

Did I leave anything out?

photo bomber Jeff


Rattlesnake

Woot!

I skipped Markham and made it to San Gabriel Peak before everyone else. Here's a view of Markham from San Gabriel, but the resolution isn't high enough to see y'all who were on top of Markham (I could see everyone through the binocs though).

Let's not forget the brilliant idea of ice cream afterwards! I had a great time with Y'all and will post the few pictures I took in a day or so.

That was a fun day in the Gabes for this old man. Really appreciate Sean for arranging this outing every year. And much thanks to everyone for coming out to hike with me. Great seeing everyone again and putting faces to screen names. But Elwood's still gonna be Elwood and HikeUp's still gonna be HikeUp. Y'all may have to change your driver's licenses to reflect your proper names.

Some more pics from the day. These are somewhat out of order. I had technical difficulties.