Hiked: 6/22/2018
Distance: 16.4 miles one way on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 10064' (Mt. San Antonio), 9988' (West Baldy), 8007' (Iron)
Elevation Gain: 5646' (Gain), 9817' (Loss)
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 4.51 (7.85 loss)
Round trip time: 16 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 252 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass at Heaton Flat and Manker Flat
Difficulty: Very Strenuous
This checked off a bucket list hike for me. I had been trying to arrange this hike for nearly 3 years, but the stars never aligned. It was a one way trip from Manker Flat near Mount San Antonio to Heaton Flat below Iron Mountain #1. In addition to the ridge traverse, we wanted to drop off the ridge to Gold Dollar Mine as a side trip, but because of high heat, it was a game time decision. Henry and I met at Heaton Flat at 1:00 AM and he drove to Manker. Due to heavy fog, we missed the turn on Glendora Ridge Road and didn't get to Manker until 2:30 AM.
It was cool in the middle of the night as we climbed the Ski Hut trail. A lot of new signs have been installed on the trail since I was last there. We climbed at a steady pace and reached the summit at sunrise. Low clouds covered the LA suburbs and foothills thousands of feet below. Mt. San Antonio imposed a long shadow on the horizon. It wasn't surprising that we had the mountain to ourselves. We refueled, then walked over to West Baldy and began to descend the ridge in shadow. There was a very good use trail down the steep ridge. Plenty of cairns marked the way. There was a great view into Cow Canyon. As we got further along the ridge, we met thickets of buckthorn. Some of it had been trimmed back and the use trail bypassed some of it. Other parts we had to plow through taking a few hits to our legs. In some places, we followed what looked like a way through only to backtrack when they ended in walls of thorns. Overall, this part of the ridge was easier than expected. I was watching the GPS to figure out where we needed to drop off the ridge to find Gold Dollar Mine. It was the final bump before Gunsight Notch. We stopped there to rest and decide what to do. Ultimately, I didn't think I had enough water to make the side trip in the heat. I vowed we would make a separate trip to the mine when the weather broke in the fall.
West Baldy and Baldy's shadow
Santa Ana Mountains surrounded by clouds
Starting down the ridge, both Baldy and West Baldy casting shadows
Looking back
Approaching Gunsight Notch
Next up was Gunsight Notch and the tricky part of the ridge. We started toward it down a narrow section of the ridge before Henry remembered the approach to the base was around to the left. We backed up and found a good place to head up left of the tree in the middle of the notch. There were plenty of holds but they had to be tested since some of the rocks were loose and would pull free. There was a lot of airy exposure on both sides. The final move was a traverse left of the high point that Sean Green calls Sniper Point. It looked worse than it was. My mistake was assuming that once I passed Gunsight Notch, the ridge would get easier. I thought the second notch was more difficult. There is a semi-stable tree that you need to climb over and we spent some time trying to figure out the best way over the top of the second notch. There was a way up on the left side of the jutting rocks, but it was very exposed with a starting foothold above a 100' drop. I started down the right side to explore a gully, but everything I touched slid and gave way. I clawed my way back up sending handfuls of rotten debris down the gully. We returned to the left side and scrambled up. A little higher, Henry made a dangerous direct ascent over some rocks where an easier route was 5' to his left. Thankfully, he made that move without any of the rocks breaking. There was a third scrambling section made of white rock maybe 500' below Iron Mountain. Bypasses were available for some parts of the rugged terrain, and there were several class 2 sections. I was startled that some of the class 2 sections also had crazy exposure to huge drops. Just when I thought we could walk up to the summit, Iron had one more F-you in store. The ridge dropped and we had several hundred feet of hands and feet scrambling up loose dirt before it mellowed out. Like Mt. San Antonio, we had Iron Mountain to ourselves. By this time, the sun was cooking us. We signed the register and took a few quick photos before starting the long descent down the south ridge of Iron.
Glorious Gunsight Notch
Looking down from the side of Gunsight
Top of Gunsight from the dead tree
The 2nd notch
Top of 2nd notch. Best way up is left.
More work ahead to get to Iron
Henry making a difficult and scary move on loose rock
Final section, use trail climbs the left side
About 100' below the summit of Iron, we stopped in some shade to rest and take inventory. Henry still had a lot of water left. I was down to 64 oz, which I thought was enough. I had recently been treated for an actinic keratosis (AK), a pre-cancerous spot on my left forearm. For this reason, I was not only slathered in sunscreen, but had been applying it frequently along the hike. That was also the reason I had a long sleeved base layer on and long pants even though the high at Heaton Flat was forecast to be 96F. I chose to deal with the heat to protect my skin. I pushed hard down the mountain, Henry behind taking his time. We took a few breaks in the little shade we found on the way down to Allison Saddle. Just past the saddle, the heat overwhelmed me. I had a mild case of heat exhaustion. I finished off my last bottle of water trying to cool down and not puke my guts out. It was a bad situation since it got hotter with every step down and we had four miles to go. I laid down under some brush to get out of the sun. Had I been alone, my only option would have been to stay put until the sun went down. I had to minimize not only my heat generation but anything that retained heat. Skin be damned. I zipped off the lower half of my hiking pants, changed the long sleeved shirt to a short sleeved and even took off my underwear. Henry generously offered me a liter of his water. After ten minutes or so, I was back on my feet moving at a glacial pace up the ridge. With about a mile to go, I finally felt recovered. The heat episode cost us an hour and was a harsh lesson. I cranked the AC until I was freezing and drove Henry back to his car. The first ten hours of this hike rank among the most fun I've had, and soon I'll forget the rest. Iron Mountain continues to impress me in every way. There are a lot of people I want to thank for providing beta: Sean Green, Dima Kogan, Willie Price, Ze, Aar Jay Soria (kicks_rocks), Scott Richardson, and Headsizeburrito. If I forgot someone, it was unintentional.
Sidebar on distance and gain: No method of calculating distance and gain is perfect. GPS tracks are notorious for errors. I usually upload my track to caltopo.com and let it calculate the stats and accept the inaccuracies, but this track was too big for caltopo to digest. First, I used Google Earth and came up with 15.9 miles, 7414' of gain and 11585' of loss. Then, I used GPS Visualizer and used digital elevation modeling, plus horizontal and vertical thresholds to smooth out the track and eliminate noise. The published stats which are much more accurate but still have a margin of error. This will be my default way to compute stats in the future.
Baden-Powell from Iron Mountain
The traverse from Glendora Ridge Road
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I am glad everything was OK. Sounds like the most dangerous situation I've read on your site to date. Congrats on the accomplishment; I don't think I could handle this route. :)
ReplyDeleteJoseph,
DeleteThanks for your concern. In retrospect, I should have shed the lower zip off part of my pants on the Iron summit and gone down more slowly. I was just pushing myself too hard in 90F heat. Heat exhaustion hit me like a sledge hammer, all of a sudden. Then, it was too late. I am not used to doing 16 hour hikes, so I sometimes make mistakes. My sweet spot for hikes is probably 12-16 miles, up to 8 hours. I think you could handle it...if you wanted to.
Yea, prob would have been a good call. Glad it is all well now. I have been considering this sometime, maybe as a prep for Cactus2Clouds at sometime.
DeleteThey are both difficult epic hikes, but the San Antonio Ridge seemed more difficult to me because of the class 3 problems and route finding. Maybe I have a cognitive bias because it was also so recent.
DeleteI've been wanting to do this hike for a while. It does seem a little hairy, judging by your awesome video as you're climbing up whatever that notch that was. Another obstacle for me is finding a partner to do it with. I would like to do it at the beginning of Fall season preferably. I'm glad you guys made it safely. Awesome accompaniment, congratulations!
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
DeleteThere are a few hairy spots, you just need to test the rocks before committing your weight. Fall is the best time for it. Finding a partner can be tricky. Some people do it as an out and back from Manker, but I think that is more difficult. Good luck!
You guys are beasts! That was a monster hike. What's the distance/mileage across one way? I know it says 16 hrs. 15 minutes on your stats at the top of your post but it also says round trip. Congratulations on your accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
DeleteThanks! It was 16.4 miles one way from Manker to Heaton. Roughly 5.4 from Baldy to Iron #1 (just the ridge). The time was also one way. It is a classic.
How long did it take you to get across the ridge with all the notches and up to Big Iron?
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
DeleteThe major segments broke down like this:
Manker Flat to Baldy Summit: 3 hours
Baldy Summit across the ridge to Iron: 7 hours
Iron to Heaton Flat: 6 hours
Sorry to rehash an old post...but: would you do this route solo? Considering right now...
ReplyDeleteJoseph,
DeleteI would solo it now, but I was glad to have a partner the first time. There are a couple of tricky spots, one at the start of gunsight, and one on the witches backbone that are easier if you know the best route. There's also the driving logistics to think about unless you do it out and back, or have something pick you up. Good luck!
Thanks! I was just wondering; could not find any solo reports online. Good to know.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThe original post names the middle notch as a particularly precarious spot. Have you found a better way to do it since?
Yasha,
DeleteThe photo above with the caption "Top of 2nd notch. Best way up is left." is one I first tried to bypass in a gully on the right, which was dangerous. The rock is solid there and going up the rock is the best and safest way. Further, on the witches backbone where the caption is "Henry making a difficult and scary move on loose rock", there is a safer and easier way up on Henry's left next to a tree. I think Henry wanted an extra challenge there, but he scared the crap out of me, haha.
I was actually there twice last month. First I did Iron to Baldy, then I went back and hiked Iron to the “campsite” peak just beyond Gunsight Notch, and then back to Iron.
DeleteI personally found the beginning of Gunsight Notch (proceeding towards Iron), as well as the Witches Backbone to be the two hardest spots.
In your original post you stated that you thought the 2nd notch was more difficult than Gunsight, and that there was a very exposed foothold on the left side above a 100’ drop. Several others have also said the same thing. However, I went up the left side of the second notch that you spoke of, and I personally did not find it to be very exposed. I thought other spots such as Gunsight Notch, Witches Backbone, and even one of the class 2 spots with crazy exposure were all scarier than the 2nd notch. I’m just curious as to whether I went a different way which was easier, or if I just perceived it differently.
Another thing I found was that Witches Backbone was significantly more challenging going westward towards Iron, than eastward towards Baldy. The easiest way is to make a step across a gap while grabbing onto handholds. Proceeding eastward, I did it right away. Proceeding westward, on the other hand, it took me a minute to make that step.
I also found that there were three different ways to scale the tricky part of Gunsight Notch, that I call “the chimney.” I personally went down (as well as up) the middle way. However, one of my hiking partners scrambled down the approach on the left (north), while another one of my hiking partners climbed down the approach on the right (south). The northern descent is probably the easiest, except for the last few steps along a ledge that I find to be pretty sketchy. The southern descent is probably the most challenging, as it is necessary to make a class 4 downclimb where you do not see where your feet are for several moves.
Yasha,
DeleteYou clearly know the route very well. I've done the route toward Iron twice and the 2nd notch seemed to have more difficult moves so I think we just had different impressions. I recall a pretty big drop at that spot. I agree that several class 2 section had wild exposure, something that surprised me the first time.
Interesting you thought the Witches Backbone was more difficult in one direction than another. The white rock there is so cool. I took the same route going up Gunsight both times. It looks frightening, and it had death exposure, but most of the moves were direct. Again, it might feel different going down. In either direction, it is a classic route and I think the best hike in the San Gabriels.
I do know it pretty well now, having led the route twice. I first did it with Verdi in 2018. That was toward Baldy. Then I did it again toward Baldy in December 2020, this time leading using the track I recorded from the time I did it with Verdi. Then a couple weeks later, I went back again to do just the class 3 portion of the ridge in both directions. At this point I know it well enough that I think I could do it even without the assistance of a track.
DeleteI’m still thinking I must have traversed the 2nd notch differently, because the way I traversed it did not involve any difficult moves. I’m not that great of a climber, and I have fear of heights, so if it were indeed more difficult and exposed than Gunsight Notch, it would probably be too hard for me. My way at least was significantly easier than Gunsight Notch, and not too wildly exposed.
I think the reason Witches Backbone was more challenging toward Iron was because the step was slightly upwards.
Which way did you climb Gunsight Notch? Did you climb up the south face or the middle approach?
Iron to Baldy is one of my favorite hikes, and I look forward to returning there in the spring, after most of the snow on Baldy melts.
Have you ever done Triplet Rocks? It’s a much harder hike than Iron to Baldy, possibly beyond my capabilities due to extensive class 4 rock scrambling. I might attempt it, but I may well be forced to turn around halfway through.
Yasha,
DeleteLet's continue the discussion via email (t e k e w i n @ g m a i l)