San Gorgonio from Moonset to Sunset

We started this hike just a bit after sunrise and got to see a gorgeous moonset as we began our initial ascent. The first 1-1.5 miles was quite a strenuous start but then you end up in a beautiful alpine meadow for a few miles. We saw one hiker on his descent from that alpine meadow. For the entire rest of the hike, we only saw 6 other hikers. One solo, one group of two, and one group of three who started at High Creek Camp.

The views were absolutely astounding once we cleared the ridge at mile 6.5. Then it was clear hiking, though steep and tough the rest of the way to the summit. There was one small patch of snow right at the top which was a little tricky to scramble over to get to the summit sign.

After a rest there, we started the trek down. We were thankful we had headlamps as it was almost completely dark once we returned to the alpine meadow area. We caught the sunset at the same spot we saw the moonset on the way up and then had the stars to guide us home.