Tag Archives: San Gabriel Mountains

Death at Hermit Falls

08 Wednesday Apr 2015

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http://abc7.com/video/embed/?pid=641936

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST (KABC) — A man has died and two others suffered minor injuries after a diving accident at Hermit Falls in Angeles National Forest Wednesday.

Authorities received a call about a diving accident at about 8:45 a.m. Jesse Yuth, 18, of Signal Hill was declared dead at the scene.

Two other victims were airlifted to a local hospital for hypothermia.

Detectives say Yuth jumped 50 feet from the top of the fall into the pond. Two teens, who were with the adult, jumped in the pond in an attempt to rescue him.

Frequent visitors to the area said that while Hermit Falls is a popular place to hike to, it’s also very dangerous.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident.

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The Wally Waldron Tree

31 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Distance hikes, Outdoors, Peaks, Strenuous Hikes

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The Wally Waldron tree is  one of the oldest trees in the San Gabriel Mountains  estimated to be older than 1,500 years.
  It is named after Wally Waldron who was a member of the executive board of the LA area council of the Boy Scouts. 
  The tree is at the junction with the PCT and the trail that leads up to the summit of Mt. Baden Powell.

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The Wally Waldron Tree viewed from the PCT

MOUNT BALDY (via the Ski Hut Trail)

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Distance hikes, Outdoors, Peaks, Strenuous Hikes, Waterfalls

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SAN ANTONIO FALLS

With my Mount Whitney hike fast approaching I decided to get serious about my training. Already have done Mt Baldy (via Old Baldy Trail) which was a butt kicker I decided to try out the shorter but equally as hard route to the summit. At 4.2 miles and with a gain of 4,000 ft. This is the shortest and quickest way to the top.

The trail begins at the intersection of Mt. Baldy Rd and Falls Rd. there is plenty of parking and a Forest Adventure pass is required. The first mile of this hike is on a road. At .5 miles you will reach San Antonio Falls. On this particular May day the falls were less impressive than I had imagined.. but hey it was a pretty dry winter.

After making a sharp right turn past the falls the roads turns to the left and at about .8 miles  there will be an unmarked steep  single track trail to your left. This us the Ski Hut Trail. If you aren’t paying attention, you will miss it. We almost did if it wasn’t for a fellow hiker.

The next 3.5 miles are unbelievable, amazing and breathtaking! (Especially the breathtaking part) As soon as I started I immediately knew it was going to be a tough hike. I caught myself stopping more frequently than ever before.

It felt like the torture would never end!

What seemed to be an eternity was really only like an hour and a half of hiking… Finally through the cover of the clouds I got a glimpse of the ski hut.

FIRST VIEW OF THE SKI HUT ON A CLOUDY MORNING

Finally! The halfway point… great place to rest, re-energize, take a bathroom break and carb up before continuing on the final half of the hike.

ONE OF THE MANY PLACES TO REST AT THE SKI HUT

After a nice 30 minute rest. We geared up and continued on our mission! Just 2 more miles! Sounds easy but there is still one last hard section before the final push!

My buddy Neal

Winding our way up the mountain through a series of boulders and pines. There was no snow left on the mountain but there was a lot of ice covered trees. Which made for great photos.

After the last hard part the trail becomes relatively easy and the blue skies begin to open up indicating that the top of the ridge is getting closer. This usually gives me that extra motivation to keep on trekking!

NEARING THE TOP

YOURS TRULY, ON THE SUMMIT

This is probably the best 4.5 mile hike around. It offers a bit of everything.. A waterfall, a steep incline, beautiful scenery and an amazing view! Definitely a must do for all serious hikers!

  • 4.5 miles to the top
  • Difficulty – strenuous
  • 4,000 ft elevation gain
  • beautiful scenery
  • waterfall
  • 10,064
  • highest point in LA

RETURN OPTIONS:

  1. Return the way you came (9 miles)
  2. go down the devils backbone which will take you back to the trailhead with an added 2 miles on the return (apprx. 11 miles  r.t)
  3. go down Old Baldy Trail (6.4 miles) requires a car shuttle (11 miles r.t)

MT. LOWE

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Distance hikes, Peaks, Strenuous Hikes

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Summit of Mt. Lowe

After conquering Santiago Peak and  enjoying the  wonderful views of the San Gabriels we decided that our next hike would be somewhere in the San Gabriel Mountains. Initially we had planned on doing Baldy but a winter storm caused us to change our plans. So reaching Mt. Lowe(5,603ft) became our new objective.

Parking is located on residential streets anywhere near the Cobb Estate.  Parking is free and it does get crowded so arrive early. We started at 7am and had no problem with parking.

From the entrance of the Cobb Estate you will continue on the paved road for 100 yards or so until the road turns to the left, from here go straight and continue on a dirt trail until you reach two trail markers. You are looking for the Sam Merrill Trail which is the trail on the right. This trail drops down to the wash and soon begins  You will be on this trail for 2.7 miles until you reach the junction.  Make a right and continue to the end of the trail to the ruins of White City on Echo Mountain. The views from here are worth the 2.7 miles but if solitude+views is what you are after then the hike up to Mt. Lowe is definitely worth the extra effort.

View from Echo Mountain

Return onto the Trail and look for the Castle Canyon Trail it will be on the right. This is a 2 mile trail that takes you deep into the the canyon and provides some much needed shade on those sunny days.

Castle Canyon Trail

After 2 miles on the the Castle Rock Trail you will come to the end of the trail and be at Inspiration Point. This is a great spot for a quick snack and makes an excellent spot for take some pictures. There are a lot of viewfinders here that point to many So Cal locations.

Inspiration Point

View Finders at Inspiration Point

View from Inspiration Point

By now you have traveled at least 4.7 miles and  would definitely be an awesome hike all in it’s own, but if you came all this way what is 2 more miles.. Facing away from Inspiration Point make a left(north) and continue on the fire road for a short distance. The sign, on your right hand side, is kind of hard to see but it reads “East Trail to Mt Lowe” Take this trail and Continue up to Mt Lowe for Amazing views of The Pacific , Catalina, Los Angeles, Santiago Peak as well as close up views of Mt. Wilson, San Gabriel Peak, and even a glimpse of Mt Baldy

Catalina in the distance

Mt. Wilson to the left and Santiago Peak in the distance

My Wife and I on the summit of Mt. Lowe

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  • 5,603 ft summit
  • elevation gain 3,800 ft
  • 13.5-15 miles round-trip
  • difficulty – strenuous
  • free parking
  • great views
  • dog friendly

THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE

01 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Moderate Hikes, Outdoors, Strenuous Hikes

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The Bridge to Nowhere

Earlier this year our hiking group decided to tackle the Bridge to nowhere hike. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

We started our hike early in the morning seeing as this is 10 mile hike we wanted to get as much sunlight in as possible. The drive in was amazing. After leaving the city behind you find yourself driving along the San Gabriel Dam/Reservoir and soon after that you’ll be driving along the San Gabriel River. Beautiful views the whole way in!

Once you reach the parking lot, place your forest adventure pass on your dash and gear up for an amazing,challenging and one of a kind hike.

Not even 10 minutes into the hike and we were already faced with a river crossing. This was our first hike that involved river crossings. Prior to this we had only had to cross small creeks and streams, so this was definitely a shocker to see the raging river. Due to the heavy rains in the earlier months the river was still roaring in May.  We cautiously crossed the river in groups of 2 and 3 and walked against the current in knee-high water. Success! Everyone in our group of 16 made it across the first crossing. Just 5 more to go! Yes, that’s right, this 10 mile hike has a total of 6 river crossings, so be prepared!

The easiest way for us was to stay to the right of the river as much as possible and crossing the river when we ran out of land. The scenery is nice and the sounds of the water make for a great hike. After a few river crossings you get to point where you have gained some elevation and soon after that the trail comes to an end.. Not to fear, this is where you will get a self taught lesson on rappelling. That is right, there is a rope anchored into the rock-face that assists you as you guide yourself down the cliff-side. It sounds difficult but was pretty easy.

Now that the hard part is out of the way from here its a relativity easy hike to the Bridge. One of the first things you will notice is  people bungee jumping from the bridge. I believe reservations are required and can be made at Bungee America. Once here you can find a spot near the bridge to have a snack or lunch or you can follow the trail down to river to cool down or do some further exploring.

Return the way you came and always use caution, especially when crossing the river.

This was definitely one of my favorite hikes and I can’t wait to do it again!

Happy Trails,

Alex G.

FOR DIRECTIONS Google Maps Link to Trailhead 

  • 10 miles 5 in/5 out
  • hiking time- 5 hours
  • elevation gain- 1000ft.
  • difficulty- moderate/difficult(river crossings)
  • adventure pass
  • sunblock-
  • start early to beat the heat

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