Continued...
Leaving Los Angeles on a Monday morning, bound for Reno, NV where I was due on
Thursday, I made Soledad Canyon off the 14 freeway my first stop. I had come
to this area, sandwiched between the San Gabriel Mtns and the Sierra Pelona for
two objectives, the Magic Mtn Wilderness HP south of the canyon and Vasquez
Rocks to the north. As sometimes happens
my mood shifted upon arrival and I ended
up doing something completely different, choosing instead to do a number of
shorter outings to mostly unnamed summits on the north side of the canyon. I
finished up in early afternoon, giving me plenty of time to head north for a
good chunk of the driving that would take me north towards Reno.
Peak 3,166ft
What enticed me to visit this peak was the chance to hike a new section of the
PCT I'd never been on before. Starting from the where
the PCT exits the San Gabriel Mtns, the trail across
Soledad Canyon Rd, through that acts as the flood
plain for the Santa Clara River, an easy crossing of the river (all but dry at
this point), over the that parallel the canyon, and
then up through that characterize this portion of the
Transverse Ranges. Peak 3,166ft is little more than a mile and a half from
Soledad Canyon, the PCT passing across its eastern flank. There are three
summits vying to be the highpoint and initially I assumed the northern point
was the highest since it was identified as such on LoJ. However, upon leaving
the trail to climb the short distance up to the middle summit, I could see that
the north summit was of almost equal height and was
obviously higher than , by more than 20ft. The extra
contour of the north summit on the topo map must be an error. I backtracked to
the south summit where I found , or "X" made of stones marking
the highpoint. I took notice of two other summits from the top of Peak 3,166ft
that I thought warranted further attention. A mile to the west was
, a
collection of rock outcrops that I had first noted from Soledad Canyon during
the drive to the TH. I had thought maybe I could combine it with my visit to
Peak 3,166ft, but that did not look possible now. I could see that the middle
rock was the highest, but there was no side that did not appear vertical, rising
30ft or more. I would have to do more research on this one before paying a
visit, likely with climbing gear. To
rose Parker Mtn, the highest
point between Soledad Canyon to the south and SR14 to the north. It sports more
than 750ft of prominence and I recalled having noted this on some of my past
map searches. I hadn't done any research ahead of time, but perhaps I could find
a way up today. I returned back to the PCT and then to
by 9a, having spent about an hour and half on the
effort.
Peak 3,589ft
I drove east and north along Soledad Canyon Rd to the small community of Acton
in Crown Valley, just south of SR14. A first effort to find a way to Parker
Mtn Rd from the east was rebuffed as the road I followed ran into private
property. Back in Acton, I grabbed a large soda at the McD's just north of the
highway and spotted Peak 3,589ft a short distance to the northeast, momentarily
distracting me. It seemed an easy bonus while I was here, so I continued north
through a neighborhood west of the summit, then east on dirt Bandell St until
I was on
of the summit, less than a quarter mile away. There were
no fences nor signs indicating private property as I started up the steep slope
found on that side. An informal equestrian trail appears to circle the hill
which I crossed as I headed up cross-country. The hillsides were greener than
I'd seen elsewhere in the past few days, with an abundance of
on the northern aspect and some colorful
near the summit. It took just over 10min to climb the short distance to the top
where a white metal graces the summit with a view
to the SW. I noted good
use trails going over the summit from the east and southwest. On the way down
I started down the east side trail, but once I realized it was heading off
away from the car, I abandoned it for the shorter, more direct cross-country
route.
Parker Mtn/Peak 3,660ft
From the summit of Peak 3,589ft I had spotted the dirt road leading to Parker
Mtn and with the help of my GPSr found the way to reach it. Back in Acton I
refreshed my soda (it was getting pretty warm outside by this time) and headed
to
paved Escondido Canyon Rd and paved-becoming-dirt Hubbard Rd. The dirt portion
was in excellent condition and easily driveable. I turned left at the first
junction (Google Maps has it as Hughet Pin Rd, but I don't recall it signed
as such) which climbs steeply to Parker's N/NW Ridge about a mile and a half
from the summit. A high clearance vehicle can drive all the way to the summit
on but it would have been too dicey for my van, so I
found a place to park and hoofed it from there. It's a pretty easy hike and
fairly enjoyable too, with views alternating off and
as the road winds
its way towards the top. There are several intermediate bumps along the way
that have found their way on peakbagger.com, not really summits, but minor
bonuses if one wants to pad their PB stats (Pt. 3,495ft and Pt. 3,815ft). These
can be reached by use trails or spurs off the main road. In such situations I
try to follow the mantra, WWLND (What would Laura Newman Do?) I ignored them on
the way up, tagging them on the way down.
Parker Mtn's summit has
at the the highpoint, all that remains of
a lookout tower that once stood here. It's a very nice viewspot to take in the
surrounding chaparral and scrub-covered hills. Even in Spring of an El Nino
year the area is very desert-like, much like most of the Mojave found just over
Soledad Pass to the northeast. I returned to the van, drank down the remainder
of my soda and then continued west across the road to climb to bonus Peak
3,660ft with just over 300ft of prominence. Another short climb of perhaps
1/3mi, it took just over ten minutes to reach the highpoint where one finds an
LA County and a good view of Parker Mtn to
. A rough
dirt road leads to the top from the saddle where I had parked. Other tracks
lead to the top from the northwest and south.
Peak 3,784ft
This last summit is located about 1.3mi NNW of Peak 3,660ft and has more than
500ft of prominence. It was necessary to first drive back out Escondido Canyon
Rd and then north to dirt Hisey Ranch Rd which can be followed west into the
hills. Private ranch homes dominate the area on either side of the road, but
I found a
at the junction with Salty Dog Rd that can be used
to access the summit from the SE without crossing fences or running into No
Trespassing signs. The hike follows a combination of and
for about 3/4mi to the summit, climbing about 400ft in the
process. The 14 freeway can be seen in all its concrete splendor, cutting
through , across the north side of Acton and
disappearing over Soledad Pass to .
I returned to the van by 1:20p and called it a day. I had lots of
driving to do to reach Mono Lake by evening and was eager to get on the road.
I stopped in Bishop to have dinner with Laura Molnar, after which we walked out
to
the behind her home for some .
It would be well after 10p before I had found a place near Mono Lake off the
highway to settle down for the night...
Continued...