Liebre Ridge HP and Liebre Mountain

HPS Star Emblem Peak
Hiked: 4/24/2022
Distance: 8.9 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 5785' (Ridge HP), 5760' (Liebre)
Prominence: 1080'
Elevation Gain: 2170'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.7
Round trip time: 3 hours 35 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Pine Canyon Road
Difficulty: Moderate

I wanted to pick up another Star Emblem Peak and Liebre Mountain (HPS #206, P1K) was the goal. Just north of Pyramid Lake on I-5 is the turn off to get to Pine Mountain Road. It is paved all the way to the trailhead. Remarkably, this area was within the northern reaches of the Angeles National Forest. I parked just off the road at the trailhead, but there was a small dirt turnaround where parking would have been better. The turnaround has room for 3-4 cars. The north and south bound PCT meet at the turnaround. The route to Liebre is the north bound trail on the right.

I followed mild switchbacks up the side of the ridge. The gain was low angle and mitigated by the length of the trail. On average, the trail gains about 500'/mile. Not difficult. There were plenty of wildflowers blooming in early Spring, and plenty of hikers. By the end of the day, I had met 9 PCT thru hikers. Everyone was cordial but no one struck up longer conversations. Views on the way up were limited to looking north. I passed through some pines, then tall oaks, then open meadows near the top. When I got to the ridge, I veered a short distance off the road to the Liebre Ridge High Point (per Peakbagger). According to the topo, it is roughly 20' higher than the official HPS Liebre Mountain, though this may be in dispute. The ridge HP had its own register and a wooden sign declaring it Liebre Mountain. I signed the register, then followed the ridge road another half mile to the official HPS Liebre. The HPS register in red cans were there, but no benchmarks. The only views on Liebre were south of the ridge, but included a nice look at Pyramid Lake, Slide Mountain, and Cobblestone. I sat down on some summit rocks, only to be have my legs swarmed with angry red ants. I grabbed my stuff and retreated to the road where I spent a couple of minutes swatting ants off my legs. I escaped with no bites or stings. Without an obvious resting place, I snacked on the uneventful trip down. It's always great to be in motion, and it's always great to be outside, but I found Liebre somewhat underwhelming for an emblem peak. It did push my P-index to 182 so that's something.

Table set up for thru hikers?

Sign and register at the Ridge HP

View north

Liebre Mountain HPS summit

View south to Cobblestone

Aquaduct