Southern California Peaks > 10,000'

[Hikin_Jim]

I had a really good Bighorn year last year, two separate sightings being good. I haven't seen any this year.

I used to see them a lot more before the ban on mt. lion hunting took effect. I assume that with more mt. lions that there are fewer sheep. Not saying we should hunt mt. lions; just reporting my observation.

Hope I'll see a few more of these, my favorite mammals in Southern California.

HJ

[GoPlayer]

Both Bighorn and D'Head are interesting peaks. Neither is terribly hard (for hard, go to Iron Mountain in the San Gabriels or Antsell Rock in the San Jacintos on the Desert Divide), but they're far enough off trail to make them interesting. The drop off to the east of D'Head is "interesting." It sure gets your attention, to say the least.

HJ

Thanks for the heads-up about D'Head. That peak has character. A friend and I did "The other 6 Peaks" south/east of San Gorgonio on Saturday. It was warm, but not nearly as bad as it could have been with the ongoing heat wave. Clouds and haze kept the sun at bay in the morning. Here is a summary:

Start/Finish: Fish Creek TH
Distance: ~19.5 miles
Elevation Gain (GPS): ~5700 ft
Highlight: Saw plenty of bighorn
Trivia:
- These were the last 6 peaks for me on this list.
- Carried and completely consumed 9l of water.

Route:
- Trail up to Fish Creek Saddle
- Use trail out/back to Grinnell
- Trail to Mineshaft Saddle
- Straight up Zahnister
- Trail up to ~11,000ft for drop to The Tarn
- Along north edge of Tarn to foot of Dragon Head
- Use trail up Dragon (what a view down along the ridge!)
- Back to Tarn and use trail up to Bighorn
- Straight down to Tarn and up to Sky High trail
- Down to Mineshaft saddle, back a little on Fish Creek, then up ridge to Lake Peak
- Lake over to Ten Thousand Food Ridge
- Down ridge to north-east to meet up with Fish Creek trail

[Hikin_Jim]

20 miles, 6000' of gain, and nine liters of water! That's some serious hiking, but what great country.

HJ