Distance: 8.4 miles round trip on dirt road, use trail, and cross country
Summit Elevation: 7625' (Tip Top), 7244' (Mineral)
Elevation Gain: 1730'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.3
Round trip time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on OHV Road 3N03
Difficulty: Moderate (drive, route finding)
Tip Top Mountain (HPS #87) and Mineral Mountain (HPS #108) are two minor Sierra Club peaks east of Big Bear Lake. July was not the ideal time to tackle these, but I had limited time and thought I could be done before the worst of the heat. The Green Fire broke out along highway 38 the night before my hike, so I planned to get the trailhead from the north on 3N03. It was about 8 miles of dirt road to reach the start. The first four miles were mellow, then it started getting rocky. The next two miles required me to slow down, and at six miles, I reached a point where the road ahead looked challenging. I had just repaired my running board the day before and was gun shy about pushing it. I parked just off the road and hiked from there. It turned out that only the next half mile was rough, then the road smoothed out, but even in hindsight, I am glad I parked where I did.
I left the road and started along a use trail up a gully. I passed a sealed mine shaft, one of two I passed along the way. The gully led to the main ridge that went over Peak 7462, then dropped 100' before the final ascent. I crossed a dirt road near the top and realized it was the fork I passed on the way. The road ended about 100' below the top, but a use trail took over. Tip Top had a healthy 712' of prominence and decent views. The benchmark was missing, but there was a register stuffed in a single can. A solar panel powered some small antennae. My guess was they were for the forest service. I signed the register and took some aerial videos before trying to spot Mineral Mountain. It wasn't clear which bump below was Mineral.
I left Tip Top and angled back up to the ridge over easy county. The ridge had a faint use trail on it from HPS pilgrims making the same trek between the two. I identified Mineral as the last (and lowest) stop at the end of the ridge. The register was in a PVC pipe with a relatively small number of entries over the previous five years. The views were subpar compared to Tip Top. I dropped down to the road and walked back to the truck. It was about 85F and overly bright as the road reflected nearly all sunlight. I stopped for another coat of sunscreen. Three Jeeps passed by going the other way, the only other people I had seen. My guess is that 2N01 might be a better road than 3N03 to reach the area.
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