Hawes Grand Slam

Hiked: 11/7/2025
Distance: 9.8 miles round trip on trail, use trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 6714' (Shay), 6355' (Ingham), 6635' (Little Shay), 6751' (Hawes)
Elevation Gain: 2900'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.3
Round trip time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 132 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Hawes Ranch Trail
Difficulty: Strenuous (combined)

Hawes Grand Slam is a made up moniker, but sounds better than Hawes Peak and three others. I picked Hawes as the name for the loop since it was last in the rotation and also the tallest. This group of HPS peaks NE of Big Bear Lake are typically climbed together:

• Shay Mountain (HPS #138)
• Ingham Peak (HPS #162)
• Little Shay Mountain (HPS #145)
• Hawes Peak (HPS #135)

From Fawnskin, I drove north on Forest Road 3N14 to the small spur 3N41, the start of Hawes Ranch Trail. It took about an hour of driving on dirt. The roughest spots were after Big Pine Camp. High clearance needed. The drive might have been faster from Victorville. When I pulled up, two deer hunters were just starting down the trail. I caught up with them before I needed to leave the trail to make them aware of my presence and let them know my route. They were pleasant and assured me they wouldn't mistake me for a deer. A half mile further, I set out over open country toward the saddle north of Shay Mountain. As I got closer, sparse brush started filling the slopes. This set the theme of the day. Some brush contact was unavoidable, but it was mostly waist high and easy to push though. Mostly, I spent the extra steps to go around, but that also slowed me down. At the saddle, I picked up a use trail and took it to the summit. Another repeated theme was a set of standard red HPS cans with a register and no benchmark. There were metal posts on a couple, but not USGS marks. The most recent visitors to Shay were from March. I looked down the other side of Shay at Little Shay, but I wasn't sure which smaller peak was Ingham. I would find out I got there.

Hawes Ranch Trail

Open country heading to Shay

Down the ridge toward Ingham (back) and Little Shay (left)

Ingham at the end of the ridge
The ridges looked thick with chaparral, but as I got into it, it was more sparse coverage like on Shay. Just below Little Shay, was finally able to identify it. I dropped down the connecting ridge and found a use trail that took a side hill route around the intervening bump. Careful footing was required not to slip. Ingham had great views west toward Arrowhead Lake and the Angeles. It also had the oldest registers, dating from 1988. I found the Mars Bonfire 25x entry, hiking lore. Two metal posts were on Ingham. I returned toward Little Shay. The brush was thicker on Little Shay, and a there were a lot of burned trees to step over. At the summit, I emptied my boots of debris and took a longer break. Views were similar to those on Ingham. It also had it's own metal post. I steeled myself for the final bit of the Slam to adjacent Hawes Peak. I would have to give back 900' of elevation, then gain 1000'+ in two miles. The descent from Little Shay had the hardest route finding. It was on an overgrown firebreak that required frequent zig zags. The bottom of the descent was a 40 degree angle. Between Little Shay and Hawes, I met the deer hunters again. They had not seen any deer but seemed content to be outside. We had a nice chat and parted ways again.

Little Shay from Ingham

Gabes in the distance

Up to Little Shay

Looking back at Shay Mountain

Arrowhead Lake

Descent from Little Shay

Hawes Peak from Little Shay

I began the ascent of Hawes in earnest. Bits of use trail appeared and faded. There were a lot of burned trees on Hawes, too. The summit was farther back than it appeared from Little Shay, giving rise to false summits along the way. My pace slowed a little, but I continued to grind. Below the summit, I crossed an OHV trail and found a metal bench covered in stickers. I continued the last bit to the top for the best views of the day. The entire route was clear from Hawes. After some photos, I dropped down to the trail and followed it back to the truck. The deer hunters were packing up when I got back and we exchanged waves. I debated whether to attempt another HPS peak that was close by. My water was low and I didn't want to drive out in the dark, so I called it a day.

False summit

Hawes ahead

Hawes Peak, not Howes

The grand slam

Monster from Alien:Earth

Silver Peak

Hiked: 10/30/2025
Distance: 4 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 6756'
Elevation Gain: 1300'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Highway 18
Difficulty: Easy

From Gold Mountain, I drove back to Highway 18, then continued east and north to the intersection with 3N62. I parked in a wide dirt turnout and started hiking toward Silver Peak (HPS #134), stark and white. When I got onto 3N62, I realized I could have driven the quarter mile or so to the official trailhead. Oh, well, a few extra steps on a short hike was good for me. The official trailhead had room for about five vehicles. The terrain was classic high desert, not an alpine transition zone. A faint use trail led to the base of the mountain. From there, an abandoned and washed out road made switchbacks up to an open mine. I made a mental note to check it out on the way down. A cairn to climbers' left marked the start of a use trail leading to a saddle. The use trail mostly followed a drainage with a steel cable anchored high above, an artifact of the mine. The trail appeared to follow the cable up a steep packed slope. It looked better to stick to the drainage so that's what I did. From the top of the drainage, I started along the ridge and hit a flat spot where upper remnants of the road appeared. I continued along the road to the summit. On top, I found a red register can, but it had been hit with a shotgun blast and there was no sign of a register inside. It needed a new register. A sealed, then subsequently broken seal, partially covered a shaft that was dug at a 30 degree angle into the mountain. I guessed this was for ventilation. Exploring the mine from above seemed sketch so I left it. After a 15 minute break, I checked in with the Garmin Mini, then started down.

Start of 3N62, the official trailhead was a quarter mile down the road

Official trailhead

Use trail up the gully

Mine shaft on the summit with a broken seal

High desert
I followed a cairn down the upper road and onto the use trail I left earlier. It was quite steep in places, but the steel cable was useful to aid the descent. Back at the mine, I sent another Garmin check in, so my last location would be known if something happened in the mine. I unpacked my light sources, carried the GoPro, and left my pack outside. I was able to stand up in the mine in most places. The tunnel went straight back at least 600' past some support beams to an intersection. I lost sight of the entrance. Another tunnel branched left and the main one continued for about 80' before ending. I went back and followed the left tunnel about 100' until it also came to an end. It was a fun side adventure and added a little spice to the trip. The rest of the descent was uneventful. Silver Peak wrapped up the third HPS peak for the day. As much as I bag on generic HPS peaks, Little Bear, Gold, and Silver were fun.

Lower mine entrance

More mining ruins

Gold Mountain

Hiked: 10/30/2025
Distance: 3.5 miles round trip on dirt road and cross country
Summit Elevation: 8237'
Elevation Gain: 1060'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.8
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Forest Road 3N16
Difficulty: Easy

Gold Mountain (HPS #64) is slightly NE of Big Bear Lake. A variety of dirt roads lead to the top. I drove up Forest Road 3N16 and parked at the Lucky Baldwin Mine historic site. For people who yearn to push the driving adventure, 3N16 was open and could be driven another half mile to the much rougher OHV road 3N69, my ascent road. I found 3N69 steep with major boulders. It made very few switchbacks. Closer to the top, I left the road for a more direct cross country route. It sort of followed Ben FRs track, more of a concept of a plan to follow it. The slope above the road was mostly open with a few downed trees to work around. After intersecting another road right below the summit, I walked below some tall cedars to the class 2 summit rock pile. Register cans were placed directly above the benchmark. I spotted a couple of reference marks as well. A wooden social media sign was lying nearby. Gold Mountain won the contest for best view of Big Bear Lake (so far). Views were nice in every direction. The weather and blue skies felt more like summer than late October. I soaked in some sun before starting down. My descent path followed a wide gully to the road below, then an easy walk back to the truck.

Lucky Baldwin Mine ruins

Ascent road

Summit rock pile

Little Bear Peak

Hiked: 10/30/2025
Distance: 2 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 7616'
Elevation Gain: 410'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.3
Round trip time: 1 hour
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Forest Road 3N12
Difficulty: Easy

I was back in the Big Bear Lake area for more easy HPS Peaks. First up was Little Bear (HPS #88). From Fawnskin, I went north on Rim of the World Dr., then 3N14, then 3N12. The dirt roads were in decent shape with only a few small ruts. The trail started behind a couple of logs. Little Bear came into view about half way there, with pleasant fall colors in the trees. The trail had been routed around fallen trees and through trimmed sections of whitethorn. The high point was a small pile of boulders about 50' before the lookout point. I found the register in a green can under a rock at the lookout point. No benchmark. Little Bear had 360 views and one of the nicer views of Big Bear. I took a few photos and was on my way back. I lost the trail a couple of times on the way back, just looking at trees and generally not paying attention. My track was a mess. I uploaded it to Peakbagger, but I can't recommend it. Soon, I was in the truck driving east toward Gold Mountain.

Little Bear at the end of the ridge line

Hanna Rocks, Butler Peak, and Crafts Peak