The Big Falls and Vivian Creek trailhead parking lots are closed, so we parked in a legal spot, walked up the very icy road, crossed Mill Creek and headed up. Our goal was Dragon's Head peak.
There was no snow or ice to speak of until we reached the forest after the boundary sign. From there up to the Halfway camp junction, the trail was icy and lumpy from previous hikers, which made for uneven footing. We took the winter route up the ridge to High Creek Camp -- much more enjoyable than walking up the icy, rutted trail. From High Creek, we again took the winter route up the ridge that intersects the main trail at about 10,400 K.
We followed the trail up past the red bump and looked at the traverse that would take us to Dragon's Head. This would have taken us another hour or two and a member of our group wasn't feeling well. It was also 12 noon, so we settled in for lunch and enjoyed the view. The little bit of snow that we'd encountered on the ridge had softened up, so we plunge stepped on down. Made our carefully past High Creek due to ice and dropped back down the ridge to the Halfway camp junction. Bounced around on the icy, rutted trail until we crossed the creek and made the final descent down to Mill Creek.
We encountered a chipmunk that seemed to enjoy following us. In fact, the chipmunk even lead the way at times.
A wonderful day on San Gorgonio with friends. I look forward to bagging Dragon's Head in the future.
We carried microspikes, crampons and ice-axes. We only used the microspikes on the icy sections of the trail. The lack of snow was depressing.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen