Oat Mountain and Point 3473

Hiked: 2/25/2024
Distance: 11.2 miles round trip on paved road
Summit Elevation: 3747'
Prominence: 1987'
Elevation Gain: 2800'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.2
Round trip time: 4 hours 20 minutes
Recommended water: 54 oz.
Parking/Fees: $5 Parking Fee for Mountains Recreation and Conservancy Authority
Difficulty: Moderate

Nate Underkuffler and the San Gabriel ice pirates had planned an off trail scramble from Santa Clarita Woodlands Park to Oat Mountain (nearly a P2K). It was Nate's birthday hike. I had targeted this hike as a test of my ankle and thought I would be ready seven weeks after the break. But the day before, I was still recovering from physical therapy and decided to take the road route to Oat instead. I emailed the ice pirates about my plan. I wanted to summit Oat, then continue over it and meet them at the ridge/road intersection where they planned to exit the ridge. I parked at the lot at Joughin Ranch, not knowing it was a fee lot. I would have paid had I seen a pay station or sign. Instead, I came back to a ticket and a $73 citation.

I started at 7:30 AM, expecting to cover the distance to the rendezvous and arrive around the time I expected them to emerge from the park. The entire road was paved. I crossed a cattle guard and found myself surrounded by bovines, including several bulls. The bulls faced me directly and watched my every move. I left the road at one point to give one a wide berth. Fortunately, none were in the mood to charge me. I blazed up to Oat in less time than I expected. The views were darn nice for a small mountain near Santa Clarita. So much green from recent rain. The summit swarmed with towers and barbed wire fences. The gate to the facility on Oat was ajar enough to get in, but I didn't see anything inside of interest. I took a short break, then continued down the other side. I followed the road another 1.7 miles to Point 3473. Yet another bump with another cluster of towers. Just below Point 3473 was where the ridge met the road.

One of many bulls protecting the herd, I gave this one plenty of space

Another bull

No one's stopped me yet

Oat Mountain summit

Rendezvous point

Rough ridge connecting to the road
When I reached the rendezvous, I texted Sean Cucamonga that I had arrived. I spent the next hour snacking and pacing back and forth searching the ridge for any sign of movement. The upper section of ridge looked like it was bushy with exposed rock and sharp peaklets. It looked hard. At one point, I scanned the ridge with my phone camera at 10x zoom to see if I could spot them. After an hour, I figured they had run into problems and texted Sean that I was headed back. He replied shortly after telling me they were only half way up the ridge and would probably turn back. It not only looked like a tough route, it was. It was a bummer to miss everyone. On the way down, the cattle had moved away from the road and presented no threat. I looked around the old Nike missile site near the bottom, but didn't find much other than graffiti.

Oat Mountain from the east

Several pump stations dotted the landscape

Abandoned Nike missile facility

North toward Los Padres

My track in red, Nate's original plan in blue

Sycuan Peak

Hiked: 2/13/2024
Distance: 2.1 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 2801'
Prominence: 801'
Elevation Gain: 790'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.6
Round trip time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Lawson Valley Road
Difficulty: Easy

Sycuan was my second planned hike after Mother Miguel. I had lunch with Parker in between and it was a game time decision based on the ankle. It felt strong enough to handle another easy hike. The trailhead for Sycuan was on Lawson Valley Road. However, there were no road signs at a tight pull off area on the north side of the road. I drove past it the first time. The only indication of a trail was a chain with a small sign that read Boundary Ecological Preserve. I ventured past the sign on what looked like an abandoned road. It shrunk to a single track at one point, then expanded again. The trail was deeply rutted in places. The summit had an electric (or telephone) pole with wire going over and down the other side. An 8' boulder marked the high point. I stood on the boulder with unease, testing my stability at an odd angle. Felt solid enough, though I was very careful getting down. I didn't find the benchmark, but didn't spend much time looking. I found a mason jar with something inside, but it looked like tissue instead of a register, so I didn't open it. There were great views of Corte Modera, Lawson, and Gaskill. I snapped a few photos, then returned to the truck without meeting another soul. Sycuan had enough prominence to bump my P-index to 196, an unexpected plus.

Left to right: Corte Madera, Gaskill, Lawson, Lyons

Mother Miguel Mountain and Peak 1520

Hiked: 2/13/2024
Distance: 4.3 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 1527' (Mother Miguel), 1520'
Elevation Gain: 970'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.7
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Paseo Veracruz
Difficulty: Easy

Based on the weather and my schedule this week, I needed to get a hike in on Tuesday. I decided to stick to easy fare in San Diego County. First up was Mother Miguel in Chula Vista. The trail started behind a suburban development on Paseo Veracruz. There was ample parking on the curb and it was popular based on the number of vehicles parked there. There were no facilities, but just before you reach the trailhead on the left, was Mount San Miguel community park. It had shiny facilities and no crowds in the morning.

The dirt path began next to a house on the corner. It dropped to a T intersection near a creek. The official trail began just on the other side. The trail had a series of tight switchbacks, but they have been cut and eroded so much by foot and bike traffic that I had a hard time staying on the trail. The sat view showed a direct use trail up the mountain cutting every switchback. All over the mountain were signs that read "This is not a trail" and posts with ropes in between. All of it ignored by everyone but one party on the mountain and me. It seemed a lost cause for this trail to be restored. It's too trampled and eroded. At the top, there was a large rock cairn with a new register in a plastic box. I signed in knowing it would probably not last long with so much traffic. There was also a flag pole with three flags waving: the US flag, Marine Corps flag, and a POW-MIA flag in that order. There was a nice view over the Sweetwater Reservoir to downtown San Diego. Lyons Peak was also nearby. After a brief stop, I continued less than a quarter mile to Peak 1520, only 7' lower. The summit consisted of small boulders and brush. I stopped there for water, then turned around. There was steady stream of hikers, but it wasn't overly crowded. The ankle felt alright as I drove to SDSU to pick Parker up for lunch. We destroyed some Old Timers at Chili's and talked about circuit design before I returned him to campus to continue his studies.

Start

Mother Miguel

Sweetwater Reservoir, downtown San Diego, Pacific Ocean

Lyons Peak (no public access)

Peak 1520

Cottonwood Mountains High Point

Hiked: 2/9/2024
Distance: 4.2 miles round trip cross country
Summit Elevation: 4493'
Prominence: 1153'
Elevation Gain: 1345'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: $30 National Parks Fee or National Parks Pass
Difficulty: Easy

Forty days and forty nights after my ankle break, I bagged the Cottonwood Mountains High Point in Joshua Tree. Under normal circumstances, Cottonwood would have been the first of a two or three peak outing, but with the recovering ankle, it was about the right amount of challenge. I chose an easy desert peak as a starter, but one that would test the ankle from all directions and let me start rebuilding the tendons and ligaments in my foot, and the muscle in my right calf. There was no trail to Cottonwood, but it was a short hike starting about four miles up Pinkham Canyon Road. I had been down this dirt road in 2015 when I hiked Monument Mountain. Monument was north of Pinkham Canyon Road and Cottonwood was south. The road was in better shape than I remember. Passenger cars can likely make the trip without issues.

I pulled off the road at an open spot. Several bumps were visible in the direction of Cottonwood, but there were two false summits, so the summit was not visible from my parking spot. I pulled on my flexible brace, but was uncertain how the ankle would hold up on the slopes. I was concerned mostly with side hill angles and coming down. There was a flat approach to the ridge, then a gentle rise. The rocks at this point were small and grass was abundant making the footing quite solid. Damp ground from recent rain also helped. I moved more slowly than usual, paying close attention to where I stepped with my right foot. Reaching the first false summit, I was fooled into thinking the next bump was the goal. The angles on the false summits were higher, but only moderate class 1. I reached the summit with some relief and found a register dated 1978, courtesy of Wes Shelberg. There were some nice views, but San Jacinto and San Gorgonio were both hiding in the clouds. Since Cottonwood was not on many lists, it doesn't see the kind of traffic other JT peaks enjoy. However, it is a P1K so it's not ignored. This day, I had the entire mountain to myself. Getting down proved even slower. Whenever I had weight on the right foot, and my toes were below my heel, there was discomfort. Needs work. At my normal pace, this hike would have taken me 45 minutes less. Still, I was satisfied to be outside and put something on the scoreboard.

Start, summit not visible

Braced

False summit

Another false summit

True summit

Monument Peak in the distance

Dark clouds on the way down