Today (6/19) was hike #5 of the “Original” Six Pack of Peaks Challenge and my 11th overall of the SoCal Peaks Challenge. My final peak was Mount Wilson via Sierra Madre. Or at least that is where I started. As if one summit wasn’t enough and since I was solo today, I decided to throw in a few more peaks that happened to be close by. Starting out with Jones Peak, then Mount Yale and Mount Harvard, before finally summiting Mount Wilson. I knew today would be a HOT day, so I was prepared for that; however, the heat still took its toll on me. In addition to the heat, some of the terrain was grueling which, of course, was magnified by the heat.
I arrived at the trailhead near Lizzies Trail Inn and began my hike right around 5am. There were only a few other hikers getting ready to go when I started. The first .9 miles were relatively easy with an elevation gain of about 640 feet. This is where the trail splits and heads up Bastard Ridge. Yes, Bastard Ridge is a bastard! I hiked, or should I say climbed, up 1,775 feet in .98 miles to Jones Peak. This was some steep climbing. In some (a lot) of spots it seemed every 30 inch step I took, I slide back 15.
From Jones Peak, I headed down a short distance and then back up and then down and then back up again on my way to Mount Yale. This was about 1,285 feet in gain over 2.33 miles. However, about half of that distance was descending. For the most part there was a trail, but as I neared the peak I found myself busting brush for a while and then doing some class 3 rock scrambling. Especially near the summit.
After, Mount Yale it was a short but challenging .82 miles to Mount Harvard. Of course, initially I had to head down for a tenth of a mile or so, before climbing about 600 feet for the final half mile to the summit. Of course more bouldering and bushwhacking. It was during this part of my hike that heat cramps began to roll in. Nothing serious, but enough to make me take another break and inhale some more pickles, electrolytes, jerky and some orange juice. Mount Harvard is covered with Media Towers. As I got up there I got the impression I wasn’t supose to be up there. Although there were no warnings coming up on my ascent, there were locked gates (two of them) blocking my exit down to the Mount Wilson Toll Road and the trail heading up to Mount Wilson.
Both gates on the way down were chained and locked and had razor wire lining the top and sides of the fence, which extended about ten feet past the road. For the first on, I ended up dropping down the slope until I was past the fence, crossed over and then headed back up to the road. Steep, but not difficult. It was obvious others had done the same thing. The second gate, I was able to open wide enough to slip my pack through and then slip myself through. Once I was at the toll road (about a half mile down from Mount Harvard) it was another 560 feet of ascending for about .8 miles to the summit.
Although I had brought plenty of foods to munch on, today I took advantage of the Café being open. Yep, a reward of a turkey sandwich with avocado, chips and a sprite for my efforts to the summit(s). My total miles to the summit were 6.45. However, only 4 of those were ascending a total of 4,860 feet. Tough miles on a hot day. The summit temps were easily in the mid to upper 70’s.
I sent about an hour at the summit just relaxing. Of course food service was a little slow so that added to the summit time. There were easily 3 or 4 dozen people at the summit, but only a small handful were hikers. Not too many wanting to brave the heat today. I took the normal route back down to the trailhead and ended up with 7 miles on my descent. It was rough going though. The temps increased throughout the descent to almost 100 degrees. My heat cramps (mostly in my legs) forced me to take several breaks to try and reenergize. It didn’t help much. I took 6 litters of water with me, several electrolyte tablets and about 32 ounces of orange juice. By the time I finished today all I had remaining was a half litter of water and some energy trailmix.
Once again, it was a struggle. It was a challenge. And, yes, I would do it again! 😉
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