My 14th peak of the 6 (18) Pack of Peaks Challenge and my 17th hike of the 52 Week Hike Challenge 2020 turn into an interesting morning and day.

My plan was to drive up to Rock Camp Campground on Cerro Noroeste Road and do a reverse hike of the 3-2-1 Challenge. Hitting up Grouse Mountain first, Sawmill Mountain second and then Mount Pinos third. Then head back to Rock Camp Campground. Basically just doing the 3-2-1 Challenge backwards.

Unfortunately, when I reached Cerro Noroeste Rd, the gate to the road was close and the sign said, “Road closed for the winter”. Hmmm! So, I had to go to the backup plan. Drive back to the Nordic Base and start the hike from there. I ended up stepping off about an hour later than planned.

The trail was great all the way up to and just passed the Mt Pinos Lookout. It was mostly hard packed crunchy snow. Easily traversed with spikes or even snow boots with good traction. Once I began the descent down the slope from the Condor Lookout, the trail became a little more difficult to follow and the snow was not as packed. I ended up off trail many times (some on purpose) and did a little post holing up to my knees. The trail going up the slope to Sawmill was a little more packed and had a few patches of dirt, but still had areas where, if you weren’t paying attention, you could easily go off trail. Bring your land navigation skills, map, GPS, spikes and poles for this one. 😉

Since I got off to a later start than I had planned and my drive home was going to take about 3.5 to 4 hours (it took almost 5), I opted to not head to Grouse and just bagged Sawmill and Pinos. How does the Meatloaf song go? “Two out of three ain’t bad!” On my return, I decided to just go straight up the slope to the lookout and not bother with the post holing on the switchbacks. Saved me some time even though I still did some post holing.

I had the trail and both summits all to myself today. I didn’t see a single person until I got back to Mount Pinos and began the final 1.7 miles back to the Nordic Base. An important note for anyone who is planning this hike soon. Today I had perfect weather and conditions. I carried all my mountaineering gear (boots, crampons, axe and helmet) but didn’t need them. Spikes and poles work well today. With that said, a storm is coming in tomorrow. Bringing in a forecast of about 3 inches of new snow and high temps in the teens over the next few days. Be smart SoCal Hikers!