Potato Mountain

Hiked: 1/17/2014
Distance: 4.5 miles round trip on dirt road
Summit Elevation: 3400'
Prominence: 440'
Elevation Gain: 1214'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.97
Round trip time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Mt. Baldy Road turnout (outside Angeles National Forest)
Difficulty: Easy

This was a backup hike, replacing the Mt. Zion loop that my friends and I had planned. The Glendora fire on 1/16/2014 changed that, closing Bailey Canyon, Chantry Flats Road, and Mt. Wilson Trail. The fire was started, allegedly an accident, by three men who had an illegal campfire. It quickly consumed 1700 acres of national forest and burned 5 homes, but caused no major injuries. After a day, it was only 30% contained, so we turned our sights east.

Chantry Flats closed

Potato Mountain is more of a beginner hike, but it would allow me to cross it off the Lower Peaks list. This is always a popular hike, even on weekdays, and today was no different. There were half a dozen cars parked at the trailhead off Mt. Baldy Road and several parties on the Palmer-Evey Motorway. It was 78F at the trailhead and no need for any layers. There was not much to see along the first part of the hike except parts of Sunset ridge. However, when we made the left turn toward the summit, Claremont, San Dimas, Upland, and Rancho Cucamonga opened up to the south. The summit views were surprisingly nice, with massive Ontario, Baldy, and Cucamonga Peaks looming to the north. There were already a few groups of hikers resting on the cement water storage tank owned by the LAFD. Someone apparently painted a misspelled Dan Quayle version of potato on the tank: POTATOE. After taking a few shots and some idle banter with the other hikers, we headed down. Looking over the edge of the road, Noel spotted a couple of deer, perhaps looking for water. The deer were a nice bonus.

Potato Mountain trailhead

Sign at the road junction to the summit

Hikers resting at the summit

Misspelled (Intentionally?) on the water tank

Ontario and Cucamonga dominate, Stoddard and Frankish in the foreground

Deer below Mt. Baldy road

The second part of our hike was supposed to be Sunset Peak, but the Glendora fire smashed those plans as well, with Glendora Ridge Road gated. This was the second time in 6 months this road had been closed on me when I needed it. Not cool. We debated what to do and decided to head up into Falling Rock Canyon as far as Rod and Noel wanted to go. We parked at Ice House Canyon and it was much cooler. My fancy new thermometer read 60F. We headed up the canyon and veered right into Falling Rock Canyon. After scrambling to the left of the first dry waterfall, we continued about half way up the canyon. Noel was ready to call it a day at that point, so we headed back, having taken some nice photos in the canyon.

Climbing up Falling Rock Canyon

Noel climbing up Falling Rock Canyon

Rod coming down Falling Rock Canyon

Squirrel having lunch

Twin Peaks and Waterman Mountain

HPS Star Emblem Peak
Hiked: 1/10/2014
Distance: 12.7 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 7761' (East Twin), 7596' (West Twin), 8038' (Waterman)
Prominence: 1241' (East Twin), 236' (West Twin), 1438' (Waterman)
Elevation Gain: 3877'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 3.10
Round trip time: 7 hours 10 minutes
Recommended water: 128 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Strenuous

Twin Peaks and Waterman are remote areas of the San Gabriel mountains, and I was long intrigued by their rough reputation. Sean Green and I had been talking about doing a hike and we agreed on this one, even though he had done them before, saying that his friend Willie Price was also interested. The early winter had been warm and dry, so I expected minimal snow for this time of year, and was amped to do this hike.

We planned to meet at 9:45 AM at Buckhorn. Before tackling the big hike, I wanted to climb nearby Winston Peak as a warm up. I was up and down Winston Peak in 35 minutes. It was a balmy 48F at the trailhead and would stay warm most of the day. I started with 3 layers and quickly dropped to 2. Sean rocked 1 layer, sandals and no socks. We started up the Waterman Trail and descended to the Twin Peaks Saddle. Heading up steeply toward Twin Peaks East, Sean and Willie started pulling away from me. I'd like to blame it on my overstuffed pack, having done Winston Peak first, or my age, but none of that mattered. They were simply stronger hikers. I caught up with them on Twin Peaks East summit, where we signed the register and went down the other side a little for a view of Triplet Rocks.

Waterman ski area from the Angeles Crest Highway

Start of the Waterman Trail

First view of Twin Peaks East and West

Sean and Willie on the Waterman Trail

Twin Peaks Saddle sign

Heading toward the Twin Peaks East summit

Sean and I on the Twin Peaks East summit boulder

Triplet Rocks

Willie and I looking at the West Twin

We left Twin Peaks East and followed a pretty good use trail toward West. We stopped a couple of times for Willie and Sean to climb some boulder routes. During the boulder breaks, I saved my energy for the summit blocks and rest of the hike. The West summit block was the hardest to climb, but still probably didn't reach class 3. We signed the West register and spent some time taking in the best views of the day. Instead of ascending Twin Peaks East to get back to the use trail, we went cross country back to the saddle, stopping for the toughest boulder climb of the day. There were a couple of sketchy moments as Sean and Willie navigated a boulder with a thin ledge up an exposed route.

Willie climbing a boulder between East and West Twins

Looking back at Twin Peaks East

Sean and Willie on Twin Peaks West

Looking down from the Twin Peaks West summit boulder

On the West summit boulder, Waterman in the background

Taking photos on the West Twin, East Twin in the background

San Gabriel front range and Saddleback rising from the haze in the distance

Picking a route up the boulders

Back at Twin Peaks Saddle, we began the tedious climb up Waterman. We were all running low on water, but I had just enough to make it back to the car. Sean and Willie filled up at the one running stream coming down Waterman. They pulled ahead of me again on this stretch and I would catch up with them on the Waterman summit. When I hit the Waterman summit junction, shadows were creeping into the forest, the wind was picking up, and it was getting colder. I went back to 3 layers and put on my gloves. On the Waterman summit, I added some ear protection. I was only on the summit long enough to grab a few photos and the benchmark on the class 2 summit block. We all were ready to get out of the wind and down quickly, so we decided to skip the trail and head down the main gully, finding a few patches of snow. Before long, we hit an unexpected trail that ran along the gully and eventually hit one of the Waterman ski slopes. We descended that and found a fire road that intersected the main trail near the bottom. It was a fun day that quenched my adventure craving for the week, if not longer.

Big cedar near the saddle

Heading up the Waterman summit trail

Limber(?) pines in fading light on the Waterman summit

Waterman summit block

Waterman benchmark

Ski lifts on Waterman, obviously not open due to lack of snow

Sunset on Angeles Crest Highway

Winston Peak

Hiked: 1/10/2014
Distance: 1.2 miles round trip on use trail
Summit Elevation: 7502'
Prominence: 502'
Elevation Gain: 484'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.38
Round trip time: 35 minutes
Recommended water: 16 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Easy

Before tackling Twin Peaks and Waterman Mountain, I wanted to make the short trip up the peak with my surname. Sean and Willie planned to meet me at Buckhorn at 9:45 AM, so I had time to warm up on Winston Peak. According to the Sierra Club write up, Winston Peak and Ridge were named after a Pasadena banker that got lost during a hunting trip and whose frozen body was found on the ridge. My short outing had a better ending.

I parked at Cloudburst summit and started up the clear use trail to the left. There was a fire road running below it. The use trail was in great shape and easy to follow. It passed some huge boulder piles and wound up through the pines and cedars that dominate this part of the forest. Pine needles filled the trail. Very soon, I was at the broad summit. I climbed the main summit block, but could not find a register or benchmark. Trees blocked much of the views, so I continued a little further until I could see Winston Ridge, then headed back down. To get the other summit with my name, Mt. Keith, a 13977' monster in the Sierras would be orders of magnitude more difficult.

Parking at Cloudburst Summit

Start of the use trail

Winston Peak summit blocks

Winston Ridge, lower and in front

2013 Retrospective

Redwood Grove Trail

Hiked: 12/30/2013
Distance: 0.8 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 738' (at the start of the trail)
Elevation Gain: 0'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.00
Round trip time: 30 minutes
Recommended water: 0 oz.
Parking/Fees: $10 state park fee
Difficulty: Easy

We vacationed in Monterey, CA over the holidays and my only outing was a family trip to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park north of Santa Cruz. The park has plenty of parking, restrooms, a store, and visitors center. There were a group of deer near the entrance, but I failed to get a photo.

There are several trails in the park, but we only walked the main Redwood Grove Trail. It is level, very wide, and well maintained probably due to the popularity of the trees. The redwoods were up to 16' wide and topped out about 275' above the forest floor. They are just massive, giant things straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie, and everyone was in awe. Park literature claims the oldest trees here are about 1,800 years old. It's hard to think of living things that ancient.

Start of the Redwood Grove Trail

Puny humans among the giants

Girth

Skyscraper

Sunset Peak

Hiked: 12/23/2013
Distance: 3.1 miles round trip on use trail
Summit Elevation: 5799'
Prominence: 1273'
Elevation Gain: 1509'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.20
Round trip time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass
Difficulty: Easy

With unseasonably warm weather, I headed to Cow Canyon Saddle off Glendora Ridge Road for a quick hike up to Sunset Peak. I started up the steep firebreak and followed it straight to the top. It was warmer than expected and I shed my top layer within 15 minutes. Along the way, there were spectacular views of San Antonio Canyon and all the higher surrounding peaks. The firebreak has a well defined use trail and intersects the fire road in two places. Just before the second intersection with the road, there is a short, easy section of class 2, most of which can be bypassed. I chose to scramble over the rocks on the way up and down. While on top, I signed the summit register and leafed through the recent entries. I can see why it is a popular destination, since the views are a great reward for not too much effort. The ruins of the old lookout tower were scattered around the large summit area. Even though it is a pretty stiff climb up the firebreak, the short distance keeps it in the easy category. Good fun and another HPS peak checked off the list.

Start of the firebreak from Cow Canyon Saddle

First look at Sunset Peak along the firebreak

Awesome view down San Antonio Canyon

A few rocks just before the second road juntion

Sunset Peak summit

Ruins of the old lookout tower on Sunset Peak?

Mostly snow free Mt. Baldy from Sunset Peak

Telegraph Peak and Ontario Peak from Sunset Peak