SNOWSHOES!!! The operative word for the north side trails of the Gorgonio range
Part way up the Forsee Creek trailhead, Sally hit ice so we parked (6.6 K) and hiked up the road to the trailhead. Before long, we donned microspikes. At the second stream crossing we ran into knee high snow on the trail and went cross country uphill. We were sinking to our knees or more with every step. The air became bluer with my observations about carrying crampons and axe but not snowshoes
We intersected the trail at about 9.8 K and followed it -- we still dropped in up to our knees. Then we saw knee deep footprints in the snow and followed them up to Anderson flat. This took forever -- it was right there in front of us but never seemed to get any closer. We felt like we were trying to swim through jello. Sally noted that she was becoming very proficient at the German Goose Step -- pulling her foot high into the air to get out of the deep bootprints.
Our objective was Anderson peak, which turned out to be a hill too far. At 12:10 PM (5:40 minutes from our start), we reached the south facing side of the ridge (10.6 K) and called it. We had lunch in the dirt under pine trees and enjoyed the esquisite view of the range. I was exhausted and hoped that I could get back down in one piece.
Fortified with lunch, caffeine and Alleve, we started down, opting to follow the previous tracks rather than retrace our steps. Whoever the stud or stud muffin was, they knew the cross country route very well. The tracks stayed very close to the east side of the ridge and intersected the main trail below the Jackstraw springs junction. Then, it was just a matter of following the main trail back down to the road and Sally's car. Enjoyed a great cheeseburger and fries at the Oaks.
Anderson peak is waiting. I'll be back -- this time, with snowshoes.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
