If you mention the name “San Gorgonio” to any Southern Californian, they will know it as one of the toughest mountains to summit, and the highest in SoCal. The majestic mountain is surrounded by neighboring giants as well, but its lofty bald peak can be spotted (apparently) all the way from Mt. Whitney. It's every SoCal hiker's dream to conquer this peak, as it is the pinnacle of SoCal.

To complete my six-pack challenge, I wanted to do this trek with the same crew I backpacked San Jacinto with. We planned this one-nighter shortly after we completed San Jacinto about a month ago. All could make it except my girlfriend. We were all anxiously waiting for the day to come to tackle San Gorgonio.

This time, I allowed my friend to navigate and lead us. He ended up doing an excellent job. On our first day, we were all experiencing fatigue early, and we all felt drowsy. It wasn't anything too crazy, 6.4 miles, 3,250ft. of gain. I believe it was because we only had 3 hours of sleep the night before. However, it was an exciting ascent. We could see the summit shortly after the second mile. Our camp was at Red Rock flat, which has a very reliable spring about .4 miles away at High Meadow. We met some really great people there and ended up connecting with them, as they were faculty at my dream DPT school. The views at Red Rock were some of the best I've ever had at any backcountry camp. There were wide open views to the west with Shields, Anderson, E. Bernardino, and San Bernardino Peaks close by. The sunset revealed that glory even more. We took our time to soak in the night sky before we retired for bed at 10pm.

The second day, we re-filled our waters at the spring, had breakfast, and broke camp by 7:40am. On the way, we decided to bag Jepson Peak, the 2nd highest peak in SoCal, at around 11,200′. We took our packs off and left them at the trail below so that it didn't weigh us down. No regrets whatsoever. We were greeted with the best views of San G and San Jacinto. The rest of the way up was enjoyable. It was slightly breezy, but the trail was gradual and easy to manage. Once we got to the summit, we took our time eating snacks, celebrating, and taking pictures. It was mind-boggling to think that nothing in SoCal stood higher than us in those moments. It was surreal really, and an absolutely beautiful moment.

The descent was around 11 miles total, and we felt every one of those miles. The constant downhill took a toll on us physically, but we countered it with a system of switching off leaders every 7 minutes or so with short breaks often. We happened to pass by the plane wreck, which was a really great landmark. It's incredibly well-preserved. We had a bee-sting in the crew, along with blisters and sunburns. These could've been easily prevented, we were just too hasty. We kept morale up by singing songs, telling embarrassing stories, and pointing out the breathtaking scenery before us. When water started running low about 4 miles from the trailhead, we got to fill up at a river, which was amazing. I was so glad to see that my filter worked effectively.

With Jepson and a hike to and from the spring, our total mileage was 24.7, and our elevation gain was 5,643. It was challenging with packs to do it in two days, but still manageable. What was great about the South Fork Trail loop was that it wasn't steep. The incline is gradual. There are distinct sections and stunningly contrast sceneries. The days were hot, though. People aren't exaggerating when they say that they burned through 5 liters of water in 1 day. Once you get past about 10,600ft, there isn't any shade anymore and the trail is exposed.

What an amazing experience this has been. I have met and connected with some truly fascinating people, experienced intense beauty, pushed past my physical limits, made lifelong bonds with people, and tested my skills as an outdoorsman. I will always remember this challenge of the original 6 peaks as one of my favorite experiences in my life.