Santa Rosa Mt and Toro Peak, Saturday November 6

[jfr]

My wife and I were missing the mountains pretty badly, so we took a day trip up to Santa Rosa Mountain and Toro Peak. We were lazy and drove nearly the entire way to the two peaks, on the "Santa Rosa Truck Trail", otherwise known as Forest Route 7S02. It's supposedly a four-wheel-drive road, but we made it up to the top just fine in our old Saturn. We got stopped twice, once by the condition of the road about a hundred feet shy of Santa Rosa Mountain, and again by a locked gate with an evil sign just below the final push to the summit of Toro Peak. I'm sad to report that, once up in the pine trees, we utterly lost our will to be lazy. We broke down completely: We put on our good boots and actually HIKED nearly a mile! Horrors! The breakdown of our willpower didn't happen all at once, however. First, we crawled the hundred feet (horizontal distance, not vertical) from the car up to the broad flat summit of Santa Rosa Mountain. Later on, we stopped the car and visited (on foot!) several springs that were shown on the map, a short distance from the road. But we really lost all of our lazy, car-bound self-respect when we donned our day-packs and hiked all the way around to the south side of Toro Peak, where we were able to see, in the hazy distance, Borrego Springs and Coyote Canyon (the site of a backpacking trip earlier this year). I'd like to say that we managed to retain a small shred of our laziness, as we didn't actually summit Toro Peak, but that would be a lie. The fact is, we didn't turn back due to laziness. We were afraid of the evil sign and its threat of punishment. We looked longingly at the radio towers up on the peak a quarter-mile away, and turned around. We hiked back to the car, took off our good boots, and drove back home. We may have lost all of our laziness, but we got some good mountain air in return!

Long, non-humorous (i.e. factual) Trip Report and way too many (as usual) pictures here.

Acme Map of the trip, with A = Start of Forest Road 7S02, B = Santa Rosa Spring (flowing well!), C = Stump Spring (dry), D = Virgin Spring (a nice little pool). Your Acme Map marker lettering may vary.

[Andy]

JFR, great TR and pictures. Do you know the story behind that cabin with the deck? I remember coming upon that place almost 20 years ago while hiking up there....good memories. I recall it looking as if someone was still living there and being really jealous of the solitude and the view!

[hvydrt]

just fine in our old Saturn

Wow, last time I drove that road in my truck it was pretty rough! How long did it take you to get to Santa Rosa from 74?

[jfr]

just fine in our old Saturn

Wow, last time I drove that road in my truck it was pretty rough! How long did it take you to get to Santa Rosa from 74?

It took us a little over an hour to drive the eight miles to Santa Rosa Spring, but then we got out and walked around, so it's hard to say after that. Generally speaking, we drive the old Saturn pretty slowly on dirt roads, being extra careful to keep the tires on the high points of the road. We only felt one or two small bumps on the bottom this trip!

We've taken that car all over the Anza-Borrego Desert, so we've had plenty of experience. It's also been up to the Fish Creek Trailhead on San Gorgonio, and I would rate this road as very similar in difficulty to that one.

Just take your time, and you'll also breathe less dust!

[sthewlis]

I was pleased to know that your Saturn made it up the Santa Rosa Mountain road. I've been ALMOST brave enough to try it with my PT cruiser. The top is definitely worth the climb and the bumps in the road!