Devil's Chair, Peak 5270, Devil's Punchbowl

Hiked: 8/18/2019
Distance: 8.6 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 4980' (Devil's Chair), 5270' (Peak 5270)
Elevation Gain: 2450'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.9
Round trip time: 3 hours 50 minutes
Recommended water: 72 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Devil's Punchbowl parking lot
Difficulty: Moderate

Devil's Punchbowl is a Los Angeles County Park north of the San Gabriel Mountains. It is mind boggling that LA County extends into the high desert. The park itself has plenty of parking, restrooms, and a visitor center. The park formations were created by the San Andreas fault and other faults. It features massive slab uplifts like the more famous Vasquez Rocks. There are two trails from the parking lot. One does a one mile loop through the slabs, and the other heads into the mountains to the Devil's Chair.

I started at 1:00 PM, a potential idiot move at the hottest part of a 90 degree day. The trail heads south rising gently into the foothills. At 0.9 miles, the Burkhart Trail comes in sharply from the right. From there, it's 6.2 miles to Burkhart Saddle. I stayed on the Devil's Chair trail, meeting parties on their way down. When the trail turned east, I was in pleasant pine forest with a fair amount of shade and my concerns about roasting in the sun eased. Phantasmagoric geology was on display the rest of the way. Rocks and clay were varied in colors and formations in dark green, red, pink, tan, and white. The photos don't capture the richness of the color. While the trail undulated between 5200' and 5300', it felt mostly flat until the 400' drop at the end to the Chair. The Devil's Chair is a ramp of white rock into the open air above the Punchbowl. A fence is built around it on both sides to keep people from falling off. It's easy to get outside the fence if you desire, but not recommended on the crumbling rock. The views were worth the effort. I sat on the Chair about 10 minutes enjoying the views and wind gusts. There were still some stragglers on the trail on the way back and even a few very late starters. I did see two large bear scats on the trail. I didn't expect that. There's plenty of bear food at this elevation. I took a 10-minute side trip to peak 5270 on a use trail on the way back. I'm not sure the diversion was worthwhile, though someone had left a lawn chair on the summit for lounging. The round trip for Devil's Chair alone is 7.6 miles and 2150' gain.

Greens and browns, the photo doesn't do it justice

The upper white protrusion below is the Devil's Chair

Crazy geology below the Chair

Looking out over the Punchbowl from the Chair

Lawn chair on top of Peak 5270

I couldn't leave the Punchbowl without a quick scramble on some of the slabs. I headed for the highest slab in the park, which meant leaving the loop trail and taking one of the many criss-cross use trails down to the rocks. I climbed over a lower slab to get to the base of the big one. Several other people were climbing on neighboring slabs, and a couple of people were trying to climb the vertical side of the big slab with a rope. The slabs appear to be mainly sandstone conglomerate with small rocks sticking out of the surface. Think cookie dough ice cream hardened to rock. I started up the main crack facing the road which was a mix of class 1/2/3. Half way up the crack, there was a landing where I dropped my pack. I followed the crack the rest of the way to its terminus just below the peak, but could not find a way up the final 12'. I backtracked down the crack to a lone bush. The way up there was tough class 3 and required trusting your weight to one or two inch holds on the rocks sticking out of the surface. The first 10' above the bush was the crux. I tested the first couple of rocks and they held, then I worked my up to the top. The big slab is about 150' high. I saw no sign of the rock climbers. It was tricky coming down and I ended up sliding the last five feet of the crux section back to the main crack. It was a fun way to end the hike.

The biggest slab

Found this weird county mark on a lower slab on the way

Dropping off the lower slab to the base of the big one

Some class 3

Dropped my pack on the landing below

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