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| Hiking | 6.22 Miles |
1,075 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.22 Miles | 2 Hrs 50 Mns | | 2.41 mph |
| 1,075 ft AEG | 15 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The monsoons and wild lightening shows finally took a break this afternoon and I seized the opportunity to knock off Cerro Pelon, a tiny peak in my neck of woods. I “attempted” this peak back in December of 2015, shortly after having bagged the nearby Diablo Mountain. Cerro Pelon should have been an absolute breeze by comparison; but ironically, [given that it’s rare for me to not make summit], today’s second attempt at Cerro Pelon was strike two.
For a quick ‘bag ‘n’ tag’ type of deal, approaching from the East would appear most logical based on the topo. This is the approach I opted for back in December… but unless you’re one of the elite few who happen to live in the surrounding neighborhood, [or have friends/family in the surrounding neighborhood], then you’re likely to have the NASTY locals b!tch you out before you even set foot on dirt. When I attempted from the East back in December, I did not encounter any access issues in terms of gates; however, there were ‘neighborhood watch’ signs everywhere and the final [paved] road I’d planned to take, had a sign at the entrance saying that only those who live on the road and/or their visitors are allowed to drive down it. Surprisingly, [just before this sign at the beginning of the road], there was ample space to park a vehicle, [and no, ‘no parking’ signs]… so I’d parked and proceeded to walk down the paved road, which is under a mile one-way from where a jeep road [FR 4875] begins. I had not even reached the end of the pavement before a nasty woman and her husband came whizzing by and stopped to literally interrogate me. Although they spoke to me with slightly less disrespect after I satisfactorily answered the questions they asked of me, they still acted very dramatic and “apologized” for having called the Border Patrol on me. Given that I was decked out in BRIGHT clothing with a hiking pack that was also brightly colored and trekking poles, I can’t imagine that anyone would be stupid enough to mistake me for a drug-runner. It was clear these people did not want others on their street/in their neighborhood.
Needless to say, after that experience, I’ve wanted to bag the little peak even more. Today I went for it via a back-door approach, coming in through Hunter’s Access and then approaching from the NW. I parked at the large pullout at the start of FR 4140 that leads toward Diablo Mountain and then headed down FR 684 to FR 4833. There were tons of places to park that were closer to the peak but I parked further down than I needed in order to get some extra mileage in.
I turned off FR 4833 and started my bushwhack toward Cerro Pelon a little earlier than anticipated to avoid a herd of cattle. The going was VERY easy and totally ‘snake safe’ given the excellent visibility and maneuverability. Once I entered Puerto Canyon, [which looked more like a wash than a canyon where I was], there were routes everywhere; in fact, some of the routes were so well-beaten in that “full out trail” would be a much more appropriate way of describing it. One of the trails led me to the base of Cerro Pelon where it then veered off to counter the base of the mountain. At this point, given the easy off-trail terrain and many routes to choose from leading up the small mountain, the ascent is very fast. Although not much elevation is gained, it’s a fun little climb and the surrounding area is so beautiful that you don’t have to go very high up for things to seem even more spectacular. In terms of watching for snakes, I would rank most of this hike, [even the off-trail portions], as excellent in terms of both visibility and maneuverability, with most of the final ascent being ‘very good’ and the tail end of it being ‘good’.
Given that I clearly passed the highest contour line on the topo, a quick glance at my GPS route will appear as a successful summit. However, entering the exact coordinates of this peak listofjohn (pay $ite)/pea ... 7068 will reveal that I fell short of the mark by about 50-100 feet… literally seconds away from summiting, [with the final summit cairn in full view], I slammed to a stop when I noticed something a bit concerning out of my peripheral vision: TONS of bees flying around the summit, right by the cairn / highpoint. It wasn’t a swarm in the sense that there are so many bees where they appear to be a solid object/rock; but nonetheless, there was a poo mess of freakin’ bees! Remembering how I ran [unharmed] through an area with lots of buzzing bees when I did my trifecta hike in the Pinalenos profile.php?u=67376&ID=46#T__133290_______1, I decided that I would at least try running to the highpoint and back… but after taking about two steps, I caught sight of a large rock near the summit cairn with a massive amount of bees that made the number of bees flying overhead seem small… needless to say, I did a 180 and hauled pumpkin back the way I came. Luckily none of the bees pursued.
Next, I decided to check out the other prominent points on the ridgeline of Cerro Pelon. I had a real blast along the ridgeline, and there were some even some rocks/boulders to negotiate that I handled with ease. With even further improvements in my equilibrium from just 4-5 days ago, I’m to the point where I feel just mildly impaired while bouldering, and not the slightest bit like I’m putting my safety in danger. It’s so awesome to be able to fly through the air again from boulder to boulder! Ironically enough, just as I neared the highpoint of the final prominent point on the Cerro Pelon ridgeline, it like was a déjà vu moment: I slammed to a stop when I noticed tons of bees flying around by the highpoint out of my peripheral vision. Once again, I did a 180 and hauled pumpkin the other direction; and once again, the bees luckily did not pursue!
At this point, with not a whole lot of daylight left, I decided to head off the mountain and continue on that full out trail I’d found earlier that was contouring the base. It was headed in the direction of a jeep road [FR 4141], and I figured it would lead me right to the jeep road, [which it did]; if it hadn’t, the bushwhacking was easy enough that I would not have had any trouble getting myself to the jeep road without the trail. Interestingly enough, the jeep road of all places proved to be the hands down best / most interesting part of my adventure: my first Gila Monster sighting! It wasn’t a particularly large one but still really neat, nonetheless. I took several photos while making sure to keep a safe distance. I think I terrified the poor creature because it hissed at me several times as it scurried away and tried to conceal itself in the nearby brush. And if that wasn’t enough, no sooner did I continue on my way back down FR 4141 when I spotted a tiny, adorable turtle right on the jeep road. |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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