Tough, tough hike today. Hike #16 of 18 of the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge didn’t disappoint. I’ve hiked this particular trail at least 3 times in the past 3 or 4 years and it never gets any easier.
Momyer Creek Trailhead to San Bernardino Peak. 18 miles and 5616’ in total elevation gain. Today’s hike started out with a creek crossing at Valley of the Falls and immediately begins to climb. The first 2.9 miles on the Momyer/Alger Creek Trail aren’t too bad. The trail in maintained and easy to follow. The total elevation gain for the first 2.9 miles is about 1840’ or just over 600’ per mile.
At the 2.9 mile you turn left (north) and begin the cruelling 4.5 mile trek up to the San Bernardino Peak Divide Trail. This trail is a trace trail and is not maintained like the other popular trails are. Although, since my last trek up this trail, there has been some clear cutting of fallen trees and trail maintenance. However that is short lived. Especially, once you reach the overgrown Manzanita bushes mixed in with overgrown thickets. The trace trail up to the ridgeline is about 4.5 miles and 3275’ in total elevation gain. Mile one has an elevation gain of about 1000’ and mile two adds another 1250’. Miles three and four aren’t as grueling and steep, at 486 and 538 respectively, however you have to now battle the overgrown Manzanita and the thickets. DO NOT wear shorts or short sleeve shirts for this hike. Unless of course you crave scratches, scrapes and blood.
Once at the ridgeline (San Bernardino Peak Divide Trail) it’s normally an easy 1.5 miles and 435’ in elevation gain to San Bernardino Peak and (of course) since you are hiking by San Bernardino East Peak, you may as well slay that one too. I took a pass on East Peak today. I’ve done it many times before and the trail conditions on the ridgeline weren’t optimal. Except for today when you add in a few feet of snow to maneuver through.
There was absolutely no snow on the trail coming up the south facing slope. Once I got to the ridgeline it and the north facing slopes were still covered in snow. Two to four feet in most spots. It was soft so crampons and microspikes would be useless. In anticipation for the snow covered ridgeline and summit, I brought spikes and snowshoes. I wore snowshoes the entire time with the exception of a few ¼ mile spots on the trail when I took them off and carried them.
I saw absolutely no other hikes on the Momyer Route to the summit. I thought I would see at least a few. I spent the better part of 45 minutes at the summit with not a sole in sight. I had it all to myself. As I was preparing to head back, a group of 3 arrived (wearing snowshoes of course). They planned to head over to East Peak, so I just fell in behind them for a while.
All in all, it was a tough, grueling day, but I knew it be! ;p ;p
Responses
Awesome work! Sounds like fun. How more of an incline is this route vs the north facing side?
@Armando I’m not sure which route you mean when you refer to the North facing route. None the less, if you go from Forsee Creek or Angelus Oaks the gain is about 1,000′ less than it is from Momyer Creek. The biggest difference is that Forsee and Angelus Oaks are far more gradual over approximately 8 miles. Momyer compacts the majority of the gain in a 4.3 mile section, where one of the miles is about 1,000′ gain and another mile is about 1250′ gain. The other two are between 700 and 800 gain. The two miles that are over 1,000 are back to back miles, so you gain 2250 in just 2 miles. I’d personally recommend you go via Momyer on your next trip. You’ll enjoy the challenge I’m sure!