Distance: 11.5 miles round trip on dirt road and use trail
Summit Elevation: 5168' (Rouse Hill), 5464' (Rouse Ridge)
Elevation Gain: 2150'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.7
Round trip time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 80 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Forest Route 5S15
Difficulty: Moderate
After Thomas Mountain, I planned to drive most of the way to Rouse Hill (HPS #265) on Forest Route 5S15, which takes a sharp right turn at the intersection with 6S18. There was a locked gate at the intersection with a Road Closed sign, but also a wide path around the gate. I stopped and saw a posted sign stating that the road was closed due to a fire order. The post listed a phone number for the San Jacinto ranger district. I had one bar of signal and I made three attempts to call the ranger station, but none of the calls went through. I debated whether to drive around the gate, eventually deciding to park and walk the road to Rouse Hill. I only realized later looking through photos that the fire closure also included foot traffic. Oops. The GPS showed Rouse Hill was 4 miles away (as the crow flies), but it turned out to be farther on the road. A mile from the intersection, I left the road on the south side to tag a Peakbagger point, Rouse Ridge. I found an old register in some cans and signed it. The road remained flat for a while, then started to wind downhill. I turned a corner and spotted Rouse Hill across a valley. There were good views along the way of the Santa Anas and San Jacinto. The road got steadily worse: no big rocks, but deep ruts and washouts. I'm not sure I could have driven it all the way. When I reached the top of the road, I found a triangle pole marker and thought I was there. However, Rouse Hill was the next bump over and may not be the local high point. It was hard to tell. I waded through some tall grass to a group of rocks where I found the benchmark and a reference mark. The last signature in the register was from February. I rested about 15 minutes, then started back. There was more gain than I remembered on the way back and I worked up a lather during the hottest part of the afternoon. I had plenty of water, though, and made it back in good order.
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