Continued...
I had 4-5hrs of free time in the morning before I needed to spectate at a VB
tournament in Irvine and decided to head up the Ortega Hwy (SR74) to do a few
easy hikes in the lower reaches of the Santa Ana Mtns. The two hikes shared
a number of characteristics other than their difficulty level. Both were
located in the Cleveland NF off Hot Spring Canyon, both had trails rising to a
saddle with the unnamed summit, both had use trails then finishing the job from
the saddle to the summit. Originally thinking I might be in for some
bushwhacking, it would have been terribly selfish to wish for better
circumstances.
Peak 2,050ft
The harder hike of the two, easier access for parking. The
starts at the
located off Hot Spring Canyon Rd. Part of the road is dirt/packed sand with
some rutting from recent storms, but passable
by any vehicles and regularly maintained. Signs remind one to have a valid pass
to use the facilities (bathroom/parking/camping/etc). I left my Golden Eagle
Pass on the dash and hoped that would suffice. The San Juan Trail switchbacks
excessively for 1.5mi while climbing about 900ft out of
. The trail is graded for mountain bikes which appear
to be the primary users. In places the trail has a rounded groove making hiking
awkward, but not enough to complain loudly about (and besides, I kinda like
having bike access to public trails). The slopes were covered in fresh Spring
green, out in abundance. Once I reached the saddle I turned
right and was happy to find a decent leading through tall
brush to . Having carried clippers with me in case I found it
brushy, I slowed my pace to do some trail maintenance on the move. It took about
55min to reach where I found left by
Terry Flood the previous year. A few folks had signed in over the intervening
year, but only one other name I recognized - . The
are not great due
to high brush on most sides. Oh well, I was hear more the workout anyway.
Jogging much of the way down, I got back in about half an hour, arriving at the
USFS parking area by 9a.
Peak 1,590ft
The rest of the road past the USFS area is paved, probably to keep down the dust
for the numerous residences found along both sides of the road. Parking is
quite limited due to the private property. Half a mile past the USFS site I
came to the end of the road at the ,
a youth camp run by the United
Methodist Church. Signs indicate Private Property and Registered Guests Only,
but the TH for the Los Pines Trail was located somewhere on their property. I
spoke to a maintenance guy driving around in a golf cart, a friendly chap
who explained that the public is welcome to use their
"" (sounds better
than "easement"?) to access the trail, but public parking is not allowed on
their grounds. He said the only public parking was back at the USFS site, but
I really didn't want to drive back down the road and hike back up, especially
since there were three creek crossings I'd just driven over with about two
inches of water. I found
just outside the camp's property,
adjacent to the last home on the road. I'm not sure if it was legal or not, but
I saw no signs and no one came out to complain in the few minutes it took me to
pack up and leave.
I found inside the Lazy W pretty much where the guy had
told me
to find it next to the archery range. The hike to the saddle is much easier,
only half a mile with a gradient more befitting foot traffic than bikes. There
are signs along the trail every 50yds or so, little
or
biblical passages, intended to give campers something to contemplate on the
hike up the hill, and perhaps to reduce the complaining. The use trail found
at the saddle where I turned left had been cleared much wider than the earlier
one and the use of my clippers would have added nothing of any real value.
Still, the trail
is steep and one works up a sweat in short order. The highpoint is found where
the trail crests the summit ridge, though the trail continues another 50yds
along the ridge for slightly better views looking south. I didn't find a
register here, but then didn't really look too hard. In addition to
across Hot Spring Canyon to Peak 2,050ft, there is a decent view
.
Though hazy clouds somewhat obscured far views, I could still make out
the Pacific Ocean in the distance. More jogging on the way down kept the outing
to under 40min. Time to head back to Irvine for a shower and volleyball...
Continued...