Antsell Rock -- Route Guide/Trip Report

[Hikin_Jim]

Recently, I climbed Antsell Rock as part of my Desert Divide Dozen trip up the PCT.



Antsell Rock looks fairly intimidating, but it's really not that bad -- if you know the correct route. The route is mainly class 2 with a relatively short class 3 section.



Speaking of the route, I've created a trip report which should serve as a Route Guide for Antsell Rock which I hope will facilitate visits to this fun and fabulous peak (once the access is restored in the aftermath of the Mountain Fire).



I hope you enjoy it and that it's helpful,

HJ

[Wildhorse]

This is a very helpful trip report and gives me a way to imagine going there.

In your photos and description, the route looks more difficult than it sounds in the Sierra Club 100 peaks cursory description. A number of years ago, on a much easier hike on the PCT, I saw this route and spent maybe 15 minutes exploring the beginning of it just to see what it was like, stopping when the route became confusing. Now I can see from your report, and the time it took, just how difficult the route finding is.

I guess Antsell Rock may have burned on all sides. The landmark trees would be gone now, and the brush.

I have not yet been to the San Jacintos after the fire. I dread seeing the damage. I want to remember it the way it was in your photos. We will never see it like that again. It will be like Pipes Canyon.

[Phil B]

Thanks Jim, that report/route guide is about as good as it gets, I love the Desert Divide area, but I have never done Antsell, it looks like your information could be an invaluable resource saving time and effort. As mostly a solo hiker that is much appreciated.
Thanks Phil

[Hikin_Jim]

In your photos and description, the route looks more difficult than it sounds in the Sierra Club 100 peaks cursory description.

The HPS descriptions are very high level. I think they do that on purpose since more detailed descriptions might become outdated. That and of course many people like the challenge of figuring out a route for themselves.

In the case of Antsell Rock, I think fairly specific route instructions are helpful since there is a particular feature, the 3rd class crack, that must be found in order for the route to be safely negotiated by a non-technical climber.

I guess Antsell Rock may have burned on all sides. The landmark trees would be gone now, and the brush.

There probably was burning all around, but the two trees I used as landmarks, the bonsai like tree at the 3rd class crack and the dead tree at the traversing ledges, are surrounded by rock and might well have escaped the fire. Even if they burned, their charred remains would most likely still serve to guide climbers. Even without the confirmation of the two aforementioned trees, the geologic features I've identified should be more than sufficient to identify the route, so I wouldn't despair just yet.

Lastly, if that brush choked gully burned, that actually might be a good thing. Recall that I lost a water bladder there due to a brush induced puncture. That brush was really thick in spots.

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

Thanks Jim, that report/route guide is about as good as it gets

You're welcome. Reading the HPS description left me unclear ast to the route. Don't get me wrong; I really appreciate the great HPS site, but I thought some photos and a more detailed description might be valuable.

HJ

[Wildhorse]

When I wrote that the landmark trees would be gone now, and the brush, I was lamenting the death of trees and plants. The words, as they passed through my mind to the keyboard, came with a deep ecological sigh. Thankfully, the route survives and may have improved. And, of course, the rocks survived.

[Hikin_Jim]

I hear you. There's a lot of beautiful stuff like this:

that you really have to wonder what it looks like now.

HJ

[KathyW]

Nice report.

The HPS Route 1 was the easiest route from the PCT prior to the fire - no bushwacking and pretty quick trek up the Gully from the PCT to the short Class 3 section, but the route along the old Sam Fink Trail might be a lot clearer now that the fire went through that area.

[Wildhorse]

Yes, that is it. The juxtaposition of the idyllic photo and your words, "you really have to wonder what it looks like now," are just what goes through my mind.

[Hikin_Jim]

Nice report.

Thanks.

The HPS Route 1 was the easiest route from the PCT prior to the fire - no bushwacking and pretty quick trek up the Gully from the PCT to the short Class 3 section, but the route along the old Sam Fink Trail might be a lot clearer now that the fire went through that area.

Yeah, route 1 might be better in terms of brush and in terms of being a straight shot. It was a bit much going XC along the north ridge. Lots of rock, lots of brush, sometimes both at once.

It made more sense to me to try from the north since I had done that route before (about 20 years ago) and because we were backpacking north bound. I wasn't sure which gully to head up for route 1, but the north ridge is easily identifiable.

HJ