TR: Little Round Valley and Nearby Peaks, Labor Day 2014

[jfr]

OK, I admit it. I'm REALLY late with this trip report. Ten weeks late, in fact.

I've been working on getting all those photos I took back in August in order, and as of now I only have two more TR's to write (one small and one large). This TR you're reading now is the smallest. It's the low-hanging fruit, in other words. Still, I'm not complaining, as it sure was a busy August!


Normally my wife and I go out backpacking together, now that our kids are grown, but this time she was away for a week visiting relatives. I decided that backpacking beat the heck out of staying home alone, so I enlisted my son and three of his friends, and the five of us set off for the Fuller Ridge Trail, Little Round Valley, and a three day weekend full of peak bagging. Bro's Only. Sorry, ladies.

The only problem I foresaw was that these four dudes were all 25 years younger than me, and that I might not be able to keep up the pace. That they wanted to climb every rock along the way was merely an added bonus!

We arrived at the trailhead just after dawn, and proceeded to get ready for the hike.



A Beer for Good Luck at the Fuller Ridge Trailhead.



Knife Blade Rock on the Fuller Ridge Trail. My son is up on top!



The guys on top of "Knife Blade Rock" - the view from the back side.



Climbing on some tall granite just beyond Castle Rocks.

Why? Because it wanted to be climbed!



Tree Huggers. They're everywhere!



Bed Springs water flow on the Deer Springs Trail. We filtered a few gallons and hiked on.
Thanks to the folks here on the board I already knew that LRV was dry.

Bed Springs Video. It was flowing nicely back on Labor Day.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/157 ... 872047643/
I'm fairly sure that it's still flowing now, though perhaps not as well.



Tired hikers arrive in Little Round Valley. Yes, that last stretch was steep and hot!
Did I look and feel like that? No. Definitely not. I was in much better shape. 25 years better, in fact!



Sunset silhouettes in Little Round Valley.



Climbing Folly Peak Sunday morning, heading straight upslope from LRV. We used a combination of GPS bearing and the "Rule of Up." The brush wasn't too bad, and one could easily find a path around the chinquapin, or stomp through it when necessary. But it was definitely steep!



Climbing up the Folly Peak Summit. Lots of great scrambling on the big granite boulders. San Jacinto Granite sure is grippy on the shoes...



View NW to Baldy and San Gorgonio from the Folly Peak Summit. Also great views of Fuller Ridge.



Climbing San Jacinto Peak from Folly Peak. It sure looks different from the Folly side!



Maniacs on the edge of doom, while climbing San Jacinto Peak from Folly Peak.
They purposely found excuses to make the route Class Four; anything less dangerous and you were a wimp.
I was a wimp. 25 years wimpier.



San Jacinto Peak Summit, always satisfying.



Headed off-trail once again, cross-country to Jean Peak this time.
Here's a view of Marion Mountain from the Jean Peak summit.



Heading to Shirley Peak (Peak 10388) from Jean Peak.



View south to Tahquitz from Shirley Peak.



Marion Mountain summit block route - main crack.



Signing the register on the Marion Mountain summit.



Climbing Newton-Drury Peak, our sixth peak of the day!



Relaxing in a hammock after a long day of hiking.



Heading back out Monday morning on the Fuller Ridge Trail.



Looking back at Folly Peak.



San Gorgonio from the Fuller Ridge Trail.



Climbing yet more granite on the Fuller Ridge Trail.



Back at the Fuller Ridge Trailhead parking lot on the PCT.


All in all, a great time was had by all. All the hiking that I did in August prior to this trip left me in excellent shape; it enabled me to keep up with the youngsters, and I'm feeling rather smug. In fact, I'd never bagged so many peaks in one day.

Meanwhile, here I've been, sitting on my butt the last ten weeks, dealing with the rest of life and trying to get all of my photos in order. Not much hiking has been done lately. If I can just get these last trip reports together it'll be time to get back out on the trail!


These and other photos can be viewed here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/set ... 872047643/

[Hikin_Jim]

How was the road up to Black Mountain?

HJ

[jfr]

How was the road up to Black Mountain?
HJ

The road was fine. Only one spot was an issue (caused a small "bump" down underneath) in our Toyota Corolla but that was because it was dark and I was driving uphill way too fast! Basically, there was a blind spot beyond a rise and it was not a good spot to take fast. Saner driving on the way down and all was well. I like that road, especially the views to the north just before the turnoff to the trailhead parking lot. In fact, the ugliest section of the entire road was the last 0.1 mile turnoff to the lot; I took that part real slow.

And let's face it: The Fuller Ridge Trail is absolutely gorgeous. One of the best/prettiest trails on the mountain.

Also notice the shortcut we took on the way back, down the Bed Springs drainage. Saved some distance, plus we avoided the hot shadeless nasty switchbacks through the buckthorn. Pretty easy cross-country through there, as it is forested. I'll take that route next time, both up and downhill. https://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/15775383611/

[Hikin_Jim]

Ah! Interesting that you went that way, down the drainage. I've been part way down that drainage to the kind of meadowy area below the Deer Spgs Trail. I didn't go any further on that route because I had come in on the Seven Pines Trail and wanted to exit that way.

HJ

[zippetydude]

What a fun TR! Thanks for the pics and kooky write-up. A couple of questions...(for anyone, by the way, not just jfr and HJ)...have you ever taken the xc route from the PCT on up the ridgeline to Folly (roughly where the word "scenic" is found on the upper left portion of your map where the trail enters the map)? Seems like it would cut out that very long, pointless downhill to reach the trail junction. I believe Patrick (lilbitmo) had done that a couple years back and said it wasn't a bad bushwhack, but I'd be curious to see what it looks like. Also, did Newton-Drury peak look as interesting in real life as it does in that picture? Seems like it would be well worth the short side trip out of LRV to scamper around and explore the rock formations there.

Anyway, thanks again for the TR!

z

[RMRUpete]

Done this 4 times and it goes very well. Just stay on the North side of the ridge for the first part to avoid the brush. As you get out of the brush go to the South side to finish up. Stay out of the rocks on the South side until you are right near the summit then head into them and up to the top. I find Trekking Poles really help on the lower part of the climb as it is a little steep. Twice I came up Marion Mt. trail and dropped down the Fuller Ridge Trail to the ridge and then went up to Folly, SJ, Jean, and Marion before heading down the Marion Mt. trail again. Nice day loop. Also the ridge has great views out to the desert.

[jfr]

Did Newton-Drury peak look as interesting in real life as it does in that picture? Seems like it would be well worth the short side trip out of LRV to scamper around and explore the rock formations there.

Newton-Drury isn't much of a peak as it has little prominence from the saddle to the east. But it's quite nice otherwise. Large granite boulders as you'd expect in SJ area, which are fun to climb on. But I'd say that its main point of interest is the views from the summit. This peak is right in the center of the semi-circle of peaks (Folly, San Jacinto, Jean, Shirley, and Marion) and as such it makes you appreciate them all. Also you can see San Gorgonio and Baldy in the distance. That entire section of wilderness (between N-D, Jean, and Marion) is home to some of the easiest cross-country hiking imaginable, as it is lightly forested and has much less brush than the south-facing slopes.

[Hikin_Jim]

That entire section of wilderness (between N-D, Jean, and Marion) is home to some of the easiest cross-country hiking imaginable, as it is lightly forested and has much less brush than the south-facing slopes.

It's cool stuff over in there. Sort of a summit plateau.

HJ

[arocknoid]

Splendid writeup of wacky wonderful trail time with the young lions.

That "summit plateau" is a fine area for hanging out and watching wildlife, though not that adventuresome for the rock-hoppin' lads.

Thanks for the post and pics.

BTW your autocorrect needs a reset: it misspelled "25 years wiser"

kind regards,
arocknoid