Roughly 10,000 ft of elevation gain and descent, 2,000 ft of loose scree (the “Little Slope of Horrors” and “The Ghastly Ridge”), no trail, and a little third class spice near the summit.

Walking a road to the summit wasn’t exactly inspiring, so I put White Mountain off for years. Eventually I settled on a plan to bike it from Big Pine, hoping the novelty of biking a 14er would entice me to finally get it done. Unfortunately it snowed 2 days before my trip and I wasn’t sure how feasible biking would be, so I pulled up Google Earth thinking surely there are more interesting ways up this mountain. That’s how I found the west ridge. I found an old DPS Sierra Club trip report and looked at the FKT page to get a sense of what kind of day I was in for. It was perfect.

I did bedtime with the kids Tuesday night, left South Bay at 8 pm, parked at 4800 ft off a dirt road at 2am, slept until 6am, hiked from 6:15 am to 8:05 pm, ate dinner with a friend who lives in Bishop, then drove home. Got back at 2:30, showered, slept a few hours, then took the kids to school in the morning. I’d never experienced altitude issues at 14k before this trip. The final 2k ft were rough, and my headache didn’t go away (and my pace didn’t return to normal) until I’d descended to 10k. My training for this hike was woefully inadequate.

My understanding is that this route is infrequently done, so I didn’t expect to see anyone on route. But I didn’t expect to have the summit all to myself too!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was my first time hiking up Ice House Canyon trail. I can now see why it gets such a high rating on AllTrails. It’s a beautiful hike! There are still some sections showing some fall colors. That guy asking about scenic hikes in LA area should try this hike.

Trail is in good shape. No muddy spots from recent rain. No water crossings this time of year. I got to the trailhead around 9:15 am and plenty of parking. Of course it was a Wednesday so it’s probably quite different on the weekend.

I did the loop version of the hike (about 8 1/2 miles) and did it clockwise. I think this is a good way to do it because you experience most of the canyon going downhill and you see the progression from dry creek to water-filled creek as you descend. Full ambient hike video of the descent coming soon.

I know it is not winter but it’s definitely not going to be warm. I have a very warm sleeping bag and proper cold weather clothes and a 20 degree rated sleeping bag too. The other gear I have is regular backpacking gear I take to the Trans Catalina Trail.

Should I avoid sleeping on the summit and opt for something lower? Should I avoid The Devil’s Backbone?

If anyone has been up there either recently or in late October please share your knowledge.

I’m planning on a hike to the Sturtevant Falls and was wondering if anyone has been in that area in the past week or so that can comment on the mosquito situation. I’m very sensitive to their bites, so trying to figure out just how bad it is to know how many layers of loose clothing I need to wear. I’m planning to go in the morning, though likely not super early, so hopefully they won’t be as bad as they might be near dawn. TIA

I tucked this second visit to Brown Moutain inbetween the heat wave and the expected torrential rain. The photos are from both hikes.

The first hike was a "cloud inversion" that didn't happen. The fog was so thick at times that I wasn't able to see more than 100 feet. The registry talked about how alone everyone felt and the awesome views. I was able to verify the former, but not the latter.

On both occasions, I took the ridge from Wella's to Sloan. My memory says this was almost entirely bushwhacking, but there's actually a faint trail through most of this. I'm not sure if these are game trails or trails that haven't seen a shovel in two decades.

The climb up the ridge to Brown took me about an hour. It had a few sections of class 2 scramble this time, although I specifically recall class 3 last time. Another effect of the cloud cover and route finding, I guess.

After Brown, the "real" hiking starts. It's a friggin' rollercoaster, going over however many peaks of various terrain and steepness. It's interesting to see how the rocks change from dark brown, to brown, to firm white rocks, to white crumbly rocks. Some of these peaks are just walking over, and others call for some interesting scrambles. Regardless, it starts to shift from "oh, wow, another peak" to "fml, another f&$ing hill???"

When I got to the summit of Brown, a half dozen condors were flying around. Their shadows were huge and sent a chill down my spine when they flew directly overhead. I tried to capture photos of them, but they were moving too fast.

Overall, I thought of this as my favorite hike when I first did it, and I think it still stands near the top. It's also near my personal ceiling of risk and reward. I've tried a few other hikes that are a step or two up in difficulty, but I turned around on them because I'm not confident I can do them safely, at least not yet. This ridge felt easier and less intimidating than my memory had it.

A couple buddies and I are planning on hiking San Jacinto from the tramway on Sunday. Does anyone know if there's any snow up there yet at this point in the season?

Hi

I'm planning a Mt Whitney day hike from Whitney portal sometime Nov 4-6 and would love inputs from people who know the mountain this late in the season.

My background

• I've done Cactus to Clouds and Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim, so I'm fine with long days, big elevation gain and early starts.
• I'm comfortable on snow and I'd rather go up in crampons than try to avoid the snow near the summit.

Question

1. Would you recommend it this time of the year?
2. If you've gone in late Oct or Nov: what were snow/ice, wind and temps like, and were crampons the right call?
3. Any tips on start time, Portal Road access, checking current conditions?

Thanks!

Forecasted rain didn’t come. Was beautiful mid-50s didn’t use my beanie and layers at all. Trees are magnificent and it was a spiritual experience hiking by myself very little people on the trail.

Anybody have any recent recon/reports for Pacifico Mountain road? Any nearby trails/roads? Hows the wash since the October rains?

My brother and I are planning on driving up the road to the summit in the ol Subaru Forester, she got AWD and 8 inches of clearance. I've driven up cutty Colorado roads in my homies Camry without issue in the past, so I've got a clue on how to grind up dirt roads.

If a dirt drive is unfeasible and straight stupid, we're just gonna park at the bottom and pack our way up

Just got into hiking recently. What are the most scenic hikes in LA? As distinguished from most popular, which I don’t care about. Thanks!

Hiked beyond the main palm grove retracing my steps from spring when the water was flowing. Route finding came a lot easier this time around, but I often got confused without the water pouring down the canyon. I didn’t get as far as I did last time, but found a suitable backcountry camp spot and made myself a coffee. A light drizzle came and went the entire morning as I spotted small pools of water atop certain boulders. Headed to Mine Wash for some mortero hunting; an activity that seemed appropriate on Indigenous Day. I just love how easy they are to spot after a rain. Great day out in the desert.

When did the influx of this sort of trend start? The all black fits, Artcyrex beanies and rainjackets in peak summer. I saw a post the other day about a dude who lost his Cerium (a very warm down jacket) on San G. It is not nearly cold enough to necessitate that.

My biggest concern is how this will manifest in the winter. It seems like these people would very impressionable to viral “aura” mountaineering content and think they could do the same without skill/planning/equipmenr. How can we as a community try and put more information out there about proper winter hiking procedures?

I don’t want more people to needlessly die, but I’m also against the whole blanket closures they did last seaosn whenever there was a storm.

For them that care to seeit all:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iGFXm23uNgV73aDW9

So! W/TS Rachel havin dropped copious amounts of rain, all over SoCal, it seemed like alotta targets mightbe in-play, IF we could strike whilst the iron was hot...

Spent some time analyzin rainfall totals, n comparin standout areas, agin targets in my mental Rolodex, to come up witha hitlist...

I settled upon'a really nice cataract, abit W of tha 15, intha “Rainbow” area, that I've had my eye on for'a minute, as tha primary, witha 2ndary target abit E of tha 15...

Our primary had some potential access issues, but I'd thoroughly scanned available imagery, n I felt like we had'a solid “backdoor” route, that'd avoid pryin eyes. But! No battle plan survives 1st contact w/the enemy, and, intha case of our primary target, “1st contact” was findin that tha rd thatwe intended to use as our parkin spot, and our ingress into “injun country”, rather'n havin'a cable gate, n tha tall brush, depicted ontha most recent street view imagery, was now ungated, pretty clear, and, with RECENT tire tracks! This was rather disconcerting, as our whole plan hinged upon this area bein vacant...

We decided to probe abit further up tha main rd, n I'llbe damned if some1 hadn't plopped'a “Tiny House”, smack dab intha middle of our ninja route! Vehicles parked there, n dogs came out to meetus, n'it was clear tha jig was up! Ughh! It was clear this area'd had ALOTTA rain. Maybe not enuff to have much stayin power, given how DRY it'd been b4 tha storm, but, IF we'd been able to proceed w/tha mission, I KNOW we wouldabeen rewarded handsomely...

But! These new developments were'a deal-breaker! On to Plan B...

Man! Those backroads around Rainbow'r a seemingly labyrinthian cobweb of sketchy, NARROW, mountain roads. N/U can't always trust google to givu a viable route, to wheru wannabe...

After havin traveled aways, over hill n dale, we saw'a large (40’) boat, that “some1”’d hauled onto their property. Given tha roads we'd traveled to get to this point, imaginin HOW this'd been accomplished, was only slightly less of'a head-scratcher, than wonderin about tha construction of “Tha Great Pyramids”. We documented tha curiosity n pressed onward...

Eventually, we came to our parkin spot, n were relieved to findit actually was suitable for this purpose. We parked n headed down tha rd abit, to where I'd ID'd as our likely ingress point...

This cyn was DEEP! Procedin w/this plan was gonnabe a significant commitment, requirin stealth, n abit'a luck, ifwe were 2b successful...

But! As I scanned the area, in spite'a the evidence of significant rainfall, I cun't detect any sound'a fallin water, and, with our target falls, bein easily a 30'r, with 2 forks convergin, I really felt like I shoulda! My spidey senses were tellinme we were gettin set-up 2b skunked, n I really din't wanna squander tha remains of our day, on sum'n that din't seem too promisin, so we opted to head back toward civilization, n find another target, that seemed promisin, n 1 we could reasonably hope to bag, w/tha daylight we had left...

Oncewe got close to 15, n had good signal, I began feverishly scannin for targets, givin preference to stuff I already had tagged, but, keepin my eyes open to “new opportunities”...

We were now way past strikin whilst the iron was hot, n I feared, even targets which mightabeen musterin'a respectable flow, earlier, were runnin dry witha quickness. We'd likely hafta temper our xpectations abit...

Prettymuch evrything I'd tagged, in this area, was just too GD hard to get to, n, at this point, we needed'a “quickie”...

After abit, my eyes locked-on to'a rocky cataract, abit NW of San Pasqual Valley. It seemed likit had'a decent chance to hava slimy trickle, n we might actually be able to findaway in...

We headed that way, n founda parkin spot, that seemed “ok”, n we headed up tha cyn...

Had to deal with abit'a brushy, crkbed bs, but, ere long, we were at tha mouth of our cyn...

It was pretty, but also, pretty dry, andit appeared 2b abit more technical than we'd bargained for. Oh well? This was our last chance to put some points ontha board for 2day...

There actually was ali'l water comin down. It was fannin out across tha rocks, down here, sowe cun't actually SEEit flowin, per se, but I figured ifwe found tha right bedrock features, higher-up, that'd change...

Tha 1st section was easily climbed, but then we had to negotiate a slick slot. But! With abit'a teamwork, we were soon astride tha top'a tha 1st level, butit was clear we had our work cut-out 4’us...

Nothin insurmountable, but tha technical stuff din't really let-up, n we were solvin prob's 4tha duration...

At 1 point, as I entered a narrow slot, I heard'a buzzin comin fr tha L, n, sure enuff, it waza beehive! Thought they mightbe settlin-down for 4'tha nite, but I soon observed lotsa in/outbound traffic.  We briefly considered another route, ontha other side'a tha cyn, but opted to try'n sneak thru, below tha “guns”, which seemed to work...

This slot was another super-fun scramble, but, oncewe topped-out, we were nearin our cutoff time, and it'd sprinkled abit, n tha thought of traversin all tha technical stuff we'd just up-climbed, with wet rock, din't seem too appealin. There waza large chockstone up ahead, n we agreed we'd investigate beneathit, n head for home...

Lotsa sand below tha chockstone, so no pool, n only acouple faint ribbons of water, comin down.  Still more technical stuff, but we opted to keep our agreement, n callit a day...

SAT imagery of this cyn was taken at HIGH-FLOW, soit reveals TONS'a potential, far beyond tha point wherewe calledit quits. But! Any attempt to navigate tha watercourse, with significant flow'd be'a tricky affair. Mightbe better to climb up along tha rim, n play peekaboo with tha standout features. 

It's def ontha list 4'a revisit...

I am a lover for hikes that feel impossible from the trailhead. This will be up there with some of the longest single day pushes I’ve done. I am experienced in hiking/mountaineering and have done several ultra-marathon distance hikes in the past. I live in the Sacramento area where 100°+ is very common and I’ve gotten used to hiking in the heat. I also summit at least one peak in Tahoe and surrounding areas nearly every weekend, and have done 2 14ers this season, so I am pretty well acclimated to altitude. The only question mark for me is how much water storage to bring. I will have a water filter.

If anyone could fill me in on what the longest stretches without water are and where in the trail they are so I can plan that would be extremely helpful. I want to keep my pack as light as I can while ensuring I have enough water to complete this beast safely.

Any other tips are welcomed also.
Thanks in advance.

Not fully Hengst peak but just slightly to the right of it, such a beautiful lake aswell for only a couple miles!!!

Left at 2 AM and made it up in 10 hours. Got to the switchbacks in time to watch the sunrise hit the front of the range. Gorgeous weather. So glad we left early, because it took everything we had to get back right before the sun went down. Got hit by light altitude sickness but kept pressing. An absolute slog but so worth it!

First time doing gorgonio, going to camp the summit overnight.

What do I need to know about summiting in November, I know it’s a transition period from fall to winter conditions

“Super El Niño” might have an affect on snow fall.

Any advice is helpful

Hike Stats: https://caltopo.com/m/VGPRT45

Great cloudy weather before the rain hit. Haven’t done a 20+ mile hike in almost 3 months. Picked off the White Mountains first as it was completely dark at 6 to take advantage of the coldness. Lots of flowers on the sides of the road. As I was getting close to South White, it started to get very windy. I accidentally missed the turnoff of South White, but I will return back so I went to North White first. Literally crazy winds up on both Whites. I have a video I will separately post so you can hear how crazy it was. Then came back for South White going up the steep almost 200 ft shortcut.

Got back to my car within 4 hours and 30 minutes then had a 15 minute intermission before going to Little Bear. With Little Bear done, I was going to Grays an alternate way instead of the main way, but I didn't know it was private property so it was back to the main way.

Not a fan of popular trails, but Grays was pretty quiet. About 30-35 people were on the trail with me. The winds picked back up when I got to Grays, and did a group photo with these fellow hikers and a dog.

Fly high Jackie, we will never forget you.

Next Episode: Pleasant View Ridge Ch8os

Going to attempt baldy going the baldy bowl route this Tuesday morning 10/13, anyone have a real concern with the terrain being messed up, me and my hiking buddy are not worried about the difficulty of the hike, as we both are fairly competent hikers and have personally logged ide have to guess 250+ miles together in the past 6-8 months, we have yet to do a real high country adventure together though. Im mostly worried about the loose soil, but ive heard baldy bowl is not as sketchy as the backbone, (also dont want to go through the makeshift repair that guy made on YT🤣). Just gathering opinions from everyone! Love feedback/criticism so feel free to give honest feedback, Much love happy hiking everyone!!

Super cold as well. Felt like it was in the 30s.

I’ve just recently gotten into hiking this year and I’ve only been on a couple of short 2-3 mile hikes. Im 19 years old and I’d say Im in decent shape.

That being said I want to do Cucamonga peak, Ontario peak, and Mount Baldy seperate times in the coming months. I want to know if they’re really that hard or what type of prep I need. I feel like I can just do it but what do I know lol. Should I do some other trails to practice. Thanks