Trip Report:
Hiking up San Jacinto has become an annual tradition on new years eve. This was the second year Eric and I hiked to the top from the tram. It was a beautiful day and a fun hike.

Mt. Baldy and San Gorgonio From The Summit

We made the drive from San Diego and arrived at the lower tram station in time for the 8:15 tram. I always love driving along I-10 past San Jacinto’s north face. This year it was void of snow except for the very top. Unless we get a few big storms Snow Creek may not be in this year.

The trail from the ranger station was packed down and icy until the Round Valley sign. Past the sign the trail was packed but not icy.

Snow Near the Ranger Station

Round Valley Sign

River Crossing

Packed Trail

Rabbit Tracks

Enjoying the Day

We made good time along the packed trail. We did not need snowshoes the entire day, although if we ventured off the packed trail the snow was 2-3 feet deep.

Low Snow Year

Jean Peak

Cornell Peak

Low Snow Year

Eventually Eric and I made it to the Miller Peak saddle. From here it was a short hike to the summit.

Eric Along the Ridge

Nice Packed Trail

San Gorgonio

We reached the summit about 3 hours after starting from the tram. We took a break, ate some food and enjoyed the views on the summit.

Looking South

Eric on the Summit

San Gorgonio From the Summit

San Gorgonio 2010

Mt. Baldy From the Summit

The Upper Tram Station

The Sign on the Summit

Slightly More Snow Last Year

Myself on the Summit

Eric on the Summit

Summit Benchmark

After eating and taking pictures we made our way to the top of Snow Creek.

Snow Creek

San Gorgonio From the Summit

Eric Checking Out Snow Creek

On our way down we walked over to the hut and went inside. Last year the hut was buried in snow, this year it was an easy find. On the way down we made a few “short cuts” which didn’t work out so well.

Eventually we made it back to the tram for a round trip time of 5:45, about 2.5 hours faster than last year. It helped that there was much less snow this year than last.

2011

2010

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Date Hiked: 7-30 to 7-31-2011

Trip Report:
This was a trip with the peakbaggers meet up group. The plan was to start at the Momyer trailhead, hike to Saxton camp then hike to the summit. The total mileage was around 26 with an elevation gain around 6000.

San Gorgonio

Dave and I arrived at the Mill Creek ranger station around 8:15 and met the other guys in the group. The weather report said a chance of storms for the entire weekend. After driving to the trailhead we started hiking, the trip to Saxton camp was uneventful. It was humid, hot but the trail was nice. A few minutes before we arrived at camp the weather broke. We quickly set up camp as the rain began to fall. There was also quite a bit of thunder and lightning.

Yucaipa Ridge

Campsite

Plummer Meadows

Charlton Peak

After a few hours the storm let up and it began to slowly clear. Originally the plan was to wake up early Sunday and hike to the peak but after reading the weather forecast we decided out best chance at the summit would be this afternoon. We geared up and left camp around 3:15. The hike to Dollar Lake saddle was easy, the trail wondered through Plummer Meadows. The weather was much cooler thanks to the thunderstorm. There was still a chance for another storm so we all watched the sky and were prepared to turn around if needed.

Jepson Peak in the Clouds

The Ridge I Descended in March

The higher we hiked the cloudier it became.

In the Clouds

Michael Setting a Nice Pace

Chris Hiking Up the Trail

Eventually as we rounded Jepson Peak we could see the summit area of San Gorgonio.

San Gorgonio Summit Area

Jepson Peak

Around the time we reached the intersection with the Vivian Creek trail the clouds began to clear.

Jepson Peak

San Gorgonio Summit Area

Around 6:00 PM we arrived at the summit. It took a little less than 3 hours from camp to hike the 6 miles to the summit. The clouds were still clearing but the views were beginning to open up. As we were arriving at the summit Paul, Mark and Aaron were leaving they arrived awhile before us and were getting cold so decided to head back to camp. In our group was Michael, Chris, Gong, Dave and myself.

July 30th

March 12th

We stayed on the summit for about 15 minutes before heading back to camp. We did not want to stay to long because we were not sure what the weather was going to do. As we made our way down it began to rain steadily there was also some hail mixed in with the rain.

Gong Chris and Dave Headed Back Down

Rain Headed Our Way

Jepson Peak

Dave and Michael Headed Down the Trail

San Gorgonio Summit Area

Dragonshead

Jepson Bowl

Ridge Down to the South Fork

Little Charlton Peak

Jepson Peak

We made good time down the mountain reaching Dollar Lake saddle in just over an hour and a half. The weather had cleared up by this time and we finally got to see the sun again.

Little Charlton Peak

San Gorgonio

San Gorgonio Through the Trees

As we were headed down from Dollar Lake saddle we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Sunset

We arrived at camp around 8:30 for a five hour round trip. We talked for awhile then went to sleep. Around 4:30 the next morning we heard thunder and saw lightning. This lasted for an hour and a half. As we broke camp and made our way back to car it rained most of the way. We were glad we decided to go for the summit the night before because there was no way we were making it today. We finally made it back to the car around 9:30 as it began to rain harder, we got out just in time. Overall this was a fun trip up a different trail to San Gorgonio.

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Elevation: 10,064 & 9,552 ft.

Date Hiked: 5-28-2011

Trip Report:
This was the 6th time I hiked Mt. Baldy but the first time I hiked Mt. Harwood. Every other time I hiked Mt. Baldy I had descended the Ski Hut trail. This time I decided to descend the Devils Backbone Trail and bag Mt. Harwood along the way. Eric and Evan we along for the hike.

Mt. Baldy From Mt. Harwood

We arrived at Manker around 9:30 and began hiking not to long after. There were more people hiking than I had ever seen on Baldy, not surprising since it was a holiday weekend. The weather was warm near the trailhead as we began hiking. We were above the clouds to the west. We made good time to the hut where we took a quick break. From the hut it took another hour and a half to reach the summit.

Above the Clouds

West Baldy

There were still patches of snow near the summit. The wind picked up on the summit and I had to put a jacket on. We could see snow on both San Gorgonio and San Jacinto.

Snow Near the Summit

San Gorgonio From the Summit

Cucamonga Peak

San Jacinto From the Summit

Iron Mountain

Mt. Badden-Powell

West Baldy

Pine Mountain and Dawson Peak

Looking Toward the Sierra

We spent about a half hour on the summit and then made our way down toward Mt. Harwood.

Descending From the Summit

Mt. Harwood

The Baldy Bowl

Eventually we made it to Mt. Harwood. There was some interesting GPS equipment on the summit. From the summit of Mt. Harwood is was a quick traverse downhill to the backbone trail.

GPS Equipment on Mt. Harwood

Mt. Harwood Summit

Summit Cairne

The Baldy Bowl From Mt. Harwood

Descending to the Trail

Once we intersected the trail we made our way along the Devils Backbone. I had never been over this portion of the trail. It looks like it would be a fun hike in the winter.

The Devils Backbone

Eventually we made it to the notch where the chair lift was located. From here we hiked down the road to Manker flats.

Baldy Notch

Clouds Along the Road

Mt. Baldy Summit Panorama

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Elevation: 5,779 & 6,147 ft.

Date Hiked: 4-9-2011

Trip Report:
This was the third time I was visiting this area, both times before I did not summit San Ysidro Mountain. Mark had not summited the Thimble or San Ysidro so we decided to tag both while we were here.

San Ysidro Mountain

We met along S22 and drove to the trailhead. From our parking spot it was a short distance to both the Thimble and San Ysidro Mountain. This was also a recon hike for an upcoming all day hike we had planned. The hike to the Thimble was easy and did not take long.

Making our Way to the Thimble

Snow on Palomar Mountain

The Thimble Summit

Ice and Snow Near the Summit

Most Tree Branches Were Covered With a Coat of Rime Ice Near the Summit

Near the summit the wind picked up and it was much colder. There was a coat of ice on all of the rocks and trees.

The Summit Blocks

The Summit Register

Myself on the Summit

Mark on the Summit

Mark found an easy descent route down the west side of the summit.

Mark Down Climbing from the Summit

Once we descended from the Thimble we traversed across to San Ysidro. We tried to follow the directions from the HPS website but ended up making our own path.

Looking Back to the Thimble

Looking Up to San Ysidro

The Thimble from Higher on San Ysidro

Getting Close to the Summit

The Summit Blocks

Rime Ice on the Summit Blocks

Once we arrived on the Summit ridge there was a nice flat area to set our packs and take a look at the summit register.

The Summit Area

Rime Ice

The actual benchmark was on a large rock which required a few fun moves to reach the top.

San Ysidro Benchmark

Mark Climbing to Reach the Benchmark

The Thimble From San Ysidro

Toro Peak

Rabbit and Villager Peaks

San Ysidro Summit Ridge

Granite Mountain and the Lagunas

After signing the register we made our way down the mountain and back to the car.

Looking Back at the Thimble

Clouds Above the Thimble

San Ysidro Mountain Pamorama