As usual, a dayhike occurred because I wanted to get outside and go for a bit of a walk. I can’t recall exactly how or why we ended up picking Mt. Waterman, but we did, and Erin, Peter, and I headed up to the San Gabriels and set out on this hike (6 miles, some 1300′ of gain).
Just some people, out for a walk in the woods
We drove on out, up to the Angeles Crest and got up to the high country, that actually has skiing in the winter. We couldn’t find / kind of missed the beginning of the trail for the peak, but instead just started walking straight up the slope, knowing we would hit the trail soon enough, which we did. And man, there was a heck of a lot of trash on that slope – really kind of appalling what people will throw away in the woods. Whole stacks of styrofoam cups, forgotten pieces of many a winter sled, all sorts of drink bottles, plus lots of other miscellany. On our way back out, we did manage to pick up a fair bit of it.
Anyway, it was generally quite a pleasant hike, with a lovely clear day, some nice views, and some of the better walking terrain in the San Gabriels – lots of nice trees, pretty rocks, etc. There were even some really nice flowers to delight us along the way. I recognized parts of the route from when I had done this hike a few years earlier with Joe, although that had been far more wintry.
When we finally made it to the summit, I also realized, in fact, that on the prior trip, we hadn’t made it! There is a fake summit hump before you get to the real summit, in fact, a good way before, since there is a serious last slog of a climb before you get up that last hill. I guess that is what happens when stuff is all covered with snow!
Anyway, as mentioned, the actual summit is a real hump, and I did not much enjoy that last bit of walking, but I did make it , as I generally do. Randomly, parked just below the summit was a bicycle! Anyway, we played around up there for a bit, as there were lots of pleasant rocks to scrabble around on, and eventually headed back down. We did, as I said, pack out a fair bit of the trash on the way out, so, hooray for packing out more than you brought in!
This flower seemed bound and determined to be much taller than it had any right to be.
Peter, examining something off in the distance
This is the end of Highway 39, just before it gets to Route 2 (ACH). Gives a pretty good view of why that portion of the road is closed permanently-ish…lots of rockfall zones.
This tree was very confused at some point in its youth. But then again, who wasn’t?
Trees and rocks and sky, together, combine to create the views and places I want to see and go.
The three of us at the summit. Summit shot! Woohoo!
I have nothing but respect for whomever managed to do that, but…why? this wasn’t really a great biking location. Nonetheless, I was pretty surprised to see that there.
Some lovely fauna, investigating the flora.
The trees…were a lot taller than us. Yeah, I know. Grumble.
This redwood was just hanging out with the rest of the pines, like he belonged there in any way.
Packing out…everyone else’s trash.
