San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek 1-19-08

[AlanK]

My son Eric and I hiked to the summit of San Gorgonio and back via the Vivian Creek Trail today. The day was beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky, no wind except for a token breeze on the summit, and temperatures ranging from the mid 20s to the mid 40s. There was snow all the way except for some sizeable bare stretches in the switchbacks above Mill Creek.

The going was good initially because the snow was hard packed. Later on, we encountered crusty snow, deep snow we had to slog through, and the usual postholing. We didn't use crampons until it was time for the traverse from Jepson to San G. Glissading down to High Creek on the way back was lousy -- the low point of a great day.

We saw several people starting out from the parking lot in the morning, but saw only two people on the entire hike. They were coming down from the summit, having evidently camped.

I forgot my camera, but Eric was nice enough to let me post his pictures.

[Cy Kaicener]

Congratulations Alan and Eric and thanks for the trip report and pictures. I bet the snow slowed you down just a little bit.

[AlanK]

Yes, the snow slows things down a lot! The fact that the route is about 1.5 miles shorter than in the summer does not fix that!

[Schützenweber]

Nice TR AlanK!


Love the pictures.