Charlton Peak, Little Charlton, and Poopout Hill

Hiked: 9/28/2018
Distance: 14.9 miles round trip on trail and and cross country
Summit Elevation: 10806' (Charlton), 10696' (Little Charlton), 7840' (Poopout Hill)
Elevation Gain: 4197'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 3.35
Round trip time: 7 hours 40 minutes
Recommended water: 156 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Strenuous

September is my favorite month to visit the San Bernardino Mountains. The bugs of early summer are usually gone and the heat raging in the desert and other local ranges is moderated by the cool air of the high country. Many areas were closed for a couple of years following fires, but almost everything has been opened again (a few roads remained closed). The burden of getting a hiking permit was also lifted last year. A welcome change. My goal today was Charlton, Little Charlton, and Poopout Hill from the South Fork Trail. It was a totally new area for me. I was the only car in the parking lot at 6 AM. There were nice restrooms and the trail starts by crossing highway 38 heading south. I took off in twilight.

The trail was in great shape. The first thing I noticed was the severity of the burned trees. Most of the forest on this side had burned up to about 9000'. Less than a mile up the trail was Horse Meadows, where two cabins and a bench had survived the fire. The trail crossed a dirt road above Horse Meadows and another half mile got me to Poopout Hill. There was a camping spot there, but the low summit boulders had no markers or register. Poopout Hill was only a 5 minute diversion. The South Fork Trail is on the north side of the high spine of the mountains and remained in shadows all morning. Combined with the elevation and a breeze, the temps dropped into the 40Fs and I had to put on gloves. A dramatic change from the high 90Fs on Grunt two weeks ago. From this point to Dollar Lake Saddle at 10000', the trail makes long, swooping switchbacks. The grade is gentle up to the Dry Lake cut off, then gets steeper, but never uncomfortably so. However, the combination of distance and increasing elevation make it a grind. The last mile before Dollar Lake Saddle offered phenomenal views of San Gorgonio and Charlton. The northern slopes of Charlton looked quite rough from the trail. I took a break at Dollar Lake Saddle to refuel, staying in the sun and adding another light layer. I also cached two bottles of water for the return trip.

Poopout Hill summit

San Gorgonio

Charlton Peak

The crux of the hike was the east ridge of Charlton. It's 800' of steep class 1 with occasional light class 2 on nice granite. A trace of a use trail appeared and faded. The pines are sparse enough that they don't really get in the way, but I was moving slowly on the ridge above 10k. The summit area was long and broad and the trees blocked views 180 degrees to the east. There was a broken ammo box bolted to a rock with a pair of red cans inside. The register was brand new, only placed a couple of weeks earlier. I found no USGS marks. After signing in, I enjoyed the sharp view of the north side of San Gorgonio and Jepson. Gorgonio was only 800' higher than Charlton, but it looked much higher due to bulk. After some photos, I started down toward Little Charlton, barely visible over the trees. When I got near the saddle between the two, it opened up and I got a good look up the rocky ridge. It was only 100' gain to the top of Little Charlton. Any of three small bumps could have been the high point. The second bump had a broken ammo box, but no register, probably the official summit. My Garmin GPS showed the third small bump as the summit, but the GPS topo has shown errors in the past. To be safe, I went over all of them on the way down the west ridge to meet up with the San Bernardino Divide Trail. I took the trail around the south side of Charlton back to Dollar Lake Saddle. I picked up my water cache, then set a quick cadence to make up for my slowness on Charlton. On the way down, I met my a few backpackers heading up for the weekend, including two USFS rangers making their way to Big Tree Camp. They said it was a remote area and not very popular. I hadn't heard of it and needed to look it up when I got home. My final rest stop was at Horse Meadows to check out the cabins. One was locked and one looked like it was built for stable gear. I was snacking on the picnic table when I heard a loud crash from the brush nearby. My first startled reaction was bear(!) but I think it was just a burned limb that had fallen from one of the trees. Either way, it encouraged me to get back on the trail and finish. This hike was right in my sweet spot between 12-16 miles.

Climbing up the east ridge

Charlton summit

Looking south

On the way to Little Charlton

Little Charlton summit

Exploded pine

Cabins at Horse Meadows

Grunt Benchmark

Hiked: 9/14/2018
Distance: 5 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 2144'
Elevation Gain: 1115'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.89
Round trip time: 3 hours
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Carrizo Creek
Difficulty: Easy

Grunt is the 5th of 5 "Struggles" the USGS named near the Carrizo Gorge. Who says they don't have a sense of humor? Four of the five are on the San Diego Peaks List and I had already visited them, but Grunt was unfinished business from a hike with Eric Su in 2016. The shortest direct approach was from the north in Carrizo Gorge. The Struggles in descending order of elevation:

1. Gasp 3223'
2. Moan 2939'
3. Groan 2732'
4. Puff 2719'
5. Grunt 2144'

There is a warning sign at the start of Carrizo Creek road about deep sand and 4x4 vehicles only. As promised, I found deep sand quickly and a few places where it was 6" deep. Sand was the only hazard the first few miles, then the road got considerably worse. It dipped in and out of the rocky creek, and was severely eroded in spots. High clearance was needed for some of the creek crossings. About a mile from the end of the road, I could no longer see the continuation, so I just parked and started hiking. It was already over 90F at 9:30 AM so I intentionally slowed my pace and took a break whenever I found enough shade. It was still too hot to spend more than a half day in the desert. I headed down the banks of the creek, eventually finding more of the road. Just past the end of the official road, I took a side canyon west following Greg Gerlach's GPS track. The unnamed side canyon was sandy and mostly clear of obstacles. There was a class 2 section near the start. I followed it until I was almost directly north of Grunt, then started up the slope staying above a prominent gully.

4x4 Only

In the side canyon

Starting up the slope

It was steep and slow in the heat, but I trudged ahead. The Grunt summit was mostly hidden until I reached the end of the ridge. The summit area was large and flat with multiple rock piles competing for the top spot. I checked out a couple before finding the summit and a pair of yellow cans with the register. The benchmark was directly under the cans. I found an old rotten post that had fallen down and stood it back up with piles of rocks. Grunt is a remote peak and since it was not on the official list, I thought it would have a very small number of entries. The register went back to 1982 and was only half full, but it contained at least twice the entries I expected. There was no pencil or pen in the register so I left one. The view up to Gasp was impressive, and I was glad I wasn't headed up there. The view back down the gorge was also impressive. While I was on the summit, a DHS helicopter flew up the gorge on patrol. On the way back, I stopped to check out a small natural cave in the side canyon. It was a cozy 10' cave with a soft dirt bed. I had to use a flashlight to see the end of it due to the contrast with the bright light outside. I'm not sure any animal still uses it, but it would be a fine shelter. I got back without seeing another person the whole day.

Grunt summit with Gasp in the background

Register

A note from Paul Freiman about the pain points

Looking north

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Solstice Cave

Hiked: 9/14/2018
Distance: 2 miles round trip cross country
Elevation: 2295'
Elevation Gain: 1012'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.81
Round trip time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on South Indian Valley Road
Difficulty: Easy

Solstice Cave is a sacred site of Native American pictographs in the Anza-Borrego desert. The pictographs are mainly variations of the sun. To preserve the artifacts, it's exact location is not mine to divulge, but with a little research, many people have been able to figure out it's location. The hike is a cross country desert scramble. There were fragments of human and animal use trails along the way. Because of the terrain, it is possible to be within 50' of it and miss the cave entirely. I walked by it initially, then hunted around what looked like the right area. The cave itself is about 25' deep, created by piles of giant boulders. There were two smaller openings in the back. The pictographs remain bright on the rock, though they must be hundreds of years old. After only a few minutes in the cave, an overwhelming feeling of tranquility washed over me. Earthpower is strong here. I don't know if it was shelter from the heat, my mind playing tricks on me, or salve for the bruise on my soul at the fate of Native Americans. In any case, it was unexpected and I didn't want to leave. I eventually gathered myself and started back. On the drive out, I spotted two immaculate bighorn rams just off the road. They weren't very concerned about me. One was busy crashing his head into a barrel cactus. He did this to open up the top to get at the juicy flesh. I watched him knock a chunk out of it, then eat it. The inside of a cactus is one place to get water in the desert. Special thanks to Ben Baumann for suggesting this hike.

Sombrero Peak in golden light

Early in the canyon

Solstice cave

Red and orange pigments in this pictograph

Bighorn, deer, coyote?

View from inside

Jack rabbit

Bighorn rams

Millard-Sloan Loop and Bear Cub Carcass

Hiked: 8/31/2018
Distance: 10.2 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 4664' (High Point on Mt. Lowe Road)
Elevation Gain: 2094' (Gain), 3615' (Loss)
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.67
Round trip time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 84 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Moderate

Sean and I met at the Chaney Trailhead for a loop from Dawn Mine, up Millard Canyon and Grand Canyon (who knew the San Gabriels had one), through the Mt. Lowe Campground, then down the Tom Sloan Trail and Millard Canyon Trail, and Sunset Ridge Trail. All of this was new country for me, but the main purpose was to place a trailcam in San Gabriel bear country. Sean had seen adult bears and cubs around both Millard and Grand Canyon. The trail crew was working this morning and gave us a lift to the top of the Dawn Mine trail saving us a couple of miles.

We descended the short trail and explored the lower and upper adits of Dawn Mine. Both were gated to protect the public from themselves. I got a photo of a mine shaft from the top adit by putting my camera through the gate. The upper adit required a class 3 scramble aided by large tree roots. There is also an annex further up the trail. After visiting the mine, we went up Millard Canyon to the junction with Grand Canyon. The trail into Grand ended after a few hundred yards and the cross country began. It was pretty easy going for a wild canyon. There were boulder and tree obstacles, and some light bushwhacking, but it was rather pleasant. Not too far up the canyon, we found a small stream of water that created several pools. There were a lot of animal tracks on both banks around one popular looking pool. We made a mental note and came back later to place the trailcam there. We continued up stream until we found the ruins of two cabins.

Old mine gear

Sean climbing to the upper adit

Mine shaft in the upper adit

Cross country in Grand Canyon

One of two cabin ruins

Despite full sun, it was dim in Grand Canyon from the dense tree cover. The auto flash on my camera would go off whenever I took a photo. The cabins were interesting, but we were looking for something special. Sean had information about a bear cub carcass that had been discovered in the canyon a year earlier. He had general directions but not precise coordinates so we had to do some backtracking and searching. Eventually, we found it. The trip stats were slightly inflated because of our search. OTOH, I didn't start my track until a short distance down the Dawn Mine trail, so the stats aren't that far off. The bear cub carcass was pretty decayed but a lot of fur remained and one claw was well preserved. The original party that discovered it named it "Little Stiffy" because rigor had already set in. While the name choice might be unfortunate, it was in fact stiff as a board. There was no indication of how it might have died. We took photos, then let it rest in peace.

"Little Stiffy"

Past the cabins, we found some aircraft wreckage. Sean said it was supposed to be a military trainer that crashed in 1947, but I couldn't find the report with a cursory web search. We took a short side trip to visit Alpine Falls, which was bone dry and impossible to climb. We also made a short visit to Grand Canyon Falls before starting up a bypass on the right side. The exit from the canyon was a little sketchy, but we made it out and rested at Mt. Lowe Campground. The campground was deserted. Next, we climbed up to Mt. Lowe Road, then started down the Tom Sloan Trail. Sean is part of the volunteer crew working to restore the trail and it is almost done. We passed the crew working it and took another break at Tom Sloan Saddle. From there, it was all downhill on the Millard Canyon Trail. The final connection was the Sunset Ridge Trail back to the road and the cars. It was a nice loop and I think we found a promising spot for the trailcam. I am looking forward to returning in a couple of months to see what lives in the canyon.

Plane wreck debris

Alpine Falls

Exiting the canyon

Brown Mountain from the Tom Sloan Trail

Pool in Millard Canyon