Alto Diablo XC from Southfork
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:42 pmHowdy All,
Headed up Southfork with Ania, Randy, Erica and Glenn, courtesy of Glenn's AWD truck. There was chain control shortly after Angeles Oaks. I have never seen the highway with so much snow and ice -- it was beautiful. Erica and Randy noted it looked like a normal winter day in the north (Canada and Montana). We donned snowshoes in the parking lot and got started at bit after 7 AM, following extremely happy BC skiers and other snowshoers.
When we reached the wilderness boundry sign, we headed directly up the ridge to the right of the trail. I've always wanted to go up this route after reading posts by Z-dude And Kathy W. It was slow going breaking trail through the powdery snow. As we climbed, it got colder and we added clothing. Occcasionally the sun would break through and the reveal gorgeous snow-capped mountains behind us. By 12 noon, we were all hungry and decided to stop at a peaklet for lunch. We had not yet reached the San Gorgonio backbone ridge. Sometimes the clouds would move and we'd get a glance of the ridge, Alto Diablo and Shields.
We decided to head down after lunch. I was entertained by Ania and Erica sprinting downhill in the powdery snow. Glenn had fun jumping off of high rocks into the snow. I could envision breaking the plate in my bad ankle and/or one of my seven spinal fusions if I followed suit. It started snowing on us, which just increased the fun. I fear this was the last great winter storm of the season. We had a great dinner at the Oaks prior to heading home.
I had to travel to Phoenix for business and missed a beautiful Sunday tramshoe. By Tuesday, I was jumping out of my skin and asked Sally if she'd be interested in helping me complete my journey to Alto Diablo. We started after 6 AM -- some parts of the trail up to the wilderness boundary had ice. Looked at the north chutes from the Poopout hill look out. The furthest right chute didn't look too bad, though there was more dirt showing than I expected. Didn't get a good look at the Big Draw.
We headed up the ridge and donned snowshoes when we had good snow coverage and started dropping into the snow. Our Saturday track was still visible and the warm weather kept it from being icy. Passed by the peaklet on the way to the San Gorgonio backbone. The little valley to the left of the ridge looked really interesting -- I'll have to check it out sometime. It looked like several skiers had taken the plunge and dropped down steeply into the valley.
We followed our ridge until it reached the San Gorgonio backbone, then hung a right and headed for Alto Diablo. Since it was only 10:30 when we summited, we opted to head over to Shields. Climbed up something that looked very peaky and discovered that we were only now on Alto Diablo. From there, we could see that heading over to Shields would be time consuming. We'd have to drop into Shield's flat before heading up the east ridge to Shields. I did not want to traverse alongside Shields and go up from the north sde (the summer route). We called it a day at 11 AM and had lunch.
On the way down, I made the mistake of diverting from our track. We were going to far to the left (west) and had to back track. The views going down were splendid. Before too long, we were back at the wilderness sign and trail. The Oaks closes early on weekdays, so we enjoyed a great meal at El Mexicanno.
The only real snag of the day was that my car wouldn't start at the Ranger Station
It started and quickly died about three times, then you could just hear the cranking noise. A fellow drove into the parking lot and Sally asked him for advice. He asked if I had gas 
I may be a woman and blonde, but I am not stupid. I let the car sit for about 5 minutes and it started right up. Thanks to Sally for waiting with me -- I don't have cell service at the RS. The car was fine on the drive home, which took a while due to the time of day and a car accident.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Headed up Southfork with Ania, Randy, Erica and Glenn, courtesy of Glenn's AWD truck. There was chain control shortly after Angeles Oaks. I have never seen the highway with so much snow and ice -- it was beautiful. Erica and Randy noted it looked like a normal winter day in the north (Canada and Montana). We donned snowshoes in the parking lot and got started at bit after 7 AM, following extremely happy BC skiers and other snowshoers.
When we reached the wilderness boundry sign, we headed directly up the ridge to the right of the trail. I've always wanted to go up this route after reading posts by Z-dude And Kathy W. It was slow going breaking trail through the powdery snow. As we climbed, it got colder and we added clothing. Occcasionally the sun would break through and the reveal gorgeous snow-capped mountains behind us. By 12 noon, we were all hungry and decided to stop at a peaklet for lunch. We had not yet reached the San Gorgonio backbone ridge. Sometimes the clouds would move and we'd get a glance of the ridge, Alto Diablo and Shields.
We decided to head down after lunch. I was entertained by Ania and Erica sprinting downhill in the powdery snow. Glenn had fun jumping off of high rocks into the snow. I could envision breaking the plate in my bad ankle and/or one of my seven spinal fusions if I followed suit. It started snowing on us, which just increased the fun. I fear this was the last great winter storm of the season. We had a great dinner at the Oaks prior to heading home.
I had to travel to Phoenix for business and missed a beautiful Sunday tramshoe. By Tuesday, I was jumping out of my skin and asked Sally if she'd be interested in helping me complete my journey to Alto Diablo. We started after 6 AM -- some parts of the trail up to the wilderness boundary had ice. Looked at the north chutes from the Poopout hill look out. The furthest right chute didn't look too bad, though there was more dirt showing than I expected. Didn't get a good look at the Big Draw.
We headed up the ridge and donned snowshoes when we had good snow coverage and started dropping into the snow. Our Saturday track was still visible and the warm weather kept it from being icy. Passed by the peaklet on the way to the San Gorgonio backbone. The little valley to the left of the ridge looked really interesting -- I'll have to check it out sometime. It looked like several skiers had taken the plunge and dropped down steeply into the valley.
We followed our ridge until it reached the San Gorgonio backbone, then hung a right and headed for Alto Diablo. Since it was only 10:30 when we summited, we opted to head over to Shields. Climbed up something that looked very peaky and discovered that we were only now on Alto Diablo. From there, we could see that heading over to Shields would be time consuming. We'd have to drop into Shield's flat before heading up the east ridge to Shields. I did not want to traverse alongside Shields and go up from the north sde (the summer route). We called it a day at 11 AM and had lunch.
On the way down, I made the mistake of diverting from our track. We were going to far to the left (west) and had to back track. The views going down were splendid. Before too long, we were back at the wilderness sign and trail. The Oaks closes early on weekdays, so we enjoyed a great meal at El Mexicanno.
The only real snag of the day was that my car wouldn't start at the Ranger Station
It started and quickly died about three times, then you could just hear the cranking noise. A fellow drove into the parking lot and Sally asked him for advice. He asked if I had gas I may be a woman and blonde, but I am not stupid. I let the car sit for about 5 minutes and it started right up. Thanks to Sally for waiting with me -- I don't have cell service at the RS. The car was fine on the drive home, which took a while due to the time of day and a car accident.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen