Cranes Peak, Peak 1540, Peak 1340

Hiked: 1/13/2025
Distance: 4.5 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 1054'
Elevation Gain: 1295'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at South Clevenger Trailhead
Difficulty: Easy

Looking for a quick hike that wasn't too far away, I stumbled on Cranes Peak in Escandido. Several PB reports showed ascents from the side of highway 78, but John Strauch reported going up the Clevenger South trail, then descending along the ridge. I thought that made the trip more interesting, so I downloaded his track. The parking lot for the trail can hold about 10 cars. I made great time up the switchbacks to the official end of the trail at Peak 1540. I looked for any kind of use trail from there, but found nothing, so I went down on the trail to a point where I could see a way to point 1423. I left the trail in knee high grass and dropped into a gully, before pushing through some soft plants up to 1423. I don't know why, but I expected the brush along the ridge to be sparse where I could go around most of it. Instead, I was walking through waist high grass and brush, poking my hiking stick in front of me every step to scare off snakes. On the way to Peak 1340, (the topo marks it 1360), there were some thin spots and animal trails that made it go a little easier. However, getting down to Cranes involved more deep grass and light bushwhacking. While the physical effort merited an easy rating, be aware of the brush involved. It was a short, but steep, 100' gain from the saddle up to Cranes Peak. There were nice views down San Pasqual Valley, sprawling orchards, and San Pasqual Academy below. There was no benchmark or register. I had no desire to bull my way back up the ridge, so I decided to climb down to highway 78 and return along the road. I walked/jogged my way back to the amusement of the motorists zooming by.

Peak 1540

Looking back at the trail and Peak 1540 from the ridge

Peak 1340

Looking up at Cranes Peak

Down the gully to highway 78

Iron Mountains High Point

Hiked: 1/5/2025
Distance: 9.7 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 3309'
Elevation Gain: 2706'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.1
Round trip time: 7 hours
Recommended water: 112 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on West Iron Portal Road
Difficulty: Strenuous

To kick off 2025, I headed to the small Iron Mountains range northeast of Joshua Tree. One of my ongoing side projects was to climb all the "Iron" Mountains in California. This range was unique in that a 7+ mile tunnel runs under it as part of the Colorado Aqueduct system. It delivers water from the Colorado river to Lake Mathews in the Inland Empire. A pumping station on the east side pushes water up and through the Iron Mountains. The tunnel runs just north of the high point and exits at the West Portal. I started at the end of the dirt road alongside the aqueduct on the west side. The road was signed as private, but open to use. It was very smooth and I was able to cruise at 30-40 mph to the end.

West Iron Portal
The first couple of miles were flat, open desert, as I passed the outstretched arms of jagged ridges. Then, it got rockier with bowling ball sized rocks and many deep washes (10-30') to cross. I thought I'd give the main gully a try, and return down the ridge. It was slow going in the gully with large boulders and thorny brush. As I entered a steeper section, I decided I'd make better time on the ridge. I began scaling the north wall of the gully and was surprised it went class 2. Most of the rocks were solid, but they were not anchored well to the mountain. Everything felt ready to break loose. Back on the ridge, there was more scrambling to a false summit. The final bit had me drop off the ridge to side hill on loose dirt around some obstacles. There was an ancient register from 1984, brittle, and only half full. I was careful with it since some of the pages had come loose. I searched for a benchmark, but didn't find one. The summit area was narrow and short, but had great 360 views. These Iron Mountains were very gray without much color variation. The wind picked up, so I only stayed on top a few minutes. I stopped to eat on the way down once I was out of the wind. The ridge descent was easier than the gully: four steep class 2 slopes. When I got back to the gully, I built a small cairn at the foot of the ridge. It was fine desert day and another Iron Mountain in the books.

Crossing one of many deep washes

Climbing out the gully

Final approach

Summit

East pumping station below

Taking the ridge down

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2024 Retrospective

I started 2024 by breaking my ankle on January 1. Things got better from there.

Bare Mountain, P6103, P6168, and P6068

Hiked: 12/20/2024
Distance: 7.5 miles round trip on dirt road, firebreak, and trail
Summit Elevation: 2399'
Elevation Gain: 6400' (Bare)
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.9
Round trip time: 4 hours
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Forest Road 5N04
Difficulty: Moderate

I parked at a wide turnout on Forest Road 5N04 to hike Bare Mountain (HPS #160) and a group of unnamed lower peaks. From the ACH, I turned on to Santa Clara Divide Road, then right on 5N04. All roads were paved, but 5N04 had a few potholes. I parked at an open gate where the road turned to dirt. The reason I parked outside the gate is because people had reported coming back from the hike to find the gate closed and locked. The hike only followed the dirt road about a half mile, and I planned to do a loop and return a different way. I started up the road and met a truck full of bow hunters on their way out. I found a use trail that took me to the big firebreak running all the way to Bare Mountain.

False summit

Triangle marker was about half way

First view of Bare Mountain
Bare Mountain itself was not visible from the road. My first sight of it was from the false summit I spied from the road. Parts of the ridge were steep, but there were breaks along the way. The Bare register was from 2022 in a white PVC pipe and had a small number of entries for an HPS peak. I could not find any benchmarks. There was an interesting view of the east side of Pacifico and great views of the high desert. Mount Williamson, Pallet, Will Thrall, and Waterman loomed large. Wilson and friends were visible far south. An odd square meter on the summit was fenced with chicken wire. I found nothing of interest inside the wire and left baffled about its purpose. Heading back, I diverted along the firebreak that led to the unnamed peaks. I followed Michael Sullivan's track for this part, expecting firebreaks across all three of the 6000'+ peaks.

Chicken wire enclosure

Waterman

Pleasant View Ridge and Will Thrall Peak

Pacifico with Strawberry Peak sticking out on the left
It was a steep down and up to P6103. Boot prints provided evidence this path was fairly popular. I found nothing on the summits of any of the peaks. I crossed P6168, noting I was pretty far from Bare Mountain and much closer to Pacifico. It crossed my mind that I could tag Pacifico with extra effort, but I wanted to check out some rock formations later on Santa Clara Divide. The HPS guide said there was a triangle marker on P6168, but I didn't see it. Leaving P6168, I ran into a wall of brush. I had to backtrack and stay high on the ridge where the firebreak was more open. There was a small amount of brush on the ridge to P6068 and several cul-de-sacs of vegetation. Just past P6068, I spotted the PCT about 100' below. It was an easy descent and I cruised back on the PCT. HPS route #1 starts along the trail and goes up a ridge to P6168, but many reports complained about bad brush on that route. Michael Sullivan's route avoids that nastiness. When I got back to the truck, the gate was closed and locked. It was a good call to park at the turnout.

Peak 6103

Peak 6168

Looking back at Bare Mountain

PCT

Random boulder pile on Santa Clara Divide Road

The 3+ hour drive home