I had a much more limited holiday in the San Diego area this year, leaving me
only about a day and a half to play in the hills. I decided to give the P1K list
a bit of a rest and went back to some unfinished business with delisted summits
from the local Sierra Club list. Three of these are located along a stretch of
Interstate 8 in the Cleveland National Forest. An unnamed fourth summit is 2ft
shy of a P1K, one I had unsuccessfully tried on my most recent visit. All of
them were roughly 5mi RT, mostly on trail. The terrain in this part of the
county is rocky, rolling hills covered in chaparral, often impenetrably thick.
Things are not so grim as they might be, however, as there are ample use trails
and other paths cut by individuals or groups for purposes of illegal
immigration, peakbagging and rock-hounding. All four summits had unmaintained
trails for portions near the summit, making what might otherwise be some
scratchy bushwhacking, far more pleasant. I was
pretty tired by the end of the fourth one and was feeling out of shape - until
I realized later the four made for a total of some 20mi and almost 6,000ft of
gain. It was a good day with fine, clear skies and temperatures in the 60s
and 70s - your typical SoCal in wintertime.
Buckman BM
Buckman forms the
of Cottonwood Valley through which the PCT travels.
The summit is most easily reached via a Forest Service Rd (16S12) off Buckman
Springs Rd on the west side of the valley. The road is gated a mile from the
pavement allowing closer access, but low clearance vehicles ought to park on
Buckman Springs Rd as I did, or just inside the
where there is a large clearing. The first half mile of hiking is easy, flat
road before with progressively more eroded roadway.
Past the first mile and the one joins with the
that is the Corral Canyon/Bear Valley OHV area.
Motorcyclists frequent the road that passes Buckman on the east side. At a local
highpoint where there is a good view of the east side of the summit, I spotted
what looked to be heading up from the OHV road. This turned
out to be a , a network of trails really, connecting a
number of found scattered about the east side of Buckman. The
takings
appear to be mica and other crystals, but I didn't come across any interesting
specimens in my casual perusal. I was happy to find that I could follow this
network of trail through medium-heavy chaparral to within a few hundred feet of
the summit. Above this I had only 10-15yds of mild bushwhack before finding
more open and easy cross-country the remaining distance to the summit. I had
come prepared for more significant bushwhacking up the south side as per the
beta I had from Brian Browning, but I was happy to find this nicely provided
route up the east side. Next to there was a messy
with brittle paper scraps, evidently a fairly popular summit.
I signed my name but didn't bother trying to photograph
the haphazard collection of names. The most interesting view was to
where Long Valley Peak rises higher still, less than
three miles distance. It appears to have a steep, rocky South Face. North and
east are the with views to stretching
into Mexico. The route up was so much better than expected that I didn't try to
find an alternative and followed it dutifully back to ,
taking less than 2hrs for the roundtrip.
Long Valley Peak
Long Valley is the most interesting of the summits I visited this day, its
summit
almost qualifying as class 3 with a rocky, cliff-like South Face
visible from Buckman. One could hike the motorcycle trail between the two to
make a longish hike, but it's somewhat shorter to make a separate hike of it,
starting from the to the north, just off the Pine
Valley exit
on Interstate 8. This TH is one of the main entrances to the OHV area - I found
six cyclists preparing to ride when I entered and a family of ATV enthusiasts
setting up when I returned. Evidently they don't get many hikers on the trail
here - upon my return one of the ATVers mentioned that word had been passed
that a hiker was on the trail, as though that were most unusual and cause for
concern. I suppose I should be happy that they were
taking extra precautions when coming around a blind turn, but really I would
think the bigger danger is from other cyclists. I can hear them coming from
half a mile away whereas one cyclist may not hear another at all due to the
noise of his own machine. For almost two miles I followed the dirt Pine Valley
Rd,
with the six cyclists I'd seen at the TH. There were
a number of places off to one side of the road or another that had inordinate
amounts of ,
evidence of the common melding of the triumvirate of
recreational pursuits - riding, drinking and shooting - in no particular order.
Beta I had from
Brian had indicated the South Slopes were less brushy than those on the north
and east sides. Flush with my success on Buckman, I took note of a use trail
leaving the main road just south of a saddle and before the junction with the
Bear Valley Loop Rd. This use trail, obviously though infrequently used by
cyclists,
into a shallow drainage before climbing gently out to
contour to the south around Long Valley's east side. I found a fainter trail
heading upwards when I got around to the southeast and began following that.
At least one cyclist had attempted it as well, but it did not get very far
before giving up. The trail devolved into nothingness soon afterwards as I
found myself doing some
in order to reach the summit ridge.
Once on I had a good view of
still some 900yds to the NW. The scrambling
was made interesting by the necessity to
avoid more brush, but thankfully a path without much trouble was not hard to
find. Just before reaching the rocky South Face a saddle is reached. The easier
route follows up the ridge to the right, avoiding the cliffs on the South Face
and goes at class 2 (I used this on the descent). I decided to check out the
South Face for what looked like several possible class 3 routes. As I was
crossing a sloping section below the largest cliff face I noticed a red can
lying on the ground further downslope. Guessing that someone had tossed the
register off the summit in disgust, I went down to retrieve the can, finding
only the one half of the nested pair. No sign of the contents were found. I
then scrambled the left side of the cliff up easy class 3 rock and found my
way to the summit immediately thereafter.
The other half of the nested can set was still at , oddly.
No sign of the register contents save for a small
that had someone's name
carved in it from 1976. I left this with the two cans reunited, but of course
it still needs a pencil and notebook. The views were nice on such a clear day,
stretching across upon
of prime chaparral country in all directions.
Looking off
in the direction of the use trail I had used
upon leaving the roadway, I noticed another fainter trail cut through the
chaparral higher up. I couldn't see where it led to, but it seemed to come up
to the saddle on the summit ridgeline that I had passed by earlier on the SE
side. It seemed worth investigating. Dropping off the summit to the saddle down
the easier class 2 route, I found what looked like an
through the
brush. Easy to miss if you're not looking for it - I hadn't even noticed it on
my way up. I followed this down, hoping I wouldn't find it was only a partially
cut trail or one that had become overgrown from disuse. Throughout the length
of the trail there was evidence of much work someone had put in cutting the
brush. It has been several years at least since it was cut or last maintained
and I found some minor difficulty in following it downhill. In places the cut
was quite good (this was
I had seen from the summit), in others it
was more haphazard as it went through much taller brush, following through the
understory in a maze-like fashion. It was not clear whether the trail had been
cut by a peakbagger or perhaps for illegal immigration - there are many such
trails found south of the interstate and north of the border. Further down, the
trail was in poorer condition, but I managed to find my way back to the original
(and better) use trail I had used initially, eventually making my way back to
the road. It would be harder to follow the trail in the uphill direction, I
suspect, but if one were to follow the GPX track I used it shouldn't be too
much trouble. Overall, I don't know if it's a better route that the one
I took up the SE side (which I think was the route Brian recommended).
It was 11:20a by the time I got back to , making for just
over 2hrs on the outing.
Guatay Mountain
This summit is found less than 4mi NW of Long Valley Peak, just north of the
interstate and west of Pine Valley. The
is found on the east side
of the peak, a lonely spot compared to the Bear Valley TH. The two are separated
by a short 5min drive. The Pine Valley TH
is the northern terminus of a popular hiking route following down Pine Valley
Creek through the Pine Valley Wilderness. The trail, creek and valley run under
the Interstate just south of the trailhead. The impressive
spanning the canyon is said to be the highest in the entire Interstate Highway
system. Just north of the TH at is an
unsigned that leads
up and around the northeast side of Guatay Mountain between the communities of
Pine Valley and Guatay. I followed this good trail for 8/10mi to where an iron
barrier blocks the at a trail junction. This barrier might
prevent OHVs and horses, but is easy for hikers to walk around. This is the
beginning of one of the unmaintained trails leading to the summit. Wide as it
is, it must have been an OHV route at one time, now eroding slowly but still
very serviceable. The trail climbs steeply until reaching the summit ridge,
after which it becomes a more gentle, with only a few
short, steep sections remaining. It goes on much longer than one might think
it should, and though are quite nice the trail itself is
strewn with loose rock and not terribly interesting. is a
rocky clearing among low chaparral, leaving open in all
directions. A holds an ammo box, a pair of binoculars and
other stuff. The ammo box itself is filled with worn registers, loose pages and
somewhat trashy - none of the many, many entries went back very far. By far
this was the most popular summit I visited today. It was after 1:40p by the
time I returned, the second outing that came in at just over 2hrs.
Peak 2,258ft
This P1K is located just south of Interstate 8 between the city of El Cajon and
the much smaller community of Alpine. The entire north side of the mountain is
part of a state ecological reserve while the south side has been developed over
the years with a combination of rural horse ranches and newer, more upscale
homes. The easiest routes are from the south but involve non-trivial
trespassing. The longer approach is from the north starting at Flinn Springs
County Park. There is $3 self-pay use fee to enter the park which I paid
primarily because I actually had three singles in my wallet (there are places
to park outside the park to save the fee for the more budget-conscious). The
starting point is at the far west end of the park where there is a playground
and several residences. It was a good thing I had paid because I had barely
gotten out of the car when a plump, cheerful ranger drove up to check on me.
She had the collection of pay envelopes with her to ensure payment compliance.
She was very helpful in asking me where I wanted to go hiking, saving me some
trouble in finding it myself. What looks like an off-limits
is closed only to other vehicles. It crosses
before passing by several residences and then climbing higher
to a couple of ball fields. A trailside marks the
start of the unmarked trail, really just a
decommissioned dirt road. Shortly after starting up the route one passes through
the boundary between the county park and the state reserve, marked by a
. The trail continues with a few switchbacks, climbing
about 800ft to a saddle leading to a that forms the
upper drainage of Rios Canyon. Homes can be seen not too far to the south with
the summit rising
another 700ft to the left (east). This middle region is filled with a network of
motorcycle trails, their riders appearing to be the primary users. They are
definitely not
allowed lower in the county park, but I don't know if such use is permitted in
the state reserve. None of the numerous junctions are marked so you have to
have some idea where you're going. Just before reaching the area to the south
with homes, I cut east on a side trail, crossed a small meadow and found the
use trail leading to the summit. The trail is a good one though cross-country
travel in the upper third of the mountain is not very difficult. The trail
leads past a subsidiary summit with it before climbing
further to . A is located at a large
summit rock with a , but this is not the highpoint. That
honor goes to a fine-looking, just to the west, a class 3
scramble by its easiest means. The summit are similar to those I
had from other peaks on the day with the added bonus of a really good view of
rugged to the north.
It was almost 3:30p when I left the summit, somewhat rushed for time since
the county park closes at 4:30p ("sharp", I was told). I jogged much of the
downhill distance to get me
in about 25min, leaving me 30min of cushion
before I would be locked inside. By this time I was pretty beat and it was
only later that I realized the total elevation gain had been much more than I
realized - a good way to work up a holiday appetite, that's for sure. And with
that I headed back to Escondido where the family would be waiting dinner for
me. I'm pretty sure I ate twice as much as anyone else that night...
Continued...