Mtmnslady and I originally planned to go on a 3-day backpack trip up in the San Gorgonio Wilderness this weekend. But both her and I are getting over sinus infections so we instead met about halfway between Ventura where she lives and Rancho Cucamonga where I live on Sunday to go for a dayhike. We carpooled from La Caņada which is near Pasadena up the Angeles Crest Hwy, Hwy 2, up to Islip Saddle in the Angeles National Forest. This drive takes you 39 miles up the highway to where it currently ends due to some rock slides that occurred back in 2004. Someday this year they're supposed to get the road back open again to the tune of 4 million dollars. But rockslides are not uncommon in this very rugged country. Nothing is gentle about these mountains, the San Gabriel which provide the backdrop to the LA area to the south and the Antelope Valley to the north. The rocks are jagged and raw in most places and the road is quite a feat of engineering. Just before you get to Islip Saddle you pass through 2 large tunnels carved into beautifully marbled rock. Since it was my first journey up this highway I was busy admiring it all as Mtmnslady drove. Especially impressive where the hundreds of yuccas blooming in the lower elevations.
There were about a half dozen cars at the trailhead when we arrived and we passed about 20 hikers going up the trail and back down again. Which surprised me, I always assumed So Cal trailheads would be busier than what I'm used to further north, but it's not usually the case. The trail, part of the PCT, climbs up through beautiful Jeffrey Pine, incense cedar, and white fir forest, and quite steeply at first though it does level off after the first mile or so. We passed Little Jimmy Campground and Little Jimmy Spring. Many wildflowers were blooming but about the only animals we saw were little persistant gnats that kept trying to fly up your nose and mouth :p Next time I hike in the vicinity this time of year I think I'll bring a head net! We also saw a couple of snowbanks which was a surprise on this warm summer day.
At Windy Gap we took a break for lunch and Mtmnslady decided that was far enough for her. The trail sign said it was 0.9 miles further to Mt. Islip. So I okayed it with her to continue on and hiked up the trail, which returned to being steep, and in about 0.3 of a mile I came to another sign that said, "Mt. Islip 1.2 miles." What the heck? So they don't subtract mileage around here, they add it instead :p Well I went another half mile or so and saw the top of Mt. Islip, at 8,250', and decided it wasn't really worth the last 200 feet or so. I instead returned back to Windy Gap and picked up Mtmnslady and then we hiked back down the trail. In total we did about 7 miles and climbed 1,200' or so. The Angeles National Forest rates this hike as "Easy/Moderate" but anyplace else and it would probably be "Moderate." But I guess because everything around here is so steep that they felt bad not having any easy trails so they decided to just call this one easy!
Anyway, I had a great time hiking with Mtmnslady as always, and I am thankful I didn't slip on Islip. And of course I look forward to our next hike :)
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