3 night stay this weekend

[Hikin_Jim]

Really fabulous photos. Looks like you guys had a really great "tour" through the San Jacintos and saw a lot of the really nice spots.

HJ

[dennx]

Thanks again... we're now thinking about tackling San Gorgonio for a few nights.

[Hikin_Jim]

GO FOR IT. Dozens of great BP's there.

I consider the SJ's and the SGW the top two hiking spots in Southern California. Both great.

How many days and how many nights are you going for? What kind of BP are you looking for?

HJ

[dennx]

Maybe two nights via the Vivian Creek trail.

[Hikin_Jim]

You could do a nice hike where you start at the Vivian Creek trail head, proceed to High Creek, and camp for the night. In the morning, you could head up to the summit San Gorgonio Mountain or other nearby peaks and return to your camp in the evening. The third day, you'd hike out. Vivian Creek is a tough, steep trail, particularly the first section, but if you break it up into three days, I think you'd have a nice, moderate backpack.

If it were me, I might try more of a tour of the area via a loop hike.

HJ

[dennx]

You should be a paid guide for these two mountains... after looking at your trail suggestions now I'm thinking about doing the tour.

[Hikin_Jim]

That loop's a fun one, and (if you look closely) it takes you up to the summit of nine different peaks. These peaks* are known collectively as the "nine peaks challenge." This loop would be a tougher hike than Vivian, but you'd really see a big chunk of the wilderness and go through some really pretty areas. You do have to do short bits of XC, mainly as side trips, to get to the peaks. Your return leg takes you down a trail that no longer is being maintained but is in reasonable shape and receives regular use.

HJ


*The nine peaks in clockwise order:
1. San Gorgonio Mountain
2. Jepson Peak
3. Little Charlton Peak
4. Charlton Peak
5. Alto Diablo
6. Shields Peak
7. Anderson Peak
8. E San Bernardino Peak
9. San Bernardino Peak

[RichMcG]

You can also go up Vivian creek and hit the peaks in that order, come back to East San Bernardino and down to Forest Falls. You only have to shuttle the cars a mile or just hike it. The trail down from East San Bernardino is pretty dicey, though!