Ely Mountain

Hiked: 7/3/2023
Distance: 5 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 6880'
Elevation Gain: 790'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.6
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at trailhead on highway 168
Difficulty: Easy

Still in the Shaver Lake area, we started the day with a short hike to Ely Mountain. Ely is on land owned by Southern California Edison, but open to hiking. The main trail follows a dirt road, but we started on a single track that headed to a reservoir named Balsam Forebay. The reservoir was dammed at the north end. We skirted the edge of the forebay back to the main road and followed it west. At the end was another short single track ending at the summit with a long, flat, granite slab. We got a good view of Shaver Lake. Two mountain bikers were on the summit and soon departed west down another trail that terminates at Huntington Lake Road. I noticed what I thought was a strange sign a few hundred feet off the trail and we investigated on the way back. Our side trip through open country got us to a structure that was clearly not a sign, but neither of us could figure out what it was. The front looked like it had locking segments, it was mounted on cement blocks, tall, metallic, and painted green. There were no logos, insignias, or signs indicating its purpose or ownership. No road led to it. It had no power or wires. We were baffled for two days before we got home where a Google reverse image search identified it as a passive microwave repeater. These towers were often installed as pairs and used to propagate RF signals over a mountain. Strange that it was not mentioned in any trip reports or Internet searches. Ely was a good warm up for our second hike to Musick Mountain.