| |
|
| | |
|
| Hiking | 18.90 Miles |
5,845 AEG |
| | Hiking | 18.90 Miles | 11 Hrs 13 Mns | | 1.91 mph |
| 5,845 ft AEG | 1 Hour 18 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | After viewing this peak from San Jacinto it was finally time to climb the high point of Southern California. We tried to do San Gorgonio back in 2018 but fire closure from the Valley Fire ended that. Sadly there was another San Gorgonio fire in 2020 called the El Dorado Fire started by pyrotechnics at a gender reveal party. Interesting Wiki article read for those interested.
Back to the hike. We started from the Vivian Creek Trailhead about 530am in mostly dark conditions. About 1/2 mile in there is a creek crossing that other posts mentioned wet feet but we were able to cross with no issues. Once across the creek the trail goes very vertical for 1.5 miles and probably the steepest part of the whole hike. Eventually we reached Vivian Creek Campground a nice area with lots of shade and plenty of water flowing in the creek. Continuing on we made it to the second camp Halfway Campground about another 1.3 miles up trail.
Not wanting to stop just yet we continued on to the next one at High Creek Camp and took a good break. We had gone 5.5 to 6 miles depending on the GPS and gained several thousand feet to put us at about 9300. After the break we continued up some really nice switchbacks that eased the grade somewhat. At the end of the switchbacks it reached a ridge around 10,000 elevation where we could finally see almost summit. Took another quick breather as the first hiker we'd seen passed us.
From here the trail continued up a series of sometimes steep switchbacks mixed with long gradual upward traverses as the higher elevation started to kick in. Eventually we reached the junction with the divide trail at about 11,200. Took another break and at least I was really sucking wind but fortunately it's only a mile and couple hundred more feet gain to the summit.
Finally after the quick break we reached the summit and just before the hiker who passed us earlier was headed back down. That meant we had the whole summit to ourselves  Took an extra long break to recover and just enjoy the summit. Just as on San Jacinto nobody showed up during the break. Only other creatures on the summit were some very aggressive Pikas...not their first rodeo!
After the nice long break it was time to hike back down the same trail. Great timing too because 5 minutes into the descent the next hiker was making her way to the summit. It was much easier to enjoy the views going downhill which were pretty cool on the top 2 miles. Eventually we dropped off the high ridge and switchbacks down to High Creek Camp where we took another break.
Break over we continued down and only encountered one other person for total of 3 on the day. We reached the creek crossing at the bottom and at least this time it was daylight enough to see some scenery. Across the creek and back at the trailhead just before 5pm. Toughest hike for sure on the week but well worth the effort! |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Route Editor
Route Scout
