This is a trip report for a hike to San Gorgonio Mountains via the Vivian Creek trail along with some interesting observations and events. The trailhead is reached by passing through Forest Falls and parking in the parking lot at the end of the paved road. There are plenty of signs to indicate trailhead parking. Follow a dirt road about ¼ mile and another sign indicates the trailhead or at least the direction. At this point, cross the boulder strewn wash to the other side of the canyon. A sign directly across is the start of the trail.

Our hiking group this morning had 5 people. Three of us have been hiking for over a year and we are very familiar with each other and our habits. Two of my hiking buddies also brought friends with them. I was a bit nervous as to the condition and abilities of the guests as this was not an easy trail. One of the friends T for now was a finish carpenter that also was a mountain biker and looked fit, descent hiking shoes and prepared. The other friend D had ok shoes and properly outfitted as well. I did however notice a small tear on the rear shoe of D. I casually mentioned this and he indicated that it was nothing. We clad ourselves in our warm cloths. D had a straw hat, nylon under shirt, cotton tee shirt with a heavy flannel shirt on the outside. T had two nylon shirts and a acrylic looking outer sweatshirt with zipper.

We started up the first part of Vivian Creek and for those that don’t know the trail, it is nearly straight up for just less than a mile. The trail switchbacks on the side of a steep canyon and seems to go on forever. The persistent is rewarded with a nice meadow, small stream ( seasonal ) and a flat walk past the first campground, very pretty, quiet and peaceful. The next section was a more or less flat trail that followed the stream. Like the previous section, this section offered a very nice setting below a canopy of trees. Our spirits where high. We were talking and joking knowing that more difficult parts of the trail lay ahead of us. We passed halfway camp ( not really half way ) and started up a more exposed set of switchbacks that overlooked a canyon filled with green shrubs and some nice views.

In the next section of the trail, our party walked through a narrow section that had thorny bushes on each site. Attention was required to pass this section without too many scrapes on my bare legs as I was wearing only shorts. A moderate descent let to a flatter section of the trail that leads around a ridge to high camp. During this section however, the small tear on D’s shoe became larger at first and eventually ripped to the point that the sole was flapping around. Not a good thing at this point. He pulled to the side for some emergency repairs. After a brief discussion, I found that nobody had any duct tape. ( more on the necessity of duct tape later ) I usually carry a 6-8’ piece of rope for certain emergencies like this. Too my shock, the rope was not in my bag. The next best thing I thought of was to use the drawstring of my warm up pants to bind the boot. After a few minutes of binding, re-arranging shoelaces we where back on the trail.

I followed D to make sure the repairs where holding. They seemed to be working. One of my friends and I started to worry a bit as a trail like this would easily eat up a pair of boots like this. We continued to watch and worry a bit more about D and his boots. He was eating a lot and seemed to be laboring a bit. This section of the trail is rocky, moderately steep and exposed more than the previous sections. After a tune up of the boots to tighten the bindings, our group made it too the high camp area. There was a nice waterfall just as we entered the flat area. There were only a few patches of snow up to this point. Nothing to worry about and took less than one or two steps to cross. We stopped for a bit to refuel and water. I noticed that the wild flowers where just coming into bloom at this altitude. The trail runs in this area runs through the north side of the meadow and was covered by the stream in several areas. There are two strips of bright pink tape placed on trees that indicate the general path. I followed the stream bed as I had good waterproof boots. This seemed most like the trail anyway. The other hikers in the group navigated around the mushy parts, the wet parts and the like. I was worried about D as any water in the exposed boot would mean a very hard rest of the trip. He seemed to get through dry. I took another look at the boots and noticed that the other boot was starting to rip where the upper part attached to the lower part. It was just about to separate I think. After another emergency repair using pieced of string, parts of an extra long lace, that boot was also usable…. Barely.

And now for a brief note about duct tape. From this point on to the end of the trip, we started to ask fellow hikers if they had any duct tape we could borrow to use for boot repair. About 1 out of 4 hikers had good tape of some sort. All of the hikers that had duct tape had wrapped the tape around their hiking poles near the handle. What a great idea. We could immediately tell from this point on who the experienced hikers where just by looking for the tape wrapped around the poles. We had two hikers contribute to the repairs. D’s boots looked like a football players with their shoes taped for a game. Needless to say, I will always bring duct tape with me from now on and wrap it around my pole so I look like a seasoned hiker.

This section of Vivian Creek is a flat meadow area with lush vegetation. A spring at the top of the valley is the source. You can see the stream gushing from the side of the slope near where the trail starts up. We started the climb out of the valley following a long section of switchbacks. D at this point was laboring more and more and my buddies where concerned that he would not make it. He kept on plodding up this steep section of trail and finally reached the top. This stopping place about 10K feed high is my favorite place on the whole trail. It has a spectacular view towards Palm Springs and San Jacinto. There is a larger flat spot with several rocks to sit on. D asked where the summit was and after seeing the remaining distance decided to stop here. This was a very wise decision as the rest of the trail is steadily harder because of the elevation gain. There was only patchy snow that was easily crossed on this section.

George stayed with D and T, myself and Jim headed up to the summit. We crossed several patches of snow about 100 ft wide. There was a good boot path through that also helped mark the trail. A nice steady pace and a good use of poles was all that was needed to cross the snow patches. We did see two sets of hikers with ice axes attached to their packs. We finally made it to the top. We did however have a gut check about 30 minutes from the top as the altitude was starting to take its toll. It took 2 hours from where we left D and George to get to the summit. More than I had initially thought and a bit harder. The three of us were spent and wanted to get down as soon as possible.

Our descent was as fast as our feet and gravity would allow. We stopped briefly for water and food and more importantly to remove the small, seemingly endless pebbles from our boots. I did not see much on the way down as I was too busy concentrating on the trail and not falling. The trail did however seem much longer on the way down as it always does. This trail was well marked except for the two place noted. I would like to see the trail teams trim some of the plants back a bit. It took about 3 and ½ hours from the top to the car. We found George and D waiting for us at the car. They reached the car about an hour before we did. There were no complaints as they were enjoying the cold beers that we always pack for the end of the trip. We joked about the boots and reminded ourselves to always be prepared.

this is a continuation of a prior post.

The first part of the climb up the switchbacks was ok. We stopped often to catch our breath and let a few hikers pass. We noticed that these hikers camped out at trail camp or outpost camp. About half way up, one of my buddies started to not feel well, headaches, lack of desire and an overall struggle to keep going. We stopped and gave him some aspirin. Right about this time, the sun disappeared and some big black clouds came flowing over the ridge. Within 3 minutes, it was snowing and the wind was blowing. We quickly put on our ponchos and warm clothes. By the time I had all my cold weather gear on, there was at least 1-2 inches of snow in all my pockets and exposed areas. We hunkered down to weather the storm and a few thunder claps rang out loudly in the valley. We say a few hikers running down the trail to safety and yelling for everyone else to do the same. In less than 10 minutes, the sun was shinning and we took off our ponchos. My buddy, after resting for 10 minutes was feeling much better and was able to continue the hike.

We reached trail crest ( 13,600 feet ) around 11:00 am. A cold strong breeze was waiting for us at the top. We stopped to congratulate ourselves but quickly moved on after prompting from a fellow hiker ( returning from the summit ) to get to a less exposed, warmer, less windy place. We took a break at the junction of the John Muir trail on the backside of the Whitney ridge. Here we met a pair of female hikers we saw on the trip. They were sitting at the trail merge enjoying a fabulous looking sandwich. I had sandwich envy as my trail mix was getting old. This pair passed us on the switchbacks but was worried about the weather and contemplating weather or not to continue. After seeing us older men starting off, they quickly packed up and passed us again.

We too started to think about the weather and time issues. It was noon at this time and there where a few dark clouds heading our way. The clouds where small cells that looked smaller than the event we had on the switchbacks. We did a few calculations and realized we would not reach the summit until around 1 and not be back between 7-8 pm a night. We where not looking forward to a decent with headlights and tired beyond belief. The decision was to continue on but would turn back because of weather.

The trail from trail crest to the summit is scary in some parts. The trail is cut out of rock and pretty steep in places. Some parts required climbing stairs made of jagged rock. Hiking poles where useless and required strategic placement of hands. We had a few hikers pass us on the way down and indicated they where turned back because of the storm we encountered while on the switchbacks. This was the hardest part of the trail for me. I was feeling pretty dizzy and not entirely with all my mental faculties because of the altitude. The trail was harder than what we thought and took about 2 hours.

My other hiking buddy hit the wall at around 14k feet. We stopped for about 10 minutes while my friend laid down to rest. After some confidence building, he was able to continue and we finally reached the summit at 1:00 pm. We where a bit worried that there would be no one left on the summit to take our picture. There where 4 people milling around taking pictures. We stayed for about ½ hour talking and taking pictures. Right before we left, a pair of real men appeared over the ledge. They had climbed up the face of Mount Whitney, about a 2,000 feet climb.

We stared down at a furious pace determined to make it down before headlamps where required. The trail down was just as difficult in some parts as the way up. Each step jarred my joints and rattled my teeth. Hiking up on rocks is hard. Hiking down on nothing but rock is even harder on my body. We where all pretty fatigued at this point and acting goofy in the altitude. We finally made it back to trail crest around 3:30 and started down the switchbacks.

I counted about 9 hikers that we passed on the way down that where still headed up to the summit. This was a nice feeling in knowing were where not the last ones. The hike down the switchbacks was relentless. The view was not quite as spectacular as the way up for some reason. My buddies also stopped eating as much and where we were all on autopilot. When we reached trail camp at 12,000 feet at 4:30 or so, we where all exhausted. We found a flat rock and sat down for a bit.

One of my hiking companions ran out of gas at this point. If he could, he would have stayed. But we had to keep going. The reason I believe is they where not eating and their bodies had no fuel. During the hike down, I managed to snap a bunch of pictures during our decent. We reached the Mirror lake and finally Lone Pine Lake at 7:00 pm. I finally forced my buddy to eat something and within 10 minutes was feeling much better. We put the headlamps back on and almost ran down the rest of the trail in the dark. We arrived back at the trail head at 8:30 at night full of a sense of accomplishment. We had reached our goal.

Here are some interesting observations during and after the hike.

• The beer I had back at the hotel was probably the best I ever had.
• We really smelled bad. There was no way we would be allowed in a restaurant without taking a shower.
• My feet hurt but there where no blisters.
• I ate almost all my food. I drank 5 liters of liquids. 4 liters of water and 1 liter of Gatorade.
• The ratio of men to women on the trail was about 3 to 1. Most of the women where traveling with their significant other.
• All of the people we met on the trail where really nice.
• I counted at least 10 people that did not make it to the top. One person said they did but we know they did not.
• Most of the 100 or so people with permits stayed on the mountain the night before.
• I asked my buddies, what one item they would bring the next time. The answer was (1) long, water and windproof pants, (2) a variety of foods ( he just had sandwich and way to much trail mix ) and for myself (3) a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm.
• I saw a Marmot, a Pika, many chipmunks, birds and what I think are ptarmigans along with many new plants that I did not expect to see between 12 and 14,000 feet. There where purple finches on the summit.
• I am not the fasted hiker around.
• My body is not what it used to be.

Mount Whitney Hike – September 4, 2009

Note that this entry is broken into two entries.

Here is the trip report for our hike up to the Whitney summit on September 4, 2009. We (Jim and George ) arrived at Lone Pine around 10:30 in the morning after leaving Orange County at 6:00 am. We finally figured out that we needed to pick up the trail permits at the visitor center located at the 136 intersection just before town. We collected our WAG bags, dropped off our coolers and anything else with food at the Dow Hotel where we were staying.

Eager to start the day, we drove to Whitney portal for an acclimation hike to Lone Pine Lake. We arrived around noon and started our hike. This part of the trail does not need a permit. Permits are required about ¼ mile above the lake. We hiked the 2.8 miles and stayed at the lake for 2 hours. I brought my fly rod and caught about a dozen small, very hungry rainbows. My two hiking buddies took a nap on some rocks and talked to a few fellow hikers. Yosemite man was an interesting character. He had been on the trail for 18 days. This was his last night and he decided to stay and sleep at the lake before going down the next day… I would have certainly walked the 1 ½ hours down the trail and have a burger in town.

A few notables for the acclimation hike was a marmot sighting. I have never seen one so it was a nice surprise to see these big, fat looking golden colored squirrels. He was sitting on a rock and looked very content. At the lake, there was a group of kids supervised by 2 moms. The kids where very loud and not very considerate for other hikers and campers. I commend the moms for making the hike but they needed to restrain the kids from their loud, almost yelling conversations. A small, very quite applause was barely discernable when they finally left.

We left around 5:00 pm and arrived back in town around 7:00. Had a pizza, a few beers and went to sleep eagerly anticipating the 3:45 am wake up call. My two buddies where up before the wake up call and waiting in the lobby for me to show up. It is usually the other way around. After a cup of coffee and a handful of trail mix at the hotel we started. We where very eager and could not stop talking about the days events. We arrived at the trail head just before 4:20 and had trouble finding a place to park. All the spots were taken but we did find one spot left in the overflow parking. We noticed most of the cars had not moved since the day before. We then thought of Yosemite Man and he had been there for 18 days. We took a few required pictures and headed up the trail with our headlamps.

The section to Lone Pine lake is a series of switchbacks and a very well maintained trail. We passed a few water crossings and arrived at Lone Pine lake around 6:30 am. We took the headlights off around 6:00 am or so and happy to have the little light available. The trail flattened out for a bit before ascending a small ridge that led to a gorgeous meadow at outpost camp. The trail in this area was flat, fast and nice to hike. We past outpost camp and headed up a small ridge the lead up to Mirror Lake. Another gorgeous alpine lake filled with fish.

We had about 12 hikers pass us from the start until this point. I was expecting about a 100 people on the trail based on the number of permits issued. I also expected to see all 100 starting around the same time we did. Where were all the other hikers? The weather at 7:30 this morning was in the 50’s with a light breeze. There where clouds already forming at the peaks and looking a bit ominous. The hike up to this point was very pretty as we passed pines and low shrubs on a well maintained dirt trail. We passed the last of the trees on our hike out of Mirror Lake and started hiking on mostly rock of all sorts and sizes. In some spots, it is more like climbing stairs. The trail was blasted out of the rocks in several places as it climbed up the valley to trail camp. This was the first time we started loosing breath and taking a few more breaks. We where passed by a few more hikers. We stopped and talked to a few. There were many people from out of state and a few from other countries. Most of the hikers where couples in their late 20’s or 30’s. There where several groups of mountain men ( guys that could stay out in the wilderness and build a log cabin with just their hands ).

The trail flattened thankfully for a bit just as it reached trail camp at 12k feet at 9:00 or so. We stopped for a bit, took a few pictures and downed another handful of trail mix. We were all in good spirits but starting to feel the altitude. We had shortness of breath and our steps a little shorter. Our moment of truth was upon us. This was the start of the dreaded 97 switchbacks up the side of a mountain. This is a grueling climb up to 13,600 where many hikers fall victim to altitude, too high expectations and in experience. We had no experience at this altitude but we did have our training to fall back on.

This is a trip description for the trail Marion Mountain Trail to the San Jacinto Peak. We left a little early for the trail head is about 2 hours from where I live ( in south Orange County ). There is a bit of extra time to go into the town of Idllywild and fill out a permit. See the last part of this post for more info.

The trail head is well marked. Make sure to park at the trail head and not the Marion Mountain campground. It is just a few minutes more up the road. We started off at 7:45 am with high spirits and a much too fast pace. This first section of the trail is hiking through a mix of oak trees and pines. After about 20 minutes of hiking, the oak trees area all gone and only the pine trees remain. During this part of the hike, the trail follows a constant grade with several areas where you need to step up over rocks and logs. It feels a lot like climbing stairs. The scenery was great. The sun filtered down trough the trees and we had a cool climb to the Deer Spring trail junction.

This was a very nice part of the climb. I like hiking the north and west approaches as there sun is low and not so hot. This is much better than hiking Baldy for example where the sun beats down on you relentlessly. One interesting observation for the lower part of this hike. There was a lot of logging activity. It appeared that the forest was being thinned and all the dead trees and underbrush was being removed. We could not figure out how the trees where being removed as there where no roads, mule tracks, tractor tracks etc. We ran into a few workers ( hard hats and vests ) that informed us that they where using a helicopter to transport the trees and brush to a staging area for eventually trucking out.

Near the 1.5 mile marker was an exception lookout over toward fuller ridge. It made for a very nice place to stop and snack. We continued up the trail and passed a few small streams with wetland plants around. I nice change from the woods. The trail keeps going up and up. Not as steep as other trails but up none-the-less.

After hiking for what seemed like a long time, we finally made it to the Deer Springs junction. We then passed Seven pines trail and 20 minutes later the fuller ridge trail. We started traversing a slope up a steep ridge that was covered with low shrubs. It turned out that the trail went through the shrubs. The reason I mention this is the shrubs need a bit of trimming for they almost cover the trail. They are also sharp. It resulted in many scratches on my exposed legs. I was envious of those that wore long pants through this area.

From here, we ascended over the ridge that lead into a small, flat area I believe is little round valley. There was a nice meadow area near the center with a very small stream passing through the middle. It looked like a spring fed stream. There is a camp ground here with not one… but two outhouses. Maybe one for the guys and one for the girls, I did not stop to check. The area was flat and is a nice resting stop before venturing to the summit about 1.5 miles further.

The trail from this point is a bit more exposed than the lower sections. There are still more trees than the Baldy trails however. We also started to pass a lot bigger, round rocks. The rocks become more and more present as the trail climbs to the pass. The pass is where the trail crests the ridge and starts down the south and east part of the mountain. By the way, we are still on the Deer Springs trail. Just a few minutes past this crest, we encounter an old hut that the Sierra club made way back when. We slowly opened the door and found that people were sleeping over. I wonder if they take reservations as the ski hut on the Baldy trail does. The trail to the peak from this point is no longer a trail. It is a series of big rocks. Each hiker or climber at this point, gets to decide the best way to the top. It is probably about a 50 yard boulder hop to the top. Say that 10 times fast. Just as long as you know that there is no trail, just rocks you will do fine. It took my friends and me about 8 minutes to figure this out after watching people make their way up and down from the peak.

The peak offers spectacular 360 degree views. This is what a peak should look like. The peak marker is set near the highest boulder and secured by a bunch of smaller rocks. There is room for just a few people at the very top. We stayed for about 40 minutes or so talking and see how brave the squirrels where. We stared talking to Whitney man ( he has climbed up Whitney 14 times ) and asked him how Whitney compares to this. He indicated that if we could do this one ( from Marion, not the Tram ) we should be ok.

We stared hiking down around 1:00 pm or so and made it back down the trail head around 5:00 pm. Whitney man passed us ( after taking a nap at the top ) around 3:00. It took us nearly 4 hours to get back down. It took almost 5 going up. According to the maps, this was maybe an eleven mile hike. We hiked up and down Bear Canyon in the same time. I have a hard time believing this is only 11 or so miles. This was however one of my more enjoyable trips. I highly recommend it.

Next up for us: Mount Whitney on Sept 4, 2009.

Trail head info:

There are 4 basic trails (yes, there are more…. Seven Pines etc.) that will take the would-be hiker to the top of San Jacinto from trail heads near and in Idllywild. All require a permit but only one requires you to contact the ranger station in advance. That is the Devils Slide Trail. You need the rangers to issue you a permit for this one.

Note that all trails will eventually lead to the Deer Springs trail. It is confusing at first but the Deer Springs Trail is the only trail that passes by the Peak. Marion, Deer Springs ( trail head ) and Fuller Ridge all connect to the Deer Springs trail on the west side of the mountain and continue past the peak and down the south side of the mountain. The Devil’s Slide trail joins the Deer Springs trail on the south side of the mountain and hike North West. Hmmm. Try to get a map first.

Bear Canyon Trail to Mount Baldy –

This article details a hike up Bear Canyon trail to the top of Mount Baldy and back down. This trail is probably one of the more difficult trails in the San Gabriel Mountains. The only other comparable trail ( that I have been on ) is the Vivian Creek trail to the top of Gorgonio.

The trail started at the mount Baldy visitor’s center. I parked on the street. The reason I mention this is when we came back down, the gate to the visitor center parking was locked and a car was inside with no way to get out. The trail follows a paved road along a small stream through a densely forested area were little or not sun sees the ground. We passed a series of house and cottages in various stages of their live span. Some of the houses where build in the cliffs and required a pulley system to bring items, like groceries, to and from.

The trail crossed the stream and began the never ending upwards journey. The trail follows the stream for the most part up until Bear flats. This is a moderate climb through wooded area. There is a water pipe that follows, and is part of the trail at places, to a small, green water tank. The trail leads to a small meadow that is covered with ferns and other plants associated with water. This area was recently burned ( 2-4 years? ) and is in stark contrast to the wooded trail just before.

We crossed over the creek and quickly began the second most difficult part of the hike. There trail ascends up a slope to the “Ridge”. There are many switchbacks that take the unwary hiker to the top. The air during this part of the hike seemed much more humid and hot making this section of the trail a real bear. I think the increased humidity and temp are due to the water source directly below and the exposed trail. The trail gets really steep in some places.

We finally made it to the ridge and quickly sat down indicating we would new get up again. The trail continued up the ridge line through pine covered areas. This provided much better scenery than the switchbacks from hell. It also provided more shady spots to stop and rest. The ridge trail only lasted a few hundred yards until the really steep trail started. The trail goes straight up the ridge but has sections of loose gravel and dirt. Several times I was using both hands just to get up. There are plenty of trees along with scrubs of many varieties to break up the difficult climb. After many, many rest breaks, we finally made it to the top of this “ridge”.

This next section of the trail is much more flat than the prior section. This section has fewer trees than the prior section but has outstanding views of the nearby peaks and valleys. The trail meanders its way through scree fields along sometimes steep hillsides. There are fewer trees in this region and the ones that are there have certainly earned the right to be there. A hiker can just imagine the strength of the winds that must come through this region. The trail finds its way to the top of Baldy 1.5 miles or so away. I was hoping for some sort of applause when I reached the summit from the other hikers but none seemed to notice that I had arrived from the “hard way”.

The hike back down was treacherous in places because of the steepness, loose rock and dirt. This was true particularly in the switchbacks and the path down the middle steep area.

We had a great sighting of 3 big horn sheep very near the top of Baldy on the way down. There where three big rams watching us watch them. There were much fewer hikers on this trail. We only had one hiker pass us up, we called him superman. We later discovered that he was hiking with his girlfriend that he left behind on the trail for he wanted to “get his training in”. He is not so super after all. He should not have left her on the trail alone. Not a very smart move I think.

We had 4 people pass us going down the trail while we were still going up and two people pass us on the way down. One was superman, and the other was some crazy German man riding a mountain bike down. Yes, a bike down that trail…We say two dogs on the summit along with 30 other people.

In comparison, there was about 30 or so hikers on the ski hut trail to the top of baldy. Our next hike in a few weeks will be up to San Jacinto leaving from one of the Idlewild trails.