I went on a solo backpacking trip, hiking from Angelus Oaks to the San Bernardino Peak summit, and spent a breezy night at the Limber Pine Bench Campground.
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Mostly True Stories of My Hiking Trips, a PhotoJournal
We backpacked up the South Fork Trail to Dry Lake, day-hiked to the summits of Ten Thousand Foot Ridge and Lake Peak, and traversed cross-country to Dollar Lake. This was our first visit to the South Fork Trail since the Lake Fire in 2015, and we wanted to see just how badly the forest got burned.
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For this, my second attempt at backpacking solo, I chose to repeat a hike that Vicki and I had done several years ago, climbing San Bernardino Peak in the San Gorgonio Wilderness and camping at the Limber Pine Bench campsite. Of course, this time I was in much better shape, with much lighter gear, so I decided to hike all 3400 feet in one day, rather than breaking the climb into a two-day trip. I’d still spend two days, but this time on my second day I would take life easier, simply bagging the summit, relaxing up on top for a few hours. I would return on the third day. That was the original plan, at any rate.
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Summary: We backpacked up the Momyer Trail and camped at the Alger Creek Campsite, and on the second day we hiked onward to the Dobbs Cabin Campsite. Then we set up the tent, and day-hiked cross-country up Falls Creek to visit Allison Falls and Lone Warrior Point.
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It was a last minute camping trip. (For us, last minute meant next weekend.) Vicki had just gotten a new backpack and we needed to test it and work out all the bugs before our big summer trip in August. So, on Monday morning I faxed in my permit application for Friday morning and received my second choice trailhead (it really WAS the last minute, for a busy July 4th weekend at any rate), for the South Fork Trail in the San Gorgonio Wilderness, camping two nights at Dry Lake. We decided that we’d try bagging a few of the nearby trailless peaks on Saturday, then hike back out on Sunday.
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Five Days, Four Nights on the San Gorgonio Nine Peaks Challenge
Vicki and I decided to tackle the Nine Peaks Challenge this summer. This is a trip that I’ve wanted to do for years, but never found the time. What with the 4th of July falling on an inconvenient Wednesday this year, we opted to take Thursday and Friday off from work and do the nine peaks in proper style. Do it in one day? Sorry, but that’s for athletes, masochists, and/or people in extraordinary physical condition. Do it in three days? That’s for young Boy Scouts with unlimited energy, who don’t know enough to treat their own blisters. But doing it in five days? Now, THAT’S a hike worthy of civilized people! And it still turned out to be a lot of hard work. But it sure was fun, and a great way to spend five days. Highly recommended.
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Vicki and I spent three nights backpacking in the San Gorgonio Wilderness over the July 4th weekend. Here’s a summary:
On the first day we hiked in from the Fish Creek Trailhead and camped in Mineshaft Flat.
On the second day we climbed to the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain (elevation 11502 feet). We glissaded down snow-filled chutes in July! It was a lot of fun.
On day three we packed up camp and backpacked to Fish Creek Saddle, then hiked down to check out a very wet Dry Lake.
On the final day we hiked back out to the car.
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