I awoke just before dawn, having slept in the back of the van on a
lonely dirt road
in the backwaters of northern San Diego County, somewhere on the east side
of the 
Santa Margarita Mountains.
The range is really the southern extension of
the Santa Ana Mountains but the USGS saw fit to give them their own designation.
The highpoint is Margarita Peak which lands on both the LPC and SDC peak lists.
I had managed to drive the low-clearance van to within about 3 miles of the
summit the night before. I was stopped by loose gravel on a steep, somewhat
rutted slope that I judged to be excessive abuse on the van. It might have made
it up to the usual trailhead only a mile from the summit, but I'd decided not
to take the chance of getting stuck or worse. Help seemed far away out here.
As the sun came up on 
this corner
of the county's chaparral-covered landscape,
I hiked the two miles up the road to 
the trailhead
described in the LPC guide.
For the most part the road was decently graded and well-worn. This part of the
Cleveland National Forest butts up against the backside of the Camp Pendelton
Marine Base and probably sees a modest amount of traffic. At the described
turnout, 
a side road heads south,
gated closed to motor vehicles. A few minutes later 
a sign
declaring this a Watershed Conservation Area marks the start of
the route up to the main ridge following 
an old firebreak.
Though brushy, a use
trail up the firebreak keeps the bushwhacking to a minimum and in another 20
minutes I had reached 
the crest of the range and turned northwest
towards the highpoint. I picked up 
an old road leading down
towards Pendleton a short distance until 
an obvious duck
presented itself, marking the location of 
a clipped use trail
through the heavy chaparral found about the summit area. This
led through a shoulder-high stretch of manzanita to the summit a few minutes
later.
It was just after 7:30a when I arrived at the pile of rocks marking the summit.
A rusted steel 
survey tower
had fallen over to one side, probably many years
ago. There were 
a few scraps
of paper dating to 1973 and the oldest register
book dating 
to 1977. It had been 2 1/2 years since
the last party had signed in,
but there were many entries over the 34 years covered by the two books, most of
the visitors coming up from the military base to the west. I recognized all but
one party on the last page where I added my signature. The views were typical
of the area, 
rolling hills for the most part and a mix of chaparral
and 
grassy ranch lands.
Looking 
north along the crest, one sees a dense thicket of
manzanita stretching out for several miles. I had hoped to reach Margarita
Lookout as well (a delisted SDC summit) but it would not be possible along the
ridgeline without clippers or machete and a whole lot of upper body strength
and patience. I had none of these things.
I went back down to the main dirt road via the same route I had taken on ascent,
then decided to continue following the road up as it turns northwest
towards Margarita Lookout.
The good road traverses around the north side of the
lookout before dropping down to Camp Pendelton. 
A side road
in poor condition
branches off to the lookout. Following this, it was not long before 9a when I
reached this second summit. All that remains of the lookout is the
concrete platform on which it once stood, along with some
other concrete foundations that
probably served the residence or storage facility that stood nearby. On my way
back down the road on the east side of the crest, a 
USFS truck
drove by on its way towards the lookout. We exchanged waves but no words.
It was just after 10a when 
I returned to the van.
The rest of the day was going
to be taken up with some minor peaks, small range highpoints and another
isolated LPC peak as I made my way back north towards the San Bernardino Mtns
where I was to meet Tom Becht the next day. An hour and twenty minutes of
driving had me to my first stop, the Lakeview Mtns highpoint. This tiny range
is located a short distance SE of Perris Reservoir, east of Interstate 215 near
the small community of Homeland. The area has seen much recent
development, and a good
portion of the Lakeview Mtns are part of a private gated community. There are
two spot elevations shown on the 7.5' topo map with an elevation of 2,673ft.
The nearest one is not far from the entrance gate, about 500ft above the gate
to the northwest. Evan had described climbing this point topped by a water
tower and it was to here that I first turned my attention.
The area does not lend itself easily to a stealthy approach. It was necessary
to park a short distance below the entrance gate as there was no place to
park nearby. Further, private property lines the left side before and after
the gate, the
side in the direction of the highpoint. I took a route on
the right side of
the road leading to the gate, hidden somewhat in a dry creekbed until I reached
a point past the gate where I crossed the road and then made a beeline for the
righthand slope that held 
the highpoint.
There were several nearby homesteads,
but I managed to hike through an empty lot adjacent to
one of these homes and
was happy that no one was about to confront me in broad daylight.
It took somewhat less than half an hour to find my way to the water tank.
Another home,
high on the plateau and near the tank on the left side made it
necessary to skirt 
below the ridgetop and reach
the water tank more or less
directly. There were three large summit blocks on the outside of
the fence
enclosing the water tank, all vying for the highpoint. The one on the southwest
side, immediately adjacent to the fence appeared to be the highest, but I
climbed them all to be sure. All were at least class 3, a fun surprise. From
the tops I could see 
west
to Lakeview Two about a mile away but completely
exposed to view from 
the various homes
that dotted the landscape. I felt it
would be pushing my luck to pay it a visit during the day and decided one of
the two noted highpoints would have to do for now. I went back via the same
route I'd ascended, luckily without anyone confronting me for trespassing.
Back on the freeway, I drove north to the
Box Springs Mtns just east of
Riverside. The highpoint and much of the surrounding terrain is part of the
Box Springs Mountain Regional Park.
A set of communication towers crowns the
summit with a road reaching these from the north. Evan had described a route to
this small range that approaches along this road from the north, but I had
spotted what I thought was a
shorter hiking route from the east that I had picked out on the Google
satellite view. This route worked quite nicely. There has been a good deal of
new development on the east side of the range around Pigeon Pass Rd, but
a small park
was created south of this development with access for hikers and
equestrians. There are restrooms, picnic tables and BBQs available for day use,
no use fees that I was aware of.
The place was surprisingly busy for a Thursday afternoon, but I soon found it
was a large 
trail crew
that was working here in the warm sunshine, not the
usual park visitors. The crew appeared to be from a prison.
They were mostly quiet, obeyed the
supervisor instructions with almost military precision, and dressed in orange
jumpsuits that were much too warm for the outside temperatures. They almost
too politely moved to one side as I came by. I commented, "Damn, you guys are
tough!" as I went by which drew a few smiles of appreciation. Only afterwards
did it occur to me that they were probably doing this out of obligation, not
by their own choice.
This part of the park is mostly 
dry grass slopes
in the summer and there appears
to be a number of use trails that developed over the years before the park was
created. Some of these I had eyed in the satellite views I reviewed beforehand.
The crew was working on adding some switchbacks to make some of
the steeper trail sections easier on both equestrians and hikers. There was
some 
signage to help one find the way,
but for the most part the highpoint was obvious to the west and it was not
difficult to find one's way in that direction.
It took about 45 minutes to cover the two mile distance to
the summit. It was
the wrong time of day and year to put the views in the best possible light.
Through an 
afternoon haze the 
suburban sprawl was evident
in all directions.
Those areas not developed had a uniform, dry brown look that matched nicely
with the haze. Utilizing a short cut that bypassed a long, meandering portion
of the main trail along with some jogging had me back at the trailhead in about
20 minutes or just after 2p. I used the water taps available to fill up several
of my empty gallon jugs, then headed back out to Hwy 60.
I drove to the east end of Moreno Valley, then south towards Perris Reservoir.
The LPC-listed Mt. Russell is the highpoint of the hills surrounding the
reservoir. The LPC guide provides directions to approach from a campground near
the reservoir southwest of the summit (fee required),
but I decided to approach from 
the north end
which appears much closer on the maps and satellite views I had
perused. Again, recent development had encroached very close into the hills.
I found a paved road leading to a water tank
at one end of the development that
I could use as a trailhead, less than a mile from Mt. Russell's summit.
The 
cross-country route
was not as trivial as I had imagined it might be
judging from past experience. Though also a fairly dry range, there was a good
deal more vegetation to contend with, requiring more careful attention to the
route ahead with much meandering. In consequence it took the better part of an
hour to reach the summit of Mt. Russell despite the relatively short distance.
Still, it was probably faster than the route described in the LPC guide. There
was a long pole angled to one side marking the top, but no register that I could
find. 
Perris Reservoir
could be seen in its entirety a few miles away to the
southwest. Across the Inland Empire to 
the northeast
rose San Gorgonio Mtn. To 
the east
lay San Jacinto Valley with the 10,000-foot San Jacinto
Peak in the background. To the 
west and north was Moreno Valley, with plenty of
open fields filled with brown summer grasses that will undoubtedly all become
part of the surrounding sprawl in due time. It took about the same amount of
time to return to the car as it did on the ascent, owing to the moderately
difficult nature of the terrain and the need to make a more cautious descent
than I might otherwise have preferred.
Returning around 4:30p, it was time to call it a day. It felt a bit weird washing up at the end of this wide paved road on the edge of suburbia, but one does what one has to do. Luckily I was not confronted by any of the neighbors out on a late afternoon jog or walking the dog. After finding a way to pass the rest of the afternoon in Moreno Valley, I headed northwest to the Jurupa Mountains between Riverside and Fontana. There was an easy range highpoint I wanted to visit in the morning and I found an excellent place to spend the night nearby, off the pavement and away from people where I could sleep undisturbed.
Continued...