Charleton Snowshoe
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:40 pmHowdy All 
Sister Sally and I snowshoed up to Charleton peak from the Southfork TH yesterday
Thanks to Kathy Wing's recon, we knew that we could get to the TH in Sally's Toyota Corolla and would have a packed trail to Southfork meadows. We forgot to check the starting temperature at 6:45 but it was cold. We donned microspikes, down sweaters and I sported my down mittens. It was a beautiful morning. We removed our "puffies" once we warmed up and Sally snapped this picture of Sugarloaf
We crossed the road to the old TH and switch-backed ked up through the brush to the willows:
We diverted from the main trail as it leaves Southfork meadows, donned snowshoes and went up the right side of X-mas tree hill (XC ski route). From there, we raised the televators on our MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes and headed up a ridge that I call "Charleton's left shoulder." It was a beautiful climb but a lot of work -- even with snowshoes I sank about 6 inches. This dumped us out on the San Gorgonio backbone to the left of Charleton. We reached the peak after 5.5 hours. On the final climb, I recalled how much suffering on Skyline helps with snowshoeing
We were the first folks on Charelton since the last snow storm.
Sally's pano:
My cell phone:
After a badly needed lunch/fuel break, we started down. The snow covering Dry Lake brings to mind an old iron:
Fortunately, descending was much easier/faster than climbing and we made it from Charleton back to the TH in 3.5 hours. Enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Mill Creek barbecue restaurant before heading home.
While the next system will likely eliminate our tracks, we hope that this is just the beginning of a great snow season in our local mountains.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Sister Sally and I snowshoed up to Charleton peak from the Southfork TH yesterday
Thanks to Kathy Wing's recon, we knew that we could get to the TH in Sally's Toyota Corolla and would have a packed trail to Southfork meadows. We forgot to check the starting temperature at 6:45 but it was cold. We donned microspikes, down sweaters and I sported my down mittens. It was a beautiful morning. We removed our "puffies" once we warmed up and Sally snapped this picture of Sugarloaf
We crossed the road to the old TH and switch-backed ked up through the brush to the willows:
We diverted from the main trail as it leaves Southfork meadows, donned snowshoes and went up the right side of X-mas tree hill (XC ski route). From there, we raised the televators on our MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes and headed up a ridge that I call "Charleton's left shoulder." It was a beautiful climb but a lot of work -- even with snowshoes I sank about 6 inches. This dumped us out on the San Gorgonio backbone to the left of Charleton. We reached the peak after 5.5 hours. On the final climb, I recalled how much suffering on Skyline helps with snowshoeing
We were the first folks on Charelton since the last snow storm.Sally's pano:
My cell phone:
After a badly needed lunch/fuel break, we started down. The snow covering Dry Lake brings to mind an old iron:
Fortunately, descending was much easier/faster than climbing and we made it from Charleton back to the TH in 3.5 hours. Enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Mill Creek barbecue restaurant before heading home.
While the next system will likely eliminate our tracks, we hope that this is just the beginning of a great snow season in our local mountains.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen