A combo hike to reach the most inaccesible mine of Iron mountain

17 miles, 9000 ft gain

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On a trip back to LA with a Saturday free, what to do? Or should I say, what hike to do?

This was a hike for settling unfinished business. Never doing the challenging part of San Antonio ridge (Gunsight Notch), and failing to reach the Gold Dollar mine in my last attempt (that at least ended up reaching Eagle mine). So let’s get’em both, and why not add Iron mt summit to top it off? Sounds like a big day? It was.

Fortunately I was able to get a small group of extremely strong hikers (Steve, Fern, & Frank) to come along. We headed off from the East Fork parking lot at about 5:30 am and started a brisk ascent that got us to Allison / Coldwater saddle less than 90 min later. From there, we took the old Coldwater trail down (which I had done twice before) which is decently brushed over and becoming a little more washed out. At one point Steve managed to slip off the trail into the brush so quickly that is just looked like he vanished!

Down in the canyon, we headed up Dry Gulch to the Widco / Baldora mine ruins, which I’ve documented twice previously. Fern climbed on top of the stamp mill and showed that the ball bearings were in surprisingly good shape!

Now, like the route to reach Eagle mine, we began heading up the west side of Gold Dollar ridge. This time I seemed to find and follow the faint old use trail and kept switching back across the slight ridge spur we were on. Eventually I lost it, but just headed straight up. This was quite steep and exhausting. The 2 steps up, 1 step down sort of ascent.

(Gunsight Notch from below Gold Dollar ridge)

With a strong group, we made it up to the ridge in good time. Now for the tricky part that I messed up last time. The mine resides on the west side a few hundred feet below the ridge top. To get there, you have to follow an old trail that veers off the ridge, generally maintaining the same elevation. If you pass it up, you’ll run into some cliffed out sections.

I was able to find and track the old trail this time, and we were making good progress, until we came across some rock fields just before the cliffy rock. There was no sign of a trail here; we just went with a ‘best option’ to navigate around the rock and made it to the other side without too much effort. Steve did almost through a huge rock onto my head, but luckily I had moved and thwarted his attempts.

A few minutes more of traversing, and voila, ruins! A whole bunch of them. Lots of terraces, concrete foundations, stoves, cables, hoes, clippers. we hung out and played around a bit, before starting back up to the ridge. We followed a cable that still attached to trees at both ends at least a few hundred vertical feet apart!

We continued straight up the ridge to the high point and terminus along San Antonio ridge. This was a lot of work, and basically the halfway point. But still we had to deal with Gunsight Notch and reaching Iron mountain.

After a food break, we continued on west. Just before reaching the notch, we noticed a group climbing up it as well as another hiker relaxing near us. Turns out it was Dagmar, who we knew and has hiked with us before. She was with a Sierra club group (led by the Doggetts) who were doing an out and back from Baldy (she wasn’t feeling up to the notch part).

As others have noted, the notch looks more intimidating that it actually is. For my route, there was one move in which I was glad the rock didn’t break (and trust me I tested it out first!), but the rest was moderate and fun. Maybe there was more crumbly rock in the past which has been removed by the increasing use?

We eventually caught up with the Sierra Club group and followed them up to the summit. As usual, the views were great as Iron probably offers the best 360 in the San Gabriels. We hung out for a a while. At some point I noticed movement maybe 200 m away on the ridge that I didn’t see again. Just as we were getting ready to leave 15 min later, we see 3 hikers heading up the final slope – turns out to be Rick Kent, Rick Graham, and GigaMike. They were an out and back from Baldy Village. Gee, I guess Rick’s ankle has healed up well!

The next 2 hours were full of classic Iron – leg-pounding steep descents. I slipped a bit at one point and my hand landed right on some buckthorn, piercing my fingertips’ flesh in 4 spots. That’s Iron for you.

Past Allison/Coldwater saddle along the osciallating ridge, we encountered some infestation of bees on the trail. They were just hovering, hanging out. Didn’t seem like they were in a hurry to move. Then we heard some high pitched chirps. What was it? The bees flew away. We hike a few more minutes, and run into a whole slew of folk including Tina and Frank (asbufra), who kindly waited 1/2 hour for us. We all suffered throug the last 2 miles which seemed to be killing my feet. I guess this sort of 9000 ft cross-country hike can get to you!

I was grateful to hear the East Fork water and see the fire road. Another time I can’t believe I have hiked this trail. Will it be the last? Probably not, but I’m sure it will probably be a while.

Even still, there’s always more exploration, even in this specific area. Of course there’s the north ridge. More interesting would be to attempt a Big Horn ridge ascent following the original trail out of Coldwater Canyon. It’s not looking like I’ll get to that.

So someone, please go do it!

More steep sections than Iron Mt. Imagine the fun!

10.5 miles, 5200 ft gain

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Since I’ll be moving up to the Bay Area soon, this was my last time organizing a hike in SoCal (at least for a while). I wanted to do something new that had a few of the special characteristics of the San Gabriels – steep and exposed. Pigeon ridge certainly delivered that!

20 people showed up for this little trek. We parked just off the 39 at the beginning of the fire road and headed up.

After ~ 1 mile near Chamisal Mesa, the road turns east, and we hopped off onto a use trail that quickly becomes a wide and clear firebreak up Pigeon Ridge.

This ridge offers a great workout – a combination of very steep sections with some flat sections to get a bit of a break. Even with the flat sections, Pigeon ridge gives 4000 ft of ascent in ~3.4 miles.

This is a very easy route to navigate. Once you intersect the S Hawkins – Rattlesnake ridge, turn left (north) and keep up the ridge to the summit.

Snowball FAIL

We quickly left our anti-rock shelter and made our way up a safer turnoff towards Thunder mountain.  We hiked up about a quarter mile and found a chute which looked decent enough. So upwards we went.

The chute itself was a lot like the Baldy Bowl. The snow was soft and at times we had to posthole on up. But for the most part, it was uneventful. Which is good. I even had that moment you get when surrounded by nature. Which totally made waking up at 5:30 worth it.

We gained the ridge and headed up to Thunder mountain where we got to see some brightly dressed skiers and snowboarders. We took a short break up here and planned out the route some more.

Telegraph Peak was the next destination. From Thunder it didn’t look too bad. But as we descended to the saddle, it turned out to be decievingly deceptive.

After much planning and consideration. We decided against taking the NW route in favor of exploring the NE face. This is the steeper route, and more technical.

An avalanche was probably the greatest risk today. The top layer of snow was pretty soft and fractured in good sized chunks as we traversed. So we set up a system of crossing on at a time and keeping eyes on each other and for falling rocks.

The traverse for me was a bit more difficult. Tim had broken the trail across, but with me weighing in at about 215 pounds including the pack, I would just sink in further. This was pretty tiring. By the time I met up with Tim at the base of our target, I was wiped.

Five minutes and a few sips of Gatorade later, we started up. The snow was the same as the first chute. Tim and I took turns breaking trail and implemented our “rock watch” leap frogging system.

As we climbed up, the slope just got more and more steep. Which was to be expected when we looked at the route from the bottom. But as always, the route looks scarier from the bottom. But it’s the scariest once you’re up there.

During our initial assessment from the base, we knew the last 100′ would be steep. But when we got to the transition from steep to steeper, we were right.

At this point, the chute we went up started getting icy and really steep. I really had to kick in to break the ice and swing the axe like real weapon to get some a grip. On the plus side, there was a nice tree that I could grab on to and grip.

After what seemed like endless climbing, we finall made it to the top. The view from there was one of the best I have yet. It was quite amazing!

3000 x 389px (1mb)

The next objective was Timber. This would be the third peak and about another 600-700′ of gain. We looked down one of the canyons and decided to cut the route short. Looking back, this was probably more tiring than a climb up to Timber would have been. Lesson for the future, don’t cross country over snow covering rocks. It was punch through central.

After 11 hours, we finally made it back to the parking lot at Icehouse Canyon. Objective complete.

Here’s a great video that Tim put together that summarizes the day.

Mountaineerin Manker Flats to Icehouse Canyon – Extreme Edition

Lastly, do not try this route unless you have experience and are with someone who is trained. Chances are, I would have frozen or gotten stuck at some point.

1. (Feet) Crampons or Snowshoes: One or the other or both depending on snow conditions and steepness of terrain.
2. (Feet) Boots.
3. (Feet) Sock liners: Very important, at least for me anyways. I water proofed the exterior of my boots, so there’s hardly any breathability. Sock liners wick the moisture to the socks.
4. (Feet) Socks: I got a nice thick pair of synthetic wool. Very comfortable and warm.
5. (Bottom) Gators.
6. (Bottom) Under Armor boxer-briefs: Another level of comfortable. Also awesome in the summer.
7. (Bottom) Leg warmers: I use ones that I use for cycling. I use this as a base layer.
8. (Bottom) Hiking pants.
9. (Bottom) Snow pants: I use snowboarding pants. I’m sure there are lighter ones out there, but those are beyond my budget. Also, get ones with vent zips  on the inner thigh and cargo pockets.
10. (Top) Moisture wicking long sleeve: Base layer.
11. (Top) Short sleeve wicking shirt: Another layer of warm.
12. (Top) Fleece long sleeve: My warm layer.
13. (Top) Down jacket: Used when the weather is expected to get really cold. Otherwise I leave it in the car.
14. (Top) Outter shell
15. (Hands) Gloves – waterproof: Mostly for staying warm on the descents.
16. (Hands) Gloves – fleece: Used during the climb.
17. (Hands) Ice axe
18. (Head) Balaclava: Covers the entire face if needed, or can be adjusted to cover the neck only.
19. (Head) Wool cap: For when it gets colder and more insulation is needed.
20. (Head) Helmet.
21. (Head) Headlamp.
22. (Head) Sunglasses or goggles: I prefer goggles. Especially while climbing. Keeps the wind out.
23. (Misc) Sunscreen.
24. (Misc) GPS.
25. (Misc) Extra batteries: for GPS and headlamp.
26. (Misc) Camera.
27. (Misc) Memory card.
28. (Misc) Extra batteries.
29. (Misc) GU Gel.
30. (Misc) Hydration: My requirements are about 1 liter for every 2000′ of gain.
31. (Misc) Lunch.
32. (Misc) Hiking poles.

That’s my list I used on the last climb, and it covered everything I needed. Of course it’s missing the essential survival items and the 10 essentials. But those should already be included in your kit. You can read a little about that here.

I’m sure I’m missing something…

With headlamps on, we started at around 6am from Manker Flat parking area. Parts of the road leading to San Antonio Falls were covered with ice. So some caution was needed until we got to the rockier portions after the hairpin going away from the falls.

At the register, we shed some layers, ditched our headlamps, and carried on. The snow coverage on the trail itself was mixed until about a half mile in. Then it covered everything. There wasn’t any ice, and the snow was already a little slushy. So crampons weren’t needed. Just a little extra caution.

Charging up to the Ski Hut, we med up with the group from the San Gabriel Mountains Discussion Forum group who were holding an informal training clinic. We hung around for about an hour here meeting others and just waiting around for the last group members to get up to the Ski Hut. Unfortunately though, the group started up past our cutoff time of 9am. So Tim and I decided to leave the group and do our own thing. First off, we should his friend how to self-arrest. This was made difficult with the warm sun softening the snow a lot.

After about a half hour of this, we started our climb up the center. I’m not sure on the names of the chutes, I’m going to have to find those out later. But our goal was to head right up the center chute (where the rock formation comes to a saddle in this picture).

We were making some pretty good time up it too. Tim did a good job creating the path for us to follow. After about 40 minutes, we were three quarters or so up the Bowl. This is where Tim wanted to change course and start another approach up a different chute. I decided to stick to the original route, while Tim broke left and went about his approach.

Truong and I went up the intended chute. In the chute, the snow was just powder. I was pretty much post-holing mid-calf or up to my knee with each step. This got pretty tiring. On top of that, the snow was doing a good job of balling up on my crampons. This was extremely tiring and annoying. But at least at this steep portion, I wasn’t worried about a painful slide down the mountain if I messed up.

Finally at the top of the chute, it was pretty gusty. We Baldy looked like a chimney with the way the snow was coming off of it. Baldy itself looked pretty miserable too.

We were done for the day. No summit today. Been there, done that. Instead, we traversed the lip and started the glissade down.

Second half of the glissade:

The weather today was a cold. High cold winds at the peak, along with some winds in the shade really brought the temperatures down. Note to self, find a better moisture wicking shirt or pack so that sweat doesn’t build up on the back. Especially annoying during breaks when the sweat gets all cold.

Mt. Wilson via Mt. Wilson Trail

We had start later than normal for this hike (9:30am). So we didn’t really spend too much time at the top to relax or look around. But lunch break was enough to quickly re-energize ourselves for the trek down. We also jogged a portion of the ridge from Hastings to the connector near Jones Peak. This saved us some time. By the time we got down, the sun had already set and it was dark (~5pm). A great clear day for a hike!

The trail itself was somewhat damaged due to the rains. Some slides had ended up on the trail from the trailhead to First Water. But those were easily negotiated.

Finally, here’s the view towards Baldy. I can’t wait to finally get out there in the snow. Hopefully Sunday if weather permits.

Much like last season, we started this one off after a big storm. This also worked out since Tim and I had Thursday off. During the holidays, the tram follows weekend hours. So we were able to head up on the first tram at 8am.

Here’s the track:

12-23-10 San Jacinto Snow Shoe at EveryTrail

Total mileage was 6 miles. But being one of the first out there, we had to partially break new trail. So the three mile journey to the peak took us about 5 hours. Of course we did go the longer route to get there because we took a wrong left turn and followed a not so broken trail. Two skiers and a snowboarder passed us up to break some trail. But even then, it wasn’t enough.

But over the course of those 5 hours, I kept thinking about how to make a next excursion easier.

1. 1. Hiking poles with snow baskets – I’ve become a believer of using poles after this hike. I always disliked using hiking poles since my experience using them on Iron mtn. But I had brought along two just in case. Initially I was just using one. But being a little top heavy, my balance was thrown off so I started using two. This definitely helped with balance. As the day moved on, I started developing a technique which definitely saved my legs and quickened my pace.
2. 2. Gu Gel – I primarily use these packs during my bike rides for a boost of energy. I used these once before on Baldy but didn’t really feel anything. However, on San Jacinto, once I got into a good rhyme, I had the energy to motor on. That is of course until those calories were burned. But then I popped another pack and was back.
3. 3. Hydration – I had packed a 4 liters of Gatorade which was more than enough for this trip. I was making sure to sip often and drink up after every big push. For next time, my fluid rules are 1 liter for every 2 miles.
4. 4. Lighter waterproof gloves – I used ski gloves the whole time, and the whole time, my hands were warm but wet. They didn’t breath and just trapped all the sweat. This meant that every time I would take off my gloves, my hands would get cold real quick. I would have preferred to go with bare hands, but the steeper and fresher the snow, the more likely the hand is going to end up in it. Better to have warm wet hands than cold numb ones.
5. 5. Waterproof sack – Something cheap and lightweight. This is for when you’re tired and just want to sit without worrying about having your pants absorb what you just melted.

That’s all for now. I think I thought of some more tips, but I forgot.

10 miles, 3200 ft gain

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3 miles, 1100 ft gain

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15 miles, 5000 ft gain

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