Continued...
Our last day in the San Bernardino Mtns was mostly a driving tour along SR18,
Rim of the World Hwy. Lots of very short hikes, all designed to get us done
by noon so folks could head home from the long weekend.
Peak 5,037ft
This summit lies in the community of Cedarpines Park, south of Silverwood Lake.
With a high-clearance vehicle it is a drive-up to the empty lot at the summit.
The only TR available was on LoJ from John Kirk, who had driven a series of
rough Forest roads up Sawpit Canyon from SR18. We did this as well, but it is
not the easiest way to get there. Better is to come via Valley of Enchantment
from the southeast, a mostly paved route until the final steep climb on a
graded dirt road. There is at the summit that has
rotted at the base and fallen over. are partially blocked by
trees, but still decent.
Peak 5,460ft
Found to the south above Lake Gregory, Peak 5,460ft is the highpoint between
Crestline and Arrowhead Highlands. We drove to the end of Rockview Dr where
there are two gates. We parked in front of which goes
to the water tanks and telecom installations at (the
righthand one goes to a home - don't park there!). We hiked
to the south from the gate, a 1-2 minute effort. A
moderately-sized boulder serves as .
Red Rock Wall Point
This point lies above SR18 and the Red Rock Scenic Overlook at a U-bend in the
highway. The distance is very short from the overlook, but there are difficult,
loose cliffs to overcome there. There is from
that gets one to the highpoint with relative ease. There are
set up like pews in various places along the trail,
looking like some sort of outdoor church, left in disrepair. We didn't know it
at the time, but they're part of the Better Place Forests, a chain of forest
memorials where you can purchase a memorial tree in remembrance of a loved one
that has passed, costing upwards of $10,000 (Landmark Trees go for over $30K).
My bullshit meter pegged after seeing the pricing and slick website, contrasting
that with the poor state of upkeep. Anyway, our point was located in
in the center of the U-bend,
by brush. Views are much better at the overlook. We spent 25min on this one,
roundtrip.
Strawberry Peak
Another , found between the communities of Rimforest and Twin
Peaks. There is a water tank, lookout, and telecom sites found at this ex-HPS
summit. Some boulders outside the fencing serve as . The
benchmark has been paved over, but at least one of the
survives.
Crest Summit
This is found inside Rim of the World High School. The
highpoint is found just north of the nearby
(how many high schools can boast an observatory?). This
would be awkward, if not illegal, to visit on a school day. We were happy it
was Sunday.
Peak 6,042ft
This one is found in the community of Sky Forest. Homes along Greenbriar Dr
block much of the access options available. We found a small turnout for one
vehicle on the southwest side of the summit and went up
under forest cover to in a few minutes. No signs, no fences,
, lots of trees.
Mt. Sorenson
This summit is found north of the . A paved road to
the helibase is at the highway. It's a 12 minute hike up the road
past , and then a wide, to
. There is to a Scouting executive of the
Los Angeles area council who served 1947-1964. TomG to his
soaring spirit.
Heaps Peak
The helibase is NOT located on Heaps Peak, inexplicably. Heaps Peak is well
to and is crowned with a communications facility. One can
drive to the summit where is found inside the fencing
among a collection of propane tanks.
Peak 6,445ft
This last summit is found above the community of Running Springs. There are
water tanks and neighbors suspicious of strangers. They watched us canvas the
place and finally asked what we were doing. We explained we wanted to
visit the highpoint, to which the neighbor responded with directions to some
nearby park that we cared not a whit about. We walked to of
the fencing around the tanks and called it good.
We spent some time trying to visit another minor summit called Mount R, driving
into the David Oved Retreat Center, blocked twice before giving up. This would
be better done on foot or bike into the community where foot traffic seems
preferred to vehicles. And with that, another road trip was concluded...