Continued...
I started the third day of this roadtrip still in the Angeles National Forest,
but that would last only for the first two summits. I then began to make my
way southeast to the Inland Empire and western Riverside County where I
finished up the day. It was a long, busy day with more than 5,000ft of gain
spread over eight summits.
Johnstone Peak
This summit is located in the San Gabriel Mtns foothills east of Glendora. I
used the access at the end of Terrebonna Ave. There is
on
the left side of . The route then
climbs 1,600ft over the course of 2.75mi, a fairly gentle gradient. The route
isn't particularly scenic, but as one climbs higher.
to the Inland Empire cities are clearer in the morning, so
it had that going for it. It was also spring, so the hills were
. There are old along the road that
suggest one used to be able
to drive this back in the day, but they haven't been maintained in decades. At
the summit is and from
1940 to the civic leader for whom the peak is named. If there was
a register up there somewhere, I didn't find it. I spent about two and a quarter
hours on the roundtrip effort.
Laverne G4 BM
This one is located about 4mi east of Johnstone Peak with San Dimas Canyon
cutting a deep gorge between them. The summit lies along a long, W-E ridge,
eventually turning
northeast to connect to Sunset Peak a number of miles away. Laverne can be
reached from Marshall Canyon Park to the south via several old firebreaks. It
can also be reached from the southwest via Mtn Springs Ranch Rd. The road
starts at a gated community at the base of the mountain, making access
difficult. They
may allow pedestrian access as I saw a mountain biker on the road above, but
I don't know since I didn't ask or check. Instead, I started from San Dimas
Canyon Rd where I spotted a use trail on the satellite view going steeply up
from the road along San Dimas Reservoir. It joins Mtn Springs Ranch Rd above
and the route appears to be entirely on National Forest lands. I had some
trouble finding the starting point when I got there, but a young couple parked
nearby helped point me to it. The is
in many places, but it is still quite serviceable. It took about 25min to
above, after which is much
easier. I followed the service road (using along the way
for a shortcut) for another 45min, then turned off on the same
that would lead to the summit in less than 10min.
isn't terribly interesting, and save for the old
firebreak, is covered in chapparal. south to the Inland Empire
were already quite hazy at 11a. After a bit of searching, I found
in a red can next to the benchmark. The register had been
left by a Meetup group and was quite busy. The
entry was from two months ago, by Chuck Hodi who had
numerous entries. On the descent from the summit, I followed an overgrown use
trail off to return to the service road, then I
reversed my route to San Dimas Reservoir,
and the Jeep, finishing up before 12:15p.
Peak 1,763ft
I next headed to the Jurupa Mountains, a small collection of hills found
northwest of Riverside and the Santa Ana River. I had been to the range
highpoint in 2011, now back for the other summits that surround it. Peak 1,763ft
is the westernmost of these. My route was similar to others, starting from
on the NNE side where a cul-de-sac provides access
to various trail options. In addition to a service road that climbs to a water
tank, there are maintained bike trails on the flanks of the mountain. The upper
half is reasonably accessed only by foot as the bike trails do no go that high,
but do. The summit is on BLM lands, while the north
slopes and bike trails are part of the Southridge Village Open Space Reserve. I
used a combination of the available trails to make my way to the summit in less
than 30min. is adorned with a crude cross and some graffiti,
but less than one might expect so close to urban areas. Nice views of the urban
sprawl to the north and , as well as one of the higher Mt. Jurupa
to . On the return, I used an older,
to descend to the neighborhood, then followed the fenceline -
nothing to recommend the return route.
Peak 1,913ft
I drove a few miles to the east side of Mt. Jurupa where Peak 1,913ft is found.
Ownership of this mountain appears uncertain. A sign along Sierra Ave shows
that at least some of the mountain's west side is for sale. I parked at the
end of Tudor Way on the NW side of the summit where
can be found exiting the neighborhood. A tunnel going under Sierra Ave provides
pedestrian/bike access to the west side of the road where Mt. Jurupa is
located (a slightly shorter route than starting from Martin Tudor Jurupa Hills
Regional Park). A dirt road stays on the east side of Sierra Ave heading south
and then east/southeast up towards the summit. Portions of this
and unsuitable for bikes, though it appears bikes/motorcycles
might have ways up from the east side. I spent half an hour in reaching the
summit via . I spent some time watching a
handful of playing on the wind currents blowing over the summit.
Mt. Jurupa rises to . To were three lower
summits I turned my attention to next.
The three peaks (Peak 1,452ft, Rattlesnake Mtn, Peak 1,739ft) looked like a
slam-dunk from the satellite view which shows the area criss-crossed with OHV
tracks. I approached from the end of 20th St on the east side,
only to find the area completely fenced and No Trespassing signs
prominently displayed. A guy standing next to a security vehicle watched me
circle in the Jeep. I went over to talk with him, quite politely, and
we had a nice, short conversation. His job is to patrol it and keep folks out.
No OHVs, no hiking, no trespassing. This seems to be a new-ish development,
because there are plenty of ascents logged to PB as recently as December and
none of them mention access issues. Seems these might require stealth now, so
I left them for some future visit.
Pedley Hills
These minor hills lie about 5mi south of the Jurupa Mtns. Ownership again seems
uncertain, but access is easy. I drove to the end of Lakeside Dr and parked
there. A continues ,
possibly driveable. This area sees motorcycle traffic as there were a handful
on . It takes only a few minutes to walk the short
distance to the highpoint, though not much special about it.
Mt. Rubidoux
This one is of historical interest. The small hill is sandwiched between
Riverside and the Santa Ana River. It has been a park for more than a hundred
years and used for Easter Sunrise Services for just as long. It seems to be
very popular, not surprising, given it's urban surroundings. There's no parking
at the entrance, but Ryan Bonaminio Park to the south has ample parking
available. I walked several blocks on past
selling to park visitors, then the park
through the gate. A winds its way to the summit and is used
by most visitors since it has an easy grade and not open to vehicles. There is
also a network of unsigned, that have developed over
many decades offering some fun for children and
adults alike. I used these trails going up and down. At the highpoint there is
and . An amphitheater is
found on the northeast side where Easter services are held. There is an American
flag at to , and lots of
made of rock from a bygone era. Sprinkled
about are more than a dozen commemorating
, mostly and the subjugation of
the native population prepackaged as . It
seems the public park ran afoul of separation of church and
state clauses, and was transferred to a community organization a decade ago. I
spent about 45min all told visiting the park.
Sugarloaf Mountain
Sugarloaf is found on the far west side of Riverside. In rush hour traffic, it
took a bit of work getting across town. I parked near the junction of Spruce
St and Valencia Hills Dr on of the summit. The upper
portion of the mountain and a much larger tract to the east are part of the Box
Springs Mtn Reserve Park. is found near the start for the
that provides access/easement from the neighborhood.
It's a very nice trail leading to on the southeast side of
the summit, at the edge of the preserve. There is a nice loop hike one can make
following the trail directly , then and
back around to to the saddle. A tombstone
for a 15yr-old Scott Anderson can be found at with
of the surrounding communities. I spent about 45min on the hike
in the late afternoon.
Table BM
It was getting late, but I wanted to do this last one since I was in the area.
Table BM is also located in the Box Springs Mtns, and the last of three
summits for me
to visit. My starting point was from the WSW at the
where the begins. There were a handful of cars in the
small dirt lot when I arrived, but all would be gone before I got back more than
an hour later. The easiest route would be to follow the obvious trail (an old
ranch road) up to the main crest, then north to the summit on a use trail. From
the start I noticed there were lesser trails all over the place and immediately
went about looking for a shorter, more direct way to the summit since I was
short on time. The cross-country travel is easy here, as it looked to have been
heavily grazed and by free-roaming horses who left poops
scattered everywhere. Only after I heard the first braying did I realize this
was the work of . Not sure who thought this would be a good idea
to have wild burros in a semi-urban environment, but they've had free rein and
made a mess of things. Where the other places I visited today were colored
spring green with modest amounts of wildflowers, these were
and stripped of anything soft and green. I followed
various burro trails in the general direction of , eventually
switching to cross-country for the last part as I was racing sunset to the top.
I didn't quite make it in time, but I got to see
regardless. is a collection of large granite boulders
generously blanketed in . I continued over the top heading
south to find which I had planned to take back the Two
Trees Trail and back to the start. Somewhere in my brain I decided I hadn't had
enough adventure, so I left the trail for a cross-country route that saved
neither time nor energy. I crossed drainages and down steep slopes, traversed
others, and got onto the about the time I was going to
start stumbing because of darkness. I jogged my way down the trail to get
at 8p - just enough light that I didn't need a
headlamp.
I took a shower in the parking lot, then headed to town for dinner options and
some wifi so I could make plans for the following day. I had seen Blue Mtn
to the north from both Sugarloaf and Table BM, and discovered it has nearly
900ft of prominence. I decided to pay it a visit in the morning and drove off
to a new neighborhood being built between Blue Mtn and Table BM. At the east
end of the last homes being built, I found a quiet dirt road away from lights,
homes and noise where I could spend the night in peace - it was one of the
better campsites I had on this extended roadtrip...
Continued...