A swing and a miss! TR from Halls Grade Road

[zippetydude]

Okay, not every exploration works out right, but this was a real disappointment. I went out to Cabazon and parked at their beautiful Community Center and Library. It's a great facility, and there were a total of 3 cars parked there. I rode my mountain bike east until I could access the SCE access road, then turned left up Halls Grade Road. It was a beautiful fall day and the road is nicely graded for riding. So far, so good. I rode the next few miles wondering why this is not a popular route - it has great views and the grade is perfect. As I got to the crest of the ridge, I came across a barbed wire fence, a big sign saying No Trespassing, and a guard shack from the youth correction facility staring down at me. I was maybe a mile and a half from Onion Rock, and I found an unequivocal "Access Denied" laid right across my path.

Rats.

Anyway, on the way out I found I had inadvertently skirted a bazillion "No Trespassing" signs with the route I had taken coming in, so it would not have been a feasible route anyway. Still, very disappointing.

I am going to find a route to that @#$%^&*! rock if it kills me. Which it just might. More on this as I make further attempts.

z

[Hikin_Jim]

I am going to find a route to that @#$%^&*! rock if it kills me. Which it just might.

Rats. I was hopeful you could "slip in the back, Jack". I didn't think you could just walk through the main entrance on Twin Pines Rd.

HJ

[arocknoid]

Well, I hope you got to enjoy that ride a bit, even though the goal was stymied.

Since you couldn't "slip (in) the back, Jack," guess you'll have to "make a new plan, Stan."

(BTW, the brother of the above referenced artist negotiates his royalties for printed works etc., and is a real *bear.* Since Jim got the drift started....)

Good luck on the scouting, and may the Onion trek soon come to fruition.

kind regards,
Arocknoid

[halhiker]

There are a couple domes on that ridge but I'm assuming you are looking at the one that looks almost like an observatory when seen from I-10 at point 5526 on the topo map.

If this is the one, there a couple of possibilities to approach it. One is from Forest Service Road 2E35 or 3S08. It looks like there may be a way to cut down to the far east end of Hurley Flat and bypass Twin Pines Ranch. I haven't been on those roads in probably a decade or more so I don't know if it is doable.

The other possible route (and again I'm only speculating) is to go down from the top on a trail that's mapped near Boulder Basin Campground. (A on this map) http://goo.gl/6XNpAk On older topos it shows another portion of the trail picking up a little further from where this trail ends on this map and skirting the Onion at 5526. I think this may be the OLD route of the PCT before it went down to Snow Creek. Now that was probably 25 or 30 years ago so who knows what it might be like now? I'm trying to find a first edition of the PCT book to see if that right but haven't found one yet. Also, did the USFS close Black Mountain Road after our recent storm?

Don't know if any of this will lead to anything of value but, if not, I've got a chainsaw and a machete if you want to go bushwhacking.

[Hikin_Jim]

There are a couple domes on that ridge but I'm assuming you are looking at the one that looks almost like an observatory when seen from I-10 at point 5526 on the topo map.

Hal,

This is the "Onion" we're talking about. It's just below point 5526.

It's quite prominent in a satellite photo.

HJ

[zippetydude]

I'm assuming you are looking at the one that looks almost like an observatory when seen from I-10 at point 5526 on the topo map.

Yes, halhiker, that's exactly the one. I scouted the route coming down from Black Mountain Road a couple weeks ago and it would be some serious bushwhacking, but that may be the only avenue left after my next attempt.

Either this weekend or next I'm going to try a full frontal assault. If you look at HJ's link and zoom in directly to the north, I'm planning on parking at the corner of Elm and Hattie and then just trying to head south. I'll scout as I go - I plan on bringing a high power zoom scope, my super zoom camera, and a GPS so I can retrace my steps on the way back down. Looks like a tough trip with 3600' of elevation gain in a fairly short distance. There's no scale that I can find on the Acme Mapper - HJ, what would the distance be?

'Noid: Nice.

z

[Hikin_Jim]

There's no scale that I can find on the Acme Mapper - HJ, what would the distance be?

Well, it's on the order of 2 miles if you take a really direct route. With detours and ridges, it could be longer, but even if you added half again as much, it's still be 3 miles or so which is not too bad (if a bushwhack from Hell can be counted as "not too bad").

HJ

[zippetydude]

Most of the north face appears to have burned clear from the Silver Fire. If I don't get cliffed out, I think the direct up and down path may be the only workable solution at this point in time. That is, until halhiker has a chance to drive back out Black Mountain Road and we all show up and have a bushwhackfest.

z

[Hikin_Jim]

I've got a chainsaw and a machete if you want to go bushwhacking.

Better be careful, bushes; Hal whacks back!

HJ

[Perry]

You could park here:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=cabezon,+ca+elm+and+hattie&hl=en&ll=33.895798,-116.754544&spn=0.00157,0.00327&sll=33.896536,-116.754552&layer=c&cbp=13,138.96,,0,5.7&cbll=33.895798,-116.754544&hnear=Elm+St+%26+Hattie+Ave,+Cabazon,+Riverside+County,+California+92230&t=m&z=19&panoid=z-ZtLWSnmRXd4RbOaRhl7g

According to Jim and NPR, there's less crime in the mornings.