Divide Peak and Landells Peak

[tekewin]

Sean and I bagged a couple of minor peaks near San Jacinto. We rode the tram up to Mountain Station, got our permits, then hiked south on the Willow Springs Trail. The trail eventually goes all the way to Humber Park in Idyllwild. At one mile, there was a junction with the High Peak trail and the Hidden Divide Natural Preserve area starts just after that. We got glimpses of Divide Peak on the way. We left the trail and started uphill through deadfall and knee high brush, quickly reaching the granite base of Divide Peak. After a couple of class 3 sections, we sat on top of Divide Peak looking down on Hidden Lake. Note: We found out later from a ranger that both of these peaks are in the Preserve area and if you get caught off trail, you might get a hefty fine.











We descended the same way and started a traverse west toward Landells. We reached a saddle between the peaks and started climbing a class 3 wall with chunky, solid holds. When we reached the top, we realized that Landells was at the west end of the pinnacles. It was an unnamed summit, about 50' lower than Landells but higher than the intervening pillars. I dubbed it Landells East. While I was disappointed, it was the best and most sustained scrambling of the day. Worth a visit. We down climbed Landells East and continued our westward traverse.







Before we reached Landells, Sean started feeling some intense leg pain. He didn't want to injure himself so he headed down to High Trail and said he would meet me at the trail junction. I continued toward Landells and reached the class 2 summit block only a few minutes later. I found a register in a container wedged between two rocks. The cover said Luella Todd Peak. Inside were a couple of entries calling it Landells Peak. I returned to High Trail and met Sean at the junction. We decided to walk the quarter mile to Hidden Lake since it was new to both of us. The lake itself was off limits, but we walked to the end of the trail with a nice overlook to Palm Springs. An interesting area and ecosystem. On the way back, we met Ranger James, and we had a long discussion about Luella Todd vs. Landells. He said Luella Todd was a Sierra Club membrr they named the peak after. The state dedicated the peak to Don Landell, owner of the helicopter aviation company that helped build the tramway. The official San Jacinto wilderness maps have it labeled Landells Peak. So, some dispute about the name persists. The California topo maps I checked don't assign any name to the peak other than 9356'. The boundaries of the preserve are not shown on any map, so hiker beware.


Landells summit block


San Jacinto




Desert Divide peaks stretching from the right, Toro, Rabbit, and Martinez in the distance






Palm Springs


View from Mountain Station

[Nate U]

OSM appears to be team Luella Todd.

Great to see Sean scrambling again!

[tekewin]

Peakbagger changed the main name to Landells and made Luella Todd an alternate name. I informed them but did not lobby or suggest the change.

[dima]

That looks cool!

Are you saying that we think nobody is allowed into the Hidden Divide Natural preserve? If the OSM boundaries are to be believed, the lake is inside the preserve. The fact that there are visitor info panels at the lake makes me think that hikers are allowed at the lake. So... if all the above is true, that would suggest the OSM boundaries are wrong? Their data came from some state database; can figure out which one, if we care. Do we think you're now allowed in there because the ranger said so and only because of that?

[tekewin]

That looks cool!

Are you saying that we think nobody is allowed into the Hidden Divide Natural preserve? If the OSM boundaries are to be believed, the lake is inside the preserve. The fact that there are visitor info panels at the lake makes me think that hikers are allowed at the lake. So... if all the above is true, that would suggest the OSM boundaries are wrong? Their data came from some state database; can figure out which one, if we care. Do we think you're now allowed in there because the ranger said so and only because of that?

You are allowed to visit the lake, but there was fencing around it. He told us not to get water from the lake and not to cross the fencing.

Now, I see the boundaries of the preserve in OSM and it does include Landells and Divide Peak. Those boundaries are probably right. Ranger James told us not to leave the trails when in the preserve area (after we had climbed the peaks, of course).

[Sean]

Thanks, Keith, this was a very fun outing. Here's a few of you on the rocks.