Sunday, June 8, 2014

On Mt San Gorgonio with the Hiking Club

This weekend was our June outing, to climb 11,500' San Gorgonio Peak in a day. Our 11 hikers - the entire group - summited. SGP is the highest peak in the San Bernardino range, and all of southern California, and hiking to its summit from the Vivian Creek trailhead is over 17 miles / 5400' of gain.  I took these shots, the first looking south at the north face of 10,800' San Jacinto Peak, 22 miles distant.  The Banning Pass and I-10 lie 10,000' below, and the impressive 10,000' tall escarpment of San Jacinto Peak pins the northern terminus of the north-south Peninsular Range that runs down to the tip of Baja.  San Gorgonio peak is in the east-west trending Transverse Ranges.  Both ranges separate the more-temperate coast from the deserts of southern California.
On a really clear day (which we didn't have) I'm certain the eastern view would extend out into Arizona.
South view, San Jacinto Peak

Hiking back down

Monday, June 2, 2014

May 24 - New Snow on Mt San Gorgonio

On the afternoon of May 23, a huge storm crossed the mountains and deserts of Southern California, dropping very heavy rain, hail, and even snow above about 9000'.  The next morning from Mt Baden-Powell's summit we saw snow on distant 11,500' Mt San Gorgonio.
Photo by Mark Ammerman