Jul 3, 2011
|
With: | Laura Molnar |
Tom Becht |
The Yucaipa Ridge is a long, 12-mile ridgeline in the southern part of the San Bernardino Mtns, rising up to over 9,000ft, forming the south side of Mill Creek Canyon. There are seven HPS summits along the ridge which happen to correspond to the last seven HPS peaks I had to do. Tom and Laura had joined me for these last three days in the San Bernardino Mtns, culminating in today's list finish. Normally done over several days, the traverse of the ridge had been done in the past in a single day, but reported to be very long. Tom had already climbed all but Galena, but was willing to repeat most of them a second time. Laura had not been to any of them and was not really sure what she was getting into, but as usual she was game.
We woke up not long after 5a in the parking lot for the South Fork TH on the
north side of San Gorgonio where we had spent the night. Before driving off to
rendevous at the day's starting point, Laura once more ran into a friend who
was just about to start off on the South Fork Trail. Like clockwork, go
somewhere with Laura and she's bound to meet someone else she knows
unexpectedly. It was 6a before we'd reached the endpoint for the day at the
Bear Paw Reserve. Tom had called ahead to gain permission to
park our cars here
and hike through their property at the end of the day.
Laura wasn't feeling good after our long day
around San Gorgonio, so she was looking for an easier outing. I suggested she
could start from Bear Paw and hike up at a comfortable pace and meet us along
the way on whichever peak she chose. That allowed her to drive Tom and I to
the
Vivian Creek TH,
saving an extra car shuttle drive at the end of the day.
Starting just before 6:30a, Tom and I
hiked the short distance up the trail on the
south side of Mill Creek before signs indicate the trail crosses over to the
north side and goes up from there. Our route was to continue east, cross-country
up the
Mill Creek drainage. For the most part, it is not a pleasant
hike as the amount of boulders one must traverse seems
almost perverse. Not that there
aren't some pleasant sights along the way - a few
waterfalls coming down off the
north wall of the canyon is one example. The creek was reduced to a modest
stream in the middle of this humungously wide boulder field. We had to cross it
a few times, Tom unsuccessful on one attempt and
having to stop to wring out his
socks immediately afterwards. We came across a particularly nice
bivy site that
has been used a good deal over the years, but most of the terrain was boulders,
rocks, and more boulders. The canyon walls were either too steep to traverse
or too littered with blowdown to make for a better alternative.
An hour after starting out we came across an
older asian couple who were looking
for the Vivian Creek Trail. Sadly, we had to break it to them that they missed
the crossing back at the beginning. Curious as to where we were heading, they
asked if they might go the same way as well. When they realized there was no
trail and no easier terrain ahead, they wisely decided to head back to the
start.
Not long after 8a we were starting up the headwall found at the
east end of the
canyon. As advertised in the HPS guide, the
slope is steep
and mildly dangerous.
The earth is compacted yet loose, making it impossible to kick steps and
difficult to maintain footing with a ballbearing feeling underfoot. Perseverance
pays off, climbing steadily but surely, planting the feet with opposing pressure
wherever possible in shallow grooves. I took a route more or less directly up
the gray-colored rock while Tom chose to
move right
onto the brownish slopes just below the saddle.
We were both
atop the saddle shortly after 8:30a.
A blanket of manzanita covers the ground east of the saddle nearly up to the
edge before it drops away into Mill Creek. Cross-country travel through the
stuff would be difficult (if one were heading north for the Vivian Creek Trail,
for instance). Luckily there is a an open band of sandy space
along the edge of the saddle
heading up
and south, with a patchy use trail
leading up to
Galena's summit. Though not more than about half a mile, this section involved
almost 1,000ft of climbing and took us another half an hour to reach
Galena's summit. There was a Mars Bonfire register
from 2003 in a PVC container along with a fine view to the north
towards San Gorgonio. To
the west
is an unnamed higher point that blocks the views in that direction of the
Yucaipa Ridge. It took us about ten minutes to reach Galena's west summit
where the views to
Mills Creek showed us how far we'd already gone
and the view of
the Yucaipa Ridge showed us how far we still had to
go. It was only 9:20a so there was still plenty of daylight for the route ahead.
The hardest part of the Yucaipa Traverse was the next two miles before us,
between Galena's west summit and Little San Gorgonio Peak. The ridgeline is
rockiest in this section and traversing it involves a number of undulations
over rock that is generally of poor quality. There are a
few sections of
class 3
that make one pause due to the looseness of the terrain, and these we passed
through cautiously. For the most part we followed
along the ridge,
but dense brush forced us off to
the south side from time to time,
the north side mostly cliffs but usable
at times.
In many places there was some
low bushwhacking to negotiate and though mildy troublesome, it was
far better than a mature manzanita bushwhack would have been.
There are some fine views off
both the north and south sides of the ridge, though the blue skies of the
previous day had given way to clouds both high and low that marred
the scenery today.
It wasn't until noon that we reached
Little San Gorgonio. We were happy to have
finished with the trailless portion of the traverse. The highpoint had been
left unmolested, but another fifteen minutes west could be found a lower bump
with a number of communication towers and sensors
both large and small.
A dirt road leads to the towers from the west
and it was this track that we started following, the first trail we'd found in
some hours.
Another twenty minutes brought us to the summit of Wilshire Mtn,
complete with a register and a colorful and
compact summit block.
The register dated
to 1978,
left by a group of Scouts from Norwalk's Troop 328. Our
good dirt road did not
last much longer, as it soon forks down the south side of the ridge. A poorer
track continues west along the ridge but it appears to see little traffic and
could be hard to follow in places. There were three additional summits in
short succession, Wilshire Peak, Oak Glen Peak and Cedar Mtn.
Wilshire Peak
(not to be confused with Wishire Mtn immediately to the east) had no register
whereas the other two did.
Oak Glen is the only non-HPS peak along
the ridge, but had a register dating
to 1989.
Cedar Mtn's
went back even further, with worn and tattered pages as far back
as 1969. None of these peaks presented any difficulty, mostly just
walking through the forest.
Just west of Cedar Mtn we found a trail junction marked by
an old wooden sign
that was in better shape than the trail we tried to follow. This junction is
also shown on the 7.5' topo, with one fork heading down the south side to the
town of Oak Glen. By now it was 1:45p and we began to keep an eye out for Laura
who we expected to see any time now along the ridge. Birch Mtn was a few more
miles northwest along the ridge and we spent the next 45 minutes in reaching it.
The trail traverses around the north side of the summit so it was necessary to
do a short stint of cross-country to reach the top. We heard Laura's yell before
we saw her. Evidently she had spied us down below, having kept a keen watch. We
found her
in her bright orange jacket pacing about the summit, having
been there some time and having been driven to distraction by the horde of
flies that commanded the summit area. Tom and I had had some distraction from
the flies earlier, but nothing like what we found at Birch's summit. It was
downright annoying and drove us off the top within a few minutes of signing
the register.
What followed next was a classic example of why not to trust a GPS. Armed with just such a device that not only showed map contours but showed roads and trails as well, I thought it a small matter for us to find the trail again and simply led us off the northwest side of Birch. Laura espoused greater caution and tried to explain that the trail was tricky to find, but Tom and I paid only scant attention. It wasn't until we had wasted some twenty minutes or so dropping down much too far along the ridge and beating up against one dead end after another through the brushy understory ("Look, the GPS shows the trail right around here...") that we listened to reason. Climbing back up the steep slopes that we had little energy or inclination for, we did indeed find the trail traversing the slopes towards the south as Laura had recalled. Bad GPS! Bad Bob for blindly following it!
Though it wasn't in great shape and had been badly neglected over the years,
the trail was a far better cry than trying to whack our way through it. Over
the years since it was last maintained, the trail has been modified, with long
switchbacks shortened by more direct paths connecting them. Finally, around
3:20p we found ourselves onto the much easier remains of the
Yucaipa Ridge Truck Trail. This
road
is no longer maintained or used by vehicles, but due to its
wide track it was far easier to follow. We came upon
a newer trail sign a few
minutes later, though nothing about the trail itself was new or improved. By
4p we reached
a gate
marking the eastern boundary of the Bear Paw Wildlife
Sanctuary. The road became easier to follow at this juncture.
There was only a single peak remaining but it was still
an hour away. All of us
were rather tired by the time reached the Allen Peak Trail
junction with the
Oak Glen Divide Trail we'd just finished. It was difficult to say which was
more annoying by this time, the flies or the heat, but both had beaten us to
submission and we were all wishing the hike was over by this time. I suggested
that the other two had no obligation to join me for the last bit to Allen Peak
which was off our return route. I wouldn't have felt bad at all if they decided
not to join me and tried to convey this, but they would have none of it. They
would suffer with me to the last summit.
We passed another gate
and continued west along the road, further than we should
have until we were well past the north side of Allen Peak. Somewhere we had
missed a turnoff for a use trail and had to backtrack to find it. A quarter
mile back along the road we found
the unmarked trail we'd missed starting up
a ridgeline
through the brush.
Twenty minutes and Pone last mile brought us to
the highpoint
of Allen Peak. The flies were just as bad on Allen as they had
been on Birch, but Laura helped lighten the mood by pulling out
a trio of Mike's
she had been carrying around all day. Though not so refreshing in their
current warm condition as they are in their preferred cold state, they made a
fitting end to an HPS list finish in July. And we didn't break one like we did
on Table Mtn the year before, either. We drank our Mike's, made a quick
register entry,
and
beat a retreat from the summit (kinda
crappy views
from the top, btw), leaving it to the buzzing horde.
We had an hour to go in returning to the
Bear Paw headquarters some three miles back down the
north side of the ridge. It was 6:15p when
we arrived, making for
almost a 12hr day for Tom and I, but I must say it felt more like an 18hr day.
I wouldn't have thought it was possible to be so tired in only 12hrs, but the
warm weather certainly played a key role. July is really not a good time to be
hiking these HPS peaks, we all concluded.
We spent a while at the cars talking with one of the
caretakers at the parking area. She explained a good deal about the work they
do with youths and school groups and was kind enough to let me borrow her home
phone to make a call to my wife to let her know what time to expect me home.
Having the longest drive home, I left soon afterwards, stopping at the bridge over Mill Creek in order to strip and rinse off in the highly refreshing creek flowing under the bridge. Back on the highway, it would be well after midnight before I got home to San Jose. It had been a highly productive six days in Southern California, having gotten to all the summits I'd planned and a handful of extras as well. And the HPS list had finally been finished, too. That won't stop my visits down this way as I still have a few other lists in the area to finish up. And then there's a score of range highpoints and other unlisted summits, and ... it never really ends, does it?
For more information see these SummitPost pages: Galena Peak - Little San Gorgonio Peak - Allen Peak
This page last updated: Wed Feb 2 17:14:45 2022
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