Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

I'm going to the Springsteen concert in LA on Wednesday and I'd like to do a hike somewhere between the desert and there. I figure I have about two hours and am wondering if anyone has any favorites that'll fit the bill. The concert is at the Sports Arena.

Hi Hal, I used to live in West LA and always enjoyed the backbone trail. It is West of the 405, so the air quality is usually excellent.

http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/backbonetrail.htm

Hi, Hal, I'm not sure exactly what route you might take, but I think the Winter Creek Loop (aka the Hoegees Camp Loop) is a nice one. I gather that you can keep a pretty good pace, so I think you can do it in a couple of hours. The loop is about 5 miles RT.

Here's a Topo marking out the route.

Here's a written description.

You can try the Garcia Trail in Glendora. The trail takes you from the LA County fire station on Sierra Madre Blvd to Glendora Ridge in 1.2 miles, 900' elevation gain. You can lengthen the hike to any distance once on the ridgetop as the Glendora Ridge Road takes off to the east. Don't go west as there is a locked gate at the bottom of the hill. Return on the same trail and end up at the fire station. Garcia Trail

I'll see you at the Springsteen concert... along with 14,000 other folks

hope the concerts good....i'm jealous.

You wouldn't pass up a chance to check out Echo Mountain via the famous Sam Merrill Trail? Would you?

Smooth, easy to follow and fast up to Echo Mountain where you will find a lot of ruins from the hotel etc.
Just 2.5 miles up. Perfect for a two hour first time hike.
Pretty nice views of the cities along the way too AND you just might get lucky and meet an UNUSUAL HIKING ATTIRE candidate as well! (Just steer clear of you know who!)


The trail starts at the top of Lake Ave. in Altadena. Actually you get off at Lake from the 210 east in Pasadena and just go north till it ends. Should be plenty of parking along either side of the Lake Ave. or on Loma Alta Drive.

MAP
(A)= Sam Merrill Trail Head
(B)= Echo Mountain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Merrill_Trail

Thank you for your suggestions. I don't know if I want to follow FIGHT ON's suggestion, though. I really don't have anything to wear that's worthy.

well if you want steep, the trail behind the Brand Park library going up the Verdugo Mountains is like 1400 ft in 1.2 miles.

halhiker wrote:I'm going to the Springsteen concert in LA on Wednesday and I'd like to do a hike somewhere between the desert and there. I figure I have about two hours and am wondering if anyone has any favorites that'll fit the bill. The concert is at the Sports Arena.

bluerail wrote:hope the concerts good....i'm jealous.

Just returned from the concert. It was in-freakin'-credible! Been to quite few of them and tonight ranks right up there. And to close with Rosalita....

Anyhow, Hal, did you hike before the concert?

I did go hiking before the show and posted it this morning. I got home at 2AM and went to bed sometime after that.

The show was amazing. He had as much energy as I've ever seen although some of the posturing and posing was silly but that's how those shows go. I saw Tom Morello in Anaheim last year so it was cool to see him again and personally, I'm not a big Rosalita fan but I know I'm in the minority. I was on the floor right behind the pit. Had a scuffle with a drunk at the end but it never got serious. Three times I've been on the floor and never get the pit. Just hope you don't get a number near mine.

I'll be posting today's hike and hitting the sack. I'm exhausted.