Anyone want to try Snow Creek to the Peak,& down the Tra

[zippetydude]

I'm thinking about trying out this route to complement the Skyline trail. Anyone else interested? I've posted it mentioning it to Cy, but I (and I'm sure Cy) would love to get a big group going up - say 10 or more people? You'd need to be able to handle 30+ miles in a day, so it would be a serious, long day of hard, uphill challenge.

Before we move forward, I'll try to run the route with a GPS and find out the actual distance and elevation gain. But I'm curious about the desire to meet each other and do a crazy group adventure like this.

Comments? Takers? Is this just a stupid idea?

z

[Cy Kaicener]

Zippedydude - I have never heard of anyone doing it in a day via the PCT. Two days sounds more realistic. Come to think of it, I have not heard of anyone doing it at all before. http://www.summitpost.org might also be a good place to post this regarding feedback. I would be interested to find out what others think about this great idea.

[flat foot]

Humm, I should say no way but this sounds interesting. When do you think you might want to do this? I'm hiking C2C through to Humber Park on Oct. 7th, if I survive that maybe I can handle Snow Creek. I'd be interested in hearing the details.

[Cy Kaicener]

I did 23 miles last year finishing at 3pm at the tram with a 12.30 am start (c2c} so faster people should have no problem. November sounds like the best time. I will have to wait and see how I can handle c2c to Idyllwild on Oct 7 or maybe Round Valley to Idyllwild if I am feeling pooped.

[Perry]

The snow creek climb is only 4 miles as the crow flies, but that makes it the steepest 9,000-foot climb in the continental U.S. You'll want to do it either with lots of snow and crampons/ice axe, or with no snow at all. Since there is no snow right now, you'll come to the chalkstone, which is a small cliff. I've heard 30 to 60 feet high. For most people, it's a bad idea to climb that without being roped up. There's a 3rd/4th class rock climb variation to avoid that, but make sure you're very comfortable with that level of technique and not too tired. Also, there is the danger of setting lose boulders, so you'll want to carefully look at each rock before you put weight on them, and maybe test them a little. In the spring, the trick is making sure the snow is just right when you reach the upper section before the peak, as it's a 50 degree slope. If it's too soft you'll slip easy or possibly start an avalanche. If it's iced over and you happen to slip, it would be extremely difficult to stop yourself from gaining speed. In the winter there are lots of avalanches on the north face. No matter what time of year, there is some route-finding to make sure you take the correct drainages.

[zippetydude]

No, not that route. I'm way too big of a chicken to do that. I'm talking about following the PCT up over the ridge, then meeting up with the trail coming up from Marion, continuing on that trail up over the peak and down to the tram. No climbing, just lots of miles to enjoy.

z

[Perry]

I see. I've heard it is kind of a bushwacking "route" because the forest service doesn't maintain it. It's labeled a "trail," and skyline is officially a "route," but one of the best maintained non-official trails. Route, trail, what's the difference?

[Perry]

Hey, what do you think about Angeles Oaks to Fish Creek? I've always wanted to do that, but as a runner I would need another runner to carpool with.

[zippetydude]

So you're thinking the PCT over on San J is overgrown? I haven't been up that way in months (I did Skyline instead quite a few times since the tram avoids the downhill pounding) but it seemed pretty clear on the times when I had run it.

I did an Angelus Oaks to San Gorgonio trip once, but I just did it as an out-and-back. It was somewhere around 35 miles or so round trip, but it was a fun run.

I've been wanting to try going from the Cottonwood trailhead up Mission Creek to the Fish Creek trailhead, then back down to Aspen Grove. (The drive seems to take forever getting to Fish Creek, so I normally cut over to Aspen Grove to spend more time running and less time driving.) I was working up to that a couple of years ago, but I came around a tight turn and almost stepped on a 6' rattler about 10 miles into the canyon with no cell reception...it would have been a horrible death. I suspended that project.

Now that the fires have come through, while it may be desolate back there, it could be an interesting exploration to see what the post-fire landscape looks like.

I ran Morton Peak a couple of times last week up to the lookout, and it's fascinating how the fire will leave islands of vegetation untouched. It's not pretty, but it is interesting. On the burned off areas, it looks almost like a topo - you can see every contour of the land. Also, no rattlers.

What do you think about those routes?

z

[guest]

A friend did this route last spring, said it was a bit overgrown around the brushy elevations, maybe 2,500 - 4,500 ft level, but not nad.
He overnighted around 6,800, said it was great.
Greg Klien & a friend did it years ago, there's some adventure racers & ultra people who do it in a day.

Have fun, brings lot of water.