This was my second attempt at Gorgonio. My first was two years ago from Vivian Creek. I took a group of Boy Scouts up and about 200-300 feet of elevation from the summit I turned around to see one of the boys struggling with altitude sickness. Deciding that safety was more important than the last stretch to the summit, I helped him get down right away. So it felt good to come back and finally conquer this peak!

We went up via Dry Lake and came down via Dollar Lake. Dry Lake itself was gorgeous and hands down my favorite part of the hike. However, about a mile or so from the summit we encountered a large patch of snow that blocked the trail. It's a VERY steep part of the mountain — I would NOT attempt crossing this without proper gear (microspikes or maybe crampons, I'm not sure as I'm not experienced in either). Slipping on this section would likely mean death. We found a way to hike up above the snow and around it, which was still precarious but not as much as if we'd attempted to cross the icy snow.

Coming down via Dollar Lake posed no problems. The trail was all clear from the summit to the parking lot. As much as I looooved Dry Lake, if you are looking for a safe route from South Fork that won't require detours or technical gear, I would go out and back via Dollar Lake.

San Gorgonio summit was serene and peaceful. I took a moment to enjoy the silence up there as there were relatively few other hikers on the trail that day. There was a chipmunk who kept trying to brave his way into my bag of trail mix but I had my eye on him as he inched his way closer and closer to me.

All in all a great hike. I chose one of the longer routes to summit but I'm glad I did as it was beautiful and refreshing, and a great distance to train with in preparation for my Mt. Whitney hike in a week and a half!