On Cloud Nine After Nine Peaks
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:33 amFrom the time I learned about the San Gorgonio 9 Peaks challenge a couple of years ago I have been mildly obsessed with giving it a try myself. From the onset of summer I have been bugging Ellen to take me on the trek. It seemed as though every time we started making plans we were thwarted by crummy weather, either too hot, too humid or thunder storms. This week Wednesday looked doable.
So, on Wednesday at 2:00 AM Ellen and I met at The Oaks Restaurant, left a car there, and drove to the Vivian Creek trailhead. We got on the trail at about 2:30 AM. With no moon to speak of it was pitch black. We made our way up from Mill Creek and crossed Vivian Creek. Ellen wasted no time in having a stumble and bloodying up her knee and other parts. When we reached High Creek Ellen washed up her wounds and we filled our water containers with enough water to hopefully get us through the whole hike.
Soon after that we were heading up the hill to the ridge above the long sweeping switchbacks. The sky began to lighten up. There was an orange glow above the city below, and to the east pink clouds appeared. We were glad to be able to see the surrounding terrain and agreed that hiking in the dark is a little depressing. When we reached the ridge we were treated to a view of San Jacinto. It was bathed in alpenglow, and the mountain was more beautiful than I've ever seen her. As we continued up the ridgeline the views became increasingly spectacular, and I knew it was going to be a great day.
The air temperature was cool, and with regular gel breaks the going was comfortable. A stiff breeze picked up once we were on the San Gorgonio backbone, and when we made it to San gorgonio Peak we immediatly got into long sleeves. We had breakfast, but I guess the chipmunks were still asleep, as they did not come out begging for food.
We saddled up our packs again and followed the trail until it was time to start up the side of Jepson Peak. When we got to the top we put our names in the register and headed down. The slope dumped us out on the trail briefly at Dry Lake View, but we were soon headed up to Little Charlton and Charlton Peaks. We found the register boxes to be a little elusive, but left our signatures and took pictures. Four out of nine peaks and still going strong! Taking a westerly route we made our way down to Dollar Lake Saddle, loosing about 800 feet of elevation. When we reached the turnoff fo High Meadow Springs we determined that we still had enough water to finish the hike, so we kept on moving with Alto Diablo as our next goal. We were surprised to find it was just a short spur from the main trail.
We followed the trail westward along the San Bernardino Mountain ridge, one of Ellen's favorite stretches. We kept an eye out for the huge pile of rocks that is Shields Peak. When we got to the pile, it wasn't clear where to start ascending, but we chose a route and carefully scrambled up, trying to avoid unstable rocks, and alternatingly used our hands and poles for balance. After reaching a false peak we we had to continue on to the real thing. Once there, there is a nice sitting area and a register. We had a good snack, and I was happy to linger there awhile. I really enjoyed the twisted layers and lines on the rocks and wondered about the forces of the earth's movement that caused them. Being even more careful going back down from Shields Peak we headed back to the trail.
Although the next section wasn't really steep, I began to feel fatigue setting in. I really had to huff and puff to make it to Anderson Peak, and Ellen wasn't feeling so well. Our stop up there was quite brief. Knowing there were only two peaks left was comforting and we continued on.
All the while the weather was more perfrct than we could have ever hoped for. Whenever we were on tha south facing side of the ridge there was a wonderful breeze, but not so much on the north facing side. We marvelled at the variety of clouds that aided in keeping the air temperature down. At least we were trudging in comfort! San Bernardino East Peak was the next hurdle to overcome, and we were getting really pooped, but bag it we did.
It was fairly level but a long haul to San Bernardino Peak. Those final steps to the top pretty much did me in. We did a "high five" and consumed some more food. We were getting tired of sweet jels and were craving something more substantial. Ellen brought out her bag of Devine Bovine Jerky, the best beef jerky on the planet. After a leisurely break, I thought we coul knock this thing out and that we were home free. Wrong! The trail seemed to go on forever. I was too spaced out to make conversation so we hiked in silence Finally we came upon our first and only human sighting of the day. We took a brief break at Limber Pine Springs and Ellen touched up her wounds with a wet bandana. Body parts began to ache. We downed some analgesics and trudged on. My beloved Manzanita Flats, which usually go by too fast, took forever. Finally we got a little conversation going and the time passed more quickly. At 4:45 we made it to San Bernardino Peak trailhead. Yay!
We walked back to The Oaks. Ellen kissed her car. We entered the restaurant and I was thinking how bedraggled we must have looked and how no one could have had a clue what we had just done. Ellen had the Cobb Salad and a Sam Adams and I had meatloaf and a Mountain Dew. I cleaned my plate.
I am so glad I was able to do this hike. I was actually prepared for it to be more gruelling than it actually was. My advice to anyone planning on doing the 9 Peaks is to get in tip-top shape first, pick a day when the weather is favorable, be sure to get nurishment frequently along the way, keep yor pace steady but not too fast, enjoy the views, make sure you have comfortable boots, and, most importantly, take a good friend along.
Thank you, Ellen, you were great. I never could have done this without you, friend. Now, What are we gonna do NEXT week?
So, on Wednesday at 2:00 AM Ellen and I met at The Oaks Restaurant, left a car there, and drove to the Vivian Creek trailhead. We got on the trail at about 2:30 AM. With no moon to speak of it was pitch black. We made our way up from Mill Creek and crossed Vivian Creek. Ellen wasted no time in having a stumble and bloodying up her knee and other parts. When we reached High Creek Ellen washed up her wounds and we filled our water containers with enough water to hopefully get us through the whole hike.
Soon after that we were heading up the hill to the ridge above the long sweeping switchbacks. The sky began to lighten up. There was an orange glow above the city below, and to the east pink clouds appeared. We were glad to be able to see the surrounding terrain and agreed that hiking in the dark is a little depressing. When we reached the ridge we were treated to a view of San Jacinto. It was bathed in alpenglow, and the mountain was more beautiful than I've ever seen her. As we continued up the ridgeline the views became increasingly spectacular, and I knew it was going to be a great day.
The air temperature was cool, and with regular gel breaks the going was comfortable. A stiff breeze picked up once we were on the San Gorgonio backbone, and when we made it to San gorgonio Peak we immediatly got into long sleeves. We had breakfast, but I guess the chipmunks were still asleep, as they did not come out begging for food.
We saddled up our packs again and followed the trail until it was time to start up the side of Jepson Peak. When we got to the top we put our names in the register and headed down. The slope dumped us out on the trail briefly at Dry Lake View, but we were soon headed up to Little Charlton and Charlton Peaks. We found the register boxes to be a little elusive, but left our signatures and took pictures. Four out of nine peaks and still going strong! Taking a westerly route we made our way down to Dollar Lake Saddle, loosing about 800 feet of elevation. When we reached the turnoff fo High Meadow Springs we determined that we still had enough water to finish the hike, so we kept on moving with Alto Diablo as our next goal. We were surprised to find it was just a short spur from the main trail.
We followed the trail westward along the San Bernardino Mountain ridge, one of Ellen's favorite stretches. We kept an eye out for the huge pile of rocks that is Shields Peak. When we got to the pile, it wasn't clear where to start ascending, but we chose a route and carefully scrambled up, trying to avoid unstable rocks, and alternatingly used our hands and poles for balance. After reaching a false peak we we had to continue on to the real thing. Once there, there is a nice sitting area and a register. We had a good snack, and I was happy to linger there awhile. I really enjoyed the twisted layers and lines on the rocks and wondered about the forces of the earth's movement that caused them. Being even more careful going back down from Shields Peak we headed back to the trail.
Although the next section wasn't really steep, I began to feel fatigue setting in. I really had to huff and puff to make it to Anderson Peak, and Ellen wasn't feeling so well. Our stop up there was quite brief. Knowing there were only two peaks left was comforting and we continued on.
All the while the weather was more perfrct than we could have ever hoped for. Whenever we were on tha south facing side of the ridge there was a wonderful breeze, but not so much on the north facing side. We marvelled at the variety of clouds that aided in keeping the air temperature down. At least we were trudging in comfort! San Bernardino East Peak was the next hurdle to overcome, and we were getting really pooped, but bag it we did.
It was fairly level but a long haul to San Bernardino Peak. Those final steps to the top pretty much did me in. We did a "high five" and consumed some more food. We were getting tired of sweet jels and were craving something more substantial. Ellen brought out her bag of Devine Bovine Jerky, the best beef jerky on the planet. After a leisurely break, I thought we coul knock this thing out and that we were home free. Wrong! The trail seemed to go on forever. I was too spaced out to make conversation so we hiked in silence Finally we came upon our first and only human sighting of the day. We took a brief break at Limber Pine Springs and Ellen touched up her wounds with a wet bandana. Body parts began to ache. We downed some analgesics and trudged on. My beloved Manzanita Flats, which usually go by too fast, took forever. Finally we got a little conversation going and the time passed more quickly. At 4:45 we made it to San Bernardino Peak trailhead. Yay!
We walked back to The Oaks. Ellen kissed her car. We entered the restaurant and I was thinking how bedraggled we must have looked and how no one could have had a clue what we had just done. Ellen had the Cobb Salad and a Sam Adams and I had meatloaf and a Mountain Dew. I cleaned my plate.
I am so glad I was able to do this hike. I was actually prepared for it to be more gruelling than it actually was. My advice to anyone planning on doing the 9 Peaks is to get in tip-top shape first, pick a day when the weather is favorable, be sure to get nurishment frequently along the way, keep yor pace steady but not too fast, enjoy the views, make sure you have comfortable boots, and, most importantly, take a good friend along.
Thank you, Ellen, you were great. I never could have done this without you, friend. Now, What are we gonna do NEXT week?
