Initially, Sally and I were going to hike in from South Fork, spend the night, bag a peak and come out on Thursday. We opted to day hike when we saw the bizarre weather forecast -- new snow and high winds. We also weren't sure we could get to the South Fork trailhead.
We saw ice on the road on the way up to Angelus Oaks. Parked at the Oaks and started to get together our gear. It was so cold, I could barely use my hands, even with gloves. Finally headed out, battling the wind and blowing snow. What we didn't count on was that there was just enough new snow over ice to create a sketchy slope on exposed sections of the trail. As we climbed, the conditions got worse. Turned around after a half hour and headed back down.
We arrived at the Oaks just as they were opening. We thought, "Hot coffee and breakfast -- yes!" Some locals blew in and noted that this was the coldest they'd ever been in Angelus Oaks. Once fortified, we headed down and then up to Forest Falls to the Momyer trailhead. It was covered in ice, but at the least there was sun and little wind. Started hiking at 8:30 AM.
There was a dusting of snow on the trail after we crossed Mill Creek. It's always fascinating to see cacti covered with snow. Everytime I hike Momyer, I wish the trail would cross Mill Creek and head UP, rather than meander around what seems like forever. Finally, we were grinding up the switchbacks. When we came to the Alger Creek junction sign, we headed up the old trace trail. At 7.6 K, we thought we were off trail and started to traverse left (west). Followed Sally's GPS and started to descend. Hmm...Then, we saw footprints -- they were our footprints. We'd lost 600 ft and were back on the main trail -- ARRHG
At this point, I admit that I was ready to pull the pin and head down. We continued on, determined to salvage something from the day. Climbed out of the fire area, back and forth up the ridge and finally started heading up the left side of the ridge. This section of the day made all our trials and tribulations worthwhile. We looked up and saw gorgeous ice covered trees at about 9 K. Headed up through the overgrown brush to the saddle on the ridge. Once at the saddle, we went right to a lovely little rocky knoll at 9.5 K (Ellen and Sally's peaklet) for lunch. Perfect timing -- it was 1:30 and our turn around time was 2 PM.
The views of the San Gorgonio range from the peaklet were exquisite. As we were finishing lunch, an artic wind started blowing -- time to go. One last good look at the ice-covered trees on east San Bernardino peak, then down. Although we were toasty climbing, our winter clothing offered great protection from the brush. Before long, we were criss-crossing the ridge again, passing through the fire section and finally back on the main trail. Most of the snow had melted on the initial switchbacks. When we got to Sally's car, we saw that the place she had initially planned to park was a big, dirty puddle. Had a great meal at El Mexicano before heading home.
Notes: carried crampons and micros up Momyer -- didn't use either. Don't know what the conditions are like higher up on the south side. The snow depth was generally one to two inches. We gained 4 K on Momyer, another 600 ft with our Momyer loop, and 400 on San Bernardino. It was a good workout with a super lunch vista.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
There just enough new, powdery snow to make crampons and snowshoes unable to get good purchase on the ice underneath. The contrasting weather and snow conditions on the south side was astonishing. At least we got a feel of the "freeze" without the exposure by hiking up to the iced trees on Momyer.
