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| Hiking | 7.25 Miles |
2,248 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.25 Miles | 3 Hrs 37 Mns | | 2.43 mph |
| 2,248 ft AEG | 38 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | In the event the strain in my leg needs more time to heal, I decided to stay local this week and headed up to the Catalinas. Despite logging under 7.5 miles, I hit up a bunch of peaks/points of interest [and had a bit of off trail fun in the process]:
1. Leopold Point - I kicked things off from the Palisades trailhead. While I started off on a trail, only a few seconds went by before I found myself bushwhacking upwards, [the terrain was irresistibly awesome for bushwhacking!]. Next, I reconnected with the trail and headed toward Leopold Point. The official trail takes you close to Leopold Point but not directly on it; however, it is extremely well-routed. The views are awesome; and right in the area of the highpoint, there is this awesome cairn/fire ring; [I'll post pics upon my return... this thing was really cool!].
2. Kellogg Mountain - after Leopold Point, I headed back down the trail the way I had come, contouring around Kellogg Mountain. I figured there would probably be a decent route on the side of the mountain that faces Mount Bigelow… but 'summit fever' struck, and I found myself heading up a faint route. I figured I'd be in for blasting through a few patches of brush, [and less than ideal visibility and maneuverability...], but it was a very short distance from where I left the trail to the summit, and before long I was on the high point of Kellogg Mountain, enjoying some awesome views!
3. Mount Bigelow - as I suspected, there is a very nice route leading from the high point of Kellogg Mountain to the trail that goes to the top of Mount Bigelow. There are several radio towers, along with a fire lookout, on top of Mount Bigelow. There isn't much to explore cuz they are fenced off by a chain-link fence with barbed wire on top, but neat to see nonetheless.
4. Westfall Knob - I didn't feel like backtracking to pick up the trail, so I consulted with Route Scout topo and then embarked upon a rather brushy bushwhack off Mount Bigelow and onto the trail that would take me to Westfall Knob. There were some very nice route-like paths in the beginning… but the end involved a few brushy battles with very poor visibility and ZERO maneuverability... luckily I prevailed, and before long emerged from the brush and onto the trail. From there, it was super smooth sailing to Westfall Knob!
5. Palisades Rock - after Westfall Knob, I returned the way I came on the trail. It eventually connected with the trail I was on earlier that took me to the top of Mount Bigelow. However, this time I headed off-trail to Palisades Rock, [which is just a short distance off the trail and very well-routed]. I got there just in time to enjoy the awesome views… not more than a few minutes later, I was stopping to fetch my headlamp. Even though it was almost completely dark, the area is extremely well-routed; so after Palisades Rock, I continued off-trail in the direction of my starting point. I reconnected with an actual trail for about a minute or two before reaching the trailhead.
Not too shabby for a workday! And best of all, I finished the adventure pain and soreness free.  |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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