Iron Hiker: Mount Lukens

Friday, November 24, 2017

Mount Lukens

HPS Star Emblem Peak
Hiked: 11/24/2017
Distance: 10.1 miles round trip on trail and dirt road
Summit Elevation: 5074'
Prominence: 1794'
Elevation Gain: 3100'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.48
Round trip time: 4 hours 40 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Deukmejian Wilderness Park
Difficulty: Moderate

Leisa and I drove to Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale on Black Friday to take on Mt. Lukens. It had been on my to do list a long time but never bubbled to the top until now. Mt. Lukens is #273 on the HPS list and is actually within the Los Angeles city limits making it the highest point in the city. It was named after Theodore Lukens, former supervisor of the Angeles National Forest and former mayor of Pasadena. The Deukmejian park has nice restroom facilities and water. The plan was to do a well known loop up the Crescenta View Trail and down the Rim of the Valley Trail. We started up the trail looking for the Crescenta View junction. The arrow sticker on the sign at the junction was torn off leading us to continue up Dunsmore Canyon. We got about half a mile before I realized we were on the wrong trail. Leisa was not impressed. We had to descend about 300' back to the junction before the hike really got started. The trail is heavily switchbacked and the steepness of the ascent kept us in shadow most of the way up. The higher we got, the better view we had of the greater LA area, including downtown. When we reached the rock windbreak, we were well above the Verdugo Mountains and could have seen the ocean if not for the haze. There was a "Trail Log" box there with a single piece of paper in it. I signed us in knowing the paper would probably last about two more days.

Mt. Lukens from Highway 2

Mt. Lukens from the parking lot

Crescenta View Trail junction, trail goes right

Looking up the steep east ridge

Downtown LA just above the Verdugo Mountains

Leisa at the windbreak

The Crescenta View Trail ends at Mt. Lukens Road and so does most of the elevation gain. We took a left and drifted up the road to the Lukens summit. At the first tower, I decided to leave the road and explore the towers on the east side of the summit. Leisa continued up the road. I met another couple resting under one of the towers and exchanged some small talk. I looked around for reference marks but didn't find any on this part of the summit. I had a vague idea that the HPS register was on this side of the long summit but had no luck finding it. I continued west and met up with Leisa again. She told me about a close encounter she had with three deer along the road. I was glad to see she got some nice photos. We walked to the west end of the summit where the official benchmark was on the map, but only found reference mark number 5, stamped "La Crescenta". The topo map also names it "Sister Elsie" so there appears to be some confusion and controversy over the name. I did more mark hunting and came up empty, finally giving up and sitting down for some fuel. While we enjoyed the summit, two more hiking groups arrived. The proximity to four million people makes this a pretty popular destination. Because I had led us astray, I suggested that we return on the Crescenta View Trail to save time instead of completing the loop. Leisa supported this idea and we started down the way we came up. We went back along the road, and were surprised to find the deer still hanging around. They were lying down until my clumsy presence alarmed them. One bounded away while the others put some distance between us but were curious and stopped to stare. We continued down and lost elevation quickly, getting back to the car in less than two hours. A hilarious "Infinite Clearance" sign in the park caught our attention. An internet search turned up an LA Times article on fake signs a local artist installed around town, including this one. It was a nice touch.