Continued...
On our second day in the Soledad Canyon area east of Santa Clarita in Southern
California, Patrick and I planned a visit to Vasquez Rocks, a small county
park featuring some unusual sandstone formations that have been featured in a
number of popular movie and television productions over the years.
We also planned to visit Three
Sisters Rock, another sandstone formation along the PCT that appears from a
distance to have no easy way to the top (spoiler - it doesn't). All of the
peaks we visited were decked in their best spring greenery with wildflower
displays enhanced by the abundance of rainfall the state received this year.
Burn BM
Since Vasquez Park doesn't open until 8a, we spent the first hour upon rising
to visit an unnamed summit in the Angeles National Forest above Mint Canyon
and . The hike from the southeast involves about 1,000ft
of gain over the course of 1.5mi to reach the summit. There was no trail to
start, requiring a steep cross-country climb up for a few
hundred feet to reach above which could be used for
the rest of the hike (there is another option from the west via the Vasquez
Truck Trail that utilize a 4WD road from that side). It was a bit chilly and
breezy at this early hour around 7a, keeping the poppies that populated the
hillsides closed for the time being. Still, they were out in such profusion
that it was hard to miss then coloring .
is open to unobstructed views in all directions, overlooking
Santa Clarita to the southwest and the higher reaches of the
and Sierra Pelona Mtns to the north and northeast,
respectively. We found from the LA County surveyors,
but no
benchmark. We returned via pretty much the same route, using a steep shortcut
to bypass one section of meandering roadway, finishing up shortly after 8a.
Vasquez Rocks / Peak 2,820ft
Sandwiched between Sierra Pelona Valley to the north and the Antelope Valley
Freeway (SR14) to the south, Vasquez Rocks is a large collection of sandstone
rocks that have been uplifted, tilted and eroded to form striking features on
the landscape. The county park has no entrance fee and is quite popular - there
were already half a dozen other cars when we arrived shortly after opening. Over
the course of many decades of recreational use, the area is honeycombed with
trails, a few maintained ones, . Patrick and I joked that
the most popular trail is called the
StayOn Trail, signs for which are
sprinkled throughout the park. Still, it seems to be a losing battle. There are
so many interesting rock formations that visitors can't
help but wander off to explore them. PB and LoJ do not agree on what constitutes
"Vasquez Rocks". It appears the name is generic to the area and not meant to
distinguish a single point, but that doesn't stop us from trying. PB has the
alongside the parking lot (used as the background for
the famous
Star Trek scene where
Kirk fights with the Gorn) as such, while LoJ choses another, higher rock
outcrop that can be reached via . The
park highpoint is found further southwest at . We visited
all three points in that occupied us for more than an
hour and a half. The highpoint offered the taking in the
springtime , but the more interesting point was the
alongside the road and parking lot. There are
routes to the summit from various sides, via ledges on and
south sides which lead to the short but steep-angled slab climbing on
to reach the top. The PCT also runs through the park, and
after getting our fill of the scrambling here, we repositioned the cars to the
the south end of the parking area and set off heading
.
Peak 3,184ft / Three Sisters Rock / Peak 3,277ft
The PCT drops into a section of , crossing
several times as it winds its way through more interesting
sandstone features. The
recent rains have damaged the trail in places, and left debris on it in others,
but it was not difficult to follow. The trail goes
in a long, through which the creek flows. The tunnel is
shaped like the rounded triangle of the PCT logo and made for some fun photo
ops. On of the freeway we left the PCT to climb a more
direct up to Peak 3,184ft which is featured in PB
as "Spacerock Half" (we never did discern what that means). It was 11:30a by
the time we the top of this , overlooking
our second major objective of the day, , about a
mile to the southeast. Concerned that he might be stuck in
afternoon traffic, Patrick decided to call it a day at the summit of Peak
3,184ft, leaving Three Sisters Rock for me to explore on my own.
After bidding each other farewell, I followed a a few old firebreaks south and
to reach a powerline road that I followed to a ridge
between Long and Nellus Canyons, with Three Sisters Rock perched above Nellus
Canyon on the opposite ridgeline. I was surprised to find a home nestled in
here at the base of the sandstone feature. I diverted
around the home, giving it a wide berth to approach Three Sisters Rock from the
northeast corner. On this side is a brush and talus that can be
used to reach the top of the northernmost sister. There is a short 10-foot
section of class 3 to reach the highest point where someone had installed a TV
antenna, now in disrepair, probably the homeowner below in Nellus Canyon.
Based on the size of the contour from the 7.5' topo map, LoJ has the northern
sister designated as the highpoint, but it is quite
clear that is higher by 5-10ft. I spent the next
half hour the middle and south summits in search of
scrambling routes up those, to no avail. The middle summit has two
possibilities, with a class 4 start but a 10-foot class
5 vertical section halfway up. On the is a 5th class
option that I might have attempted with a toprope, but would be foolish to do
so without. The rock is fairly solid conglomerated sandstone, with rounded
river rocks protruding to provide an assortment of holds. Even on the northeast
side where I think it might be easiest, the slope is too severe for my
liking. Though lower than the other two, the south summit looks to be the
hardest. None of the rock is well-suited for protection other than bolts.
Finding nothing to suit my abilities, I left, exiting on
found on that connects with the powerline road I'd used
earlier and other roads as well. I went over of Peak 3,277ft
on the way back before dropping and following it down to
and back to Vasquez Park. Back inside the park, I
left the PCT to follow other trails through the various gullies and rock
formations. Someone had dammed of rock to form a small
reservoir sometime in the distant past, but it has with
sediment and gone back to a more natural condition. By 2:30p I had returned to
the parking lot to finish up the Vasquez portion of the day.
Saddleback Mountain
A few minutes' drive west from Vasquez Park, across Sierra Pelona Valley is the
distinctive ,
looking remarkably like the piece of equestrian
gear for which it was named. I parked at the end of Morgan Rd on the east side.
Most of the property around here is private, but one can follow
old roads through empty lots to eventually pick up one of several equestrian
trails that meander over and around the mountain. I met another gentleman with
his dog as I started up. We exchanged pleasantries as if we'd been running
across each other every afternoon for years, leading me to believe mine wasn't
an egregious act of trespassing. I left one of the better trails as it was
circling around the north side, following a use trail along an old fenceline up
to the lower north summit. From there, easy cross-country led
to the higher, rocky
with of the .
Some cross-country down steep slopes on the southeast and east sides got me to
another equestrian trail that I followed back to
, the whole
1.5mi outing taking but 45min. There was still a few more hours of daylight but
I was feeling done for the day. Time for a shower...
Continued...