Cienaga Peak

Hiked: 9/22/2026
Distance: 9.8 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 9144'
Elevation Gain: 3046'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.4
Round trip time: 5 hours
Recommended water: 72 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass or Annual Pass at Humber Park, Free day hike permit
Difficulty: Moderate

After clearing it with my physical therapist, I decided to test my left shoulder on a moderate hike to Cienaga Peak. The MRI and surgery are still weeks in the future. Most of the pack weight was carried by my hips, while the shoulder straps were supported mainly by the collarbone and trap muscles. Nothing directly hit the external rotator or deltoid. I modified how I put the pack on and took it off, and didn't use my left arm with the hiking pole. I tried to keep the left arm down and stationary.

I arrived at Humber Park in Idyllwild about 8:45 AM to a mostly empty parking lot. It was sunny and cool, 55F, where pleasant temps hovered all day. I think the San Jacinto Wilderness is the most beautiful of the three major SoCal ranges (others being the Angeles and San Bernardino). I had kept this peak in my back pocket for when I needed a chill hike. I really needed a chill hike. I started up the Devil's Slide trail, a moderate grade with soft sand winding through giant evergreens. I was focused on my shoulder as I gained elevation. At Saddle Junction, everything seemed OK. I turned north on the PCT and hiked to the saddle north of Cienaga, then came back south to the summit. When I left the PCT, I had about a quarter mile of open country to reach the summit. I half expected a use trail, but found none. I went around various boulder piles until I reached the highest one. Since Cienaga has low prominence, I didn't see the summit through the trees until I was near. The summit block was about 20', class 2. I dropped my pack and was able to get up without using my left arm at all. Cienaga was not a listed peak, but there was a register in a single can. The most recent visit was a week prior and it appeared quite popular based on the number of entries. The views were great up toward San Jacinto and the satellite 10k peaks, and down to Tahquitz Peak and Suicide Rock.

Lily Rock

Summit block

Marion Mountain, June Peak, San Jacinto

Tahquitz and Suicide Rock

A note on permits: The Devil's Slide trail starts in a national forest and requires a self signed day use permit you can get at the Idyllwild ranger station. The section of the PCT that heads toward San Jacinto goes through the state wilderness and requires a different day use permit. The route I followed barely crosses into the state park (about 500') before turning south. Cienaga itself is in the national park. I didn't have a state wilderness permit, but if you left the trail earlier, it wouldn't even be a consideration.

My shoulder seemed no worse the day after, no noticeable change in pain. This was a successful test of the shoulder on a moderate hike, and I'll take it. I'm slightly encouraged, but I'm not counting it as a data point for how things will feel post recovery.

Mount San Antonio routes

This is a meta post showing the most common official and unofficial trails to Mount San Antonio (Mount Baldy).

The official trails:

• Ski Hut trail (aka Baldy Bowl trail)
• Devil's Backbone
• North Backbone
• Bear Canyon

The unofficial trails:

• Register Ridge
• San Antonio Ridge

Here is my take on difficulty in ascending order:

• Devil's Backbone
• Ski Hut trail
• Register Ridge
• North Backbone
• Bear Canyon
• San Antonio Ridge

The Devil's Backbone and Ski Hut are the most popular by far. If you want solitude, any of the other trails get you some.

The single ascent I did in winter was the Ski Hut trail, and it was quite a bit more challenging with snow and ice. The Devil's Backbone is notoriously dangerous and fatal when covered in snow.

Register Ridge used to be a faint use trail, but it's well groomed now and seems more like a maintained trail.

For the San Antonio Ridge, I went up the Ski Hut trail, then descended from Mount San Antonio to Iron Mountain #1 and finished at Heaton Flat. The trail along the ridge is good until you get to Gunsight Notch, then it becomes technical and harder to follow. It remains one of the most difficult and dangerous hikes I've done.

An uncertain future

A couple of weeks ago, I started getting severe pain in my left shoulder. It built up over four days, and I woke up one day with limited ranged of motion. Multiple trips to the doctor, including a PT and orthopedic, showed arthritis and deterioration of the joint. The orthopedic recommended a shoulder replacement and I am waiting to complete the MRI and CT before scheduling the surgery. It will be a very long and difficult recovery with some permanent loss of strength. It's unknown whether I will be able to get back to the challenging scramble routes I enjoy the most. I knew the day would eventually come, just not this soon. I am left with mixed feelings about whether to continue my peak bagging adventures or call it.

Mount San Antonio via Register Ridge

Hiked: 8/21/2026 (x7)
Distance: 7.8 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 10064' (San Antonio), 9538' (Harwood)
Elevation Gain: 4120'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 3.3
Round trip time: 5 hours 40 minutes
Recommended water: 120 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass at Manker Flat trailhead
Difficulty: Strenuous

This was my seventh summit of Mount San Antonio (Baldy), and fifth different route. I had been up Register Ridge once in 2013, but stopped at Harwood, then looped back over Thunder. This time, I continued up to San Antonio from Harwood and descended the Ski Hut trail (aka the Baldy Bowl trail). The Register Ridge trail is unofficial and unmaintained, following the ridge directly below Harwood. It started on the right just around a bend from the register stand. The trail was in much better shape than I remembered. It looked maintained, but I had forgotten how steep and loose it was in places. When I intersected the Devils Backbone trail, I continued up the use trail to Harwood. Like my last time on Harwood, I found no register or marks. Even though it's a minor bump on the ridge, I appreciated the packed gravel look. I dropped off the north side of Harwood, then up the heavily braided backbone trail to Mount San Antonio.

Approaching Mount Harwood

There were a few people on the summit, but it wasn't as busy as a weekend. I rested for 15 minutes and enjoyed a store bought sandwich. I descended on the Ski Hut trail. It also seemed improved with more signs to help navigate the braiding near the stop. The official trail went down a boulder outcrop that seemed new to me. It's possible I always followed other use trails near the top. A steady flow of water ran in a creek below the Ski Hut. I felt a little better about my performance seeing a group of twenty-somethings crashed out and asleep on the tables there. The rest went quickly. It was a fine calf-burning trainer in nice weather.

Mount San Antonio

Bedford Peak

Hiked: 8/11/2026 (x4)
Distance: 7 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 3807'
Elevation Gain: 1807'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.4
Round trip time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Maple Springs Road turnout
Difficulty: Moderate

This was my fourth ascent of Bedford Peak (LPS #34). It was a scaled down training hike I did after tweaking my lower back in the gym. I've noticed an increase in random minor injuries this year from my normal training regimen. Sucks getting old. Fortunately, it has been recovering quickly and not threatening plans for later in the month. The trailhead was at a dirt turnout on Maple Springs Road not far past the gate. I arrived at 7:45 AM and was surprised to see four other vehicles parked there on a random Tuesday. When I started, it was 72F with a high expected in the mid 80Fs. Not the best time to climb Bedford. I didn't take any breaks until I reached the summit. My last time on this trail was in 2019 and I only noticed a couple of changes. There used to be a cairn garden at one of the switchbacks that is now gone. The use trail from the road to Bedford is much better defined. There was no register and the benchmark has been gone for more than a decade. It still had a nice wooden sign. I had a nice view of San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, and Lake Elsinore. I wondered where all the people were from the other vehicles. On my way down, I passed one hiker who looked like he was going for Bedford, but he would have started after me. Half way down, I met two other hikers who had also started well after me. The people from the parked cars were never seen. Ghosts.

San Gorgonio and San Jacinto

Modjeska and Santiago

Almost down

Tip Top Mountain and Mineral Mountain

Hiked: 7/29/2026
Distance: 8.4 miles round trip on dirt road, use trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 7625' (Tip Top), 7244' (Mineral)
Elevation Gain: 1730'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.3
Round trip time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on OHV Road 3N03
Difficulty: Moderate (drive, route finding)

Tip Top Mountain (HPS #87) and Mineral Mountain (HPS #108) are two minor Sierra Club peaks east of Big Bear Lake. July was not the ideal time to tackle these, but I had limited time and thought I could be done before the worst of the heat. The Green Fire broke out along highway 38 the night before my hike, so I planned to get the trailhead from the north on 3N03. It was about 8 miles of dirt road to reach the start. The first four miles were mellow, then it started getting rocky. The next two miles required me to slow down, and at six miles, I reached a point where the road ahead looked challenging. I had just repaired my running board the day before and was gun shy about pushing it. I parked just off the road and hiked from there. It turned out that only the next half mile was rough, then the road smoothed out, but even in hindsight, I am glad I parked where I did.

I left the road and started along a use trail up a gully. I passed a sealed mine shaft, one of two I passed along the way. The gully led to the main ridge that went over Peak 7462, then dropped 100' before the final ascent. I crossed a dirt road near the top and realized it was the fork I passed on the way. The road ended about 100' below the top, but a use trail took over. Tip Top had a healthy 712' of prominence and decent views. The benchmark was missing, but there was a register stuffed in a single can. A solar panel powered some small antennae. My guess was they were for the forest service. I signed the register and took some aerial videos before trying to spot Mineral Mountain. It wasn't clear which bump below was Mineral.

"The Playground" OHV area

Tip Top Mountain is the highest point in the middle

No idea, but someone signed the register as Troll

I left Tip Top and angled back up to the ridge over easy county. The ridge had a faint use trail on it from HPS pilgrims making the same trek between the two. I identified Mineral as the last (and lowest) stop at the end of the ridge. The register was in a PVC pipe with a relatively small number of entries over the previous five years. The views were subpar compared to Tip Top. I dropped down to the road and walked back to the truck. It was about 85F and overly bright as the road reflected nearly all sunlight. I stopped for another coat of sunscreen. Three Jeeps passed by going the other way, the only other people I had seen. My guess is that 2N01 might be a better road than 3N03 to reach the area.

Mineral Mountain

Looking back at Tip Top