It was time for another dayhike with Stitch. We decided to hike up San Gorgonio Mountain. It is the tallest peak in Southern California and the 7th highest in the lower 48 states at 11,503'. Despite its impressive peak elevation, our hike up the South Fork trail would only have about 4600' of gain. The total out and back distance of the trail is just shy of 25 miles.
After roughly four hours of sleep I got up and packed the car. Thirty minutes later I picked up Stitch, and 2 hours after that we were at the trailhead.
It was immediately obvious that this was going to be a beautiful hike. Huge trees, more green landscape than I am used to seeing in SoCal, and a view that just keeps going and going.
We had some fun along the way...like when Stitch made a camera into an iPod.
I carried 16lbs of fluid and little else. A warm insulating layer for the peak and a 3oz. windshirt were clutch. We did cross a couple of streams and saw some springs seeping out of the mountain. Reliable water can be tricky on this route, but I could have gotten away with much less than I carried.
Dry Lake. The name is self explanatory. We took a nice snack break here and saw a couple of backcountry rangers (though they did not see us).
Stitch checks out a propeller among the wreckage of a 1950's plane crash. This military plane went down in a snowstorm and there were no survivors.
Breathing in the air at 11,502 feet above sea level. A bit higher than the 101 feet I live at. I am wearing the same pack, trail runners, gaiters, insulating jacket/windshirt, and visor as I had with me on the Appalachian Trail. When great gear is working for you...use it!
Parting shot on the way back down to the trailhead. San Gorgonio is in the background. We finished a little while after dark but it remained light enough that we didn't need our headlamps.
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