Mount Baden-Powell hike in the San Gabriel Mountains June 7, 2009
My hiking buddies and I went on a hike up to Baden-Powell and over to Mount Hawkins. This was our fourth training trip in preparation for our Whitney hike in early September. We started out from the trail head at Vincent gap at about 7:30 am or so. The weather was cooler but the sun was out. There where about 10 cars in the parking lot when we left. The first four miles of the trail is uphill. I believe the trail ascends about 2800 feet or so. There are many switchbacks of the north east side of the mountain.
This first part did not seem to long for some reason. It certainly did not seem like the 4 miles indicated. The trail climbs in and out of pines and exposed sections. The trail is well marked but care must be taken as to not miss a switchback. There were many times I needed to remind Jim or George they missed a switchback. The trail is mostly uphill but there where a few flat sections.
The Trail splits near the top just before the peak of Baden-Powell. The trail going to the right is PCT. This is also the trail leading up to the peak from the parking lot. There is a famous tree at this junction as well that makes a great photo spot. Looking over the cliff to the east is a least a thousand if not two thousand foot, very steep drop off. We took the trail ( left trail from PCT junction ) leading to the top of the hill. It was just another 200 feet or so. There is a nice monument at the top. There are a few scattered trees near the crest but pretty bare.
We left down the north or north west side of the crest. We scrambled down some loose rock and re joined the PCT trail heading along the ridge top. We passed Mt Burnham on the way to Throop Peak. The trail in this section mostly follows the ridge line either on the north or south side. The trail is good and passes through wooded areas and more exposed areas. This I think was one of the prettier sections of the hike. The trail passes below Throop peak on the south side so all you peak baggers will need to scramble up a few hundred feet to actually reach the top. It looked like scree most of the way. Lots of fire damaged trees on this section.
We made our way over to mount Hawkins from Throop. There is a small side trail leading to this peak that we took. Really nice views from this peak. The trail in some sections was not marked or the marking was not readable. One note is that the PCT trail is marked with white metal posts about 2 feet high. If you see these, you are on the right trail. There is a trail that splits off from this and heads to Dawson saddle I believe. You want to stay to the left.
The hike on the way back was a bit harder. My friend Jim indicated that it feels more like a let down after reaching the highest point ( Baden-Powell), descending a few hundred feet, walking 4 miles to Hawkins and having to climb back up it again. He much prefers to climb to a peak and then continue downhill back to the start.
We met a few interesting groups of hikers on this trip. We met a group of 4 women all wearing light blue fleece jackets and light blue wide brimmed hats. They must have belonged to a hiking club. We also ran into many hikers with their dogs. We probably saw 10 dogs at or near the top of Baden-Powell. We returned to the parking lot at about 4:00 pm or so after hiking 16 miles round trip. There where about 60 cars in the parking lot. Our next hike in a few weeks should be Baldy.
