Continued...
For the second day in a row our plans didn't work out as expected. It was
suppposed to be a moderate day with a leisurely 16-mile hike in Chino Hills
State Park. The rolling, grassy hills had a handful of minor summits that we
planned to visit along the way. What we found were overgrown trails with wild
mustard growing well over head level that became tiring after the first hour.
So we cut that one short and added another visit to the highpoint of the Puente
Hills further north.
Scully Hill/Peak 1,155ft
Our starting was from the south at the Green River Golf Club on the north side
of the 91 freeway. Judging from we found there, this isn't
really an authorized TH for the park but we didn't let that discourage us too
much. There is a busy, uncontrolled at the base of
the hills
that may be why they discourage hikers from starting at this point. Or maybe
they just don't want them taking up parking spaces. None of the groundskeepers
that were roaming the course seemed to mind our presence and we were soon
starting up the Scully Ridge Trail. It was evident from the start that
was unmaintained but it initially presented no issues. It follows an old
ranch road up the ridgeline with various forks starting after the first mile.
Our turnoff for Scully Hill came before that and even sooner we were
having trouble with the .
The narrow trail winds through
the stuff 7-ft in height in places, forcing us to hold our hands up in front of
us to deflect the stalks as we walked through it. Upon reaching the saddle
north of Scully Hill, we found no use trail at all leading the last quarter
mile to the summit which became more mustard thrashing without the benefit of
a tread underfoot. Reaching the rounded summit offered no real reward with
mostly blocked by the tall mustard plants. While returning from this
cross-country exercise to the main trail we began to have doubts about the
day's plans. We soldiered on through more of the same for more than a mile to
Peak 1,155ft . This, too, required a short bit of
cross-country to reach the summit, though thankfully not as bad as we'd found
on Scully Hill. From Peak 1,155ft's summit we could see along the
length of the Chino Hills. They looked so green and inviting ,
but more of a pain in
practice. There were cleared ranch roads below we could have taken up Aliso
Canyon to the campground and other peaks I had in mind, but the continuation
of the Scully Ridge Trail we'd hoped to take looked to continue with the
overgrown stuff for several miles, at least. After a short discussion we
decided to abandon the effort and look for something else to do. In all we
spent just under 2hrs on the four mile hike, not one of our better endeavors.
Pomona BM
The highpoint of the Puente Hills is found in the northeast corner of the
range, south of the 60 freeway and above Diamond Ranch High School, on private
property. It can be accessed most easily from Pantera Park on the west side in
the upscale neighborhood of Diamond Bar. On the south side of the park is
a
with several trails leading up to where the highpoint is
found. These trail were under construction during our visit, but it looks like
they will be completed before the summer. Sadly, the trails don't really go
very far. There is a small,
south of the ridgeline that is
on private property, surrounded by a fence. We saw a single cow roaming the
north side of the ridge on our visit, but otherwise the land looks to be
currently idle. It would certainly make for a nice Open Space addition in the
future if it can be managed. From the end of the trail we waded through more
wild mustard to reach the fenceline, crossing where a is
found. The summit is a short distance away. A small
, fallen into disuse, is surrounded by a chainlink
fence near the summit. The is
found just outside, though labeled "Claremont" instead of "Pomona". The summit
has nice open views of the surrounding metropolis - Los Angeles to the west,
Riverside and San Bernardino to the east, Pomona/Claremont to
with
some lingering snow on Mt. Baldy high above. We took a bit less than an hour
for the 2mi roundtrip trek, a fairly trivial outing.
Done by 11a, we decided to pursue a leisurely lunch rather than find more
such summits in the area. We had beer and sandwiches at the Rock & Brews in
Buena Park, a popular chain co-founded by Kiss front man Gene Simmons. Even
though the day didn't work out as expected, it was an enjoyable one,
nonetheless...