Hooves on the Ground: San Gorgonio Mountain

With summer winding down and higher elevations soon becoming inhospitable and inaccessible, we set out for an impromptu trip to Southern California's tallest peak, San Gorgonio Mountain. "Old Grayback," as it's nicknamed, is in the San Bernardino Mountains and is part of an expansive wilderness (home to many of my deer relatives) about 10 miles southeast of Big Bear Lake and 20 miles northwest of Palm Springs. 

There are many different trails to the summit, which is a popular destination with hikers training their legs and lungs for Mt. Whitney. E+J and I did an overnighter and decided the shortest but steepest route was the way to go. But enough of this buck's prose. Following is how E experienced the mountain (as recorded in her travel journal), and how J saw it (in photographs). 

We hope you get inspired to hike this classic. And if you do, make sure to check out the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association's website for information about trails, camping and obtaining a mandatory hiking permit. 

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The Mill Creek Crossing less than a mile from the Vivian Creek trailhead is rocky and takes several minutes to cross because it's so wide. Looking upstream, we imagined that a kayak would probably be handy in a storm.

The steepest part of the trail comes early in the hike, just following the Mill Creek crossing, gaining some 1,200 feet over one mile. That's a 23% slope! 

Home is where the MSR Hubba Hubba tent is. In this case, it was at Halfway Trail Camp, which should really have been named Third-of-the-Way Camp.

The outdoor kitchen included a bear canister, which must not only be designed to be impenetrable by bears, but unpackable by backpackers. If you're reading this and you have any industrial design skills, there's a market waiting for you to produce a light, durable bear canister that doesn't take up 90% of a backpack.

Almost there...but still about a mile away, which feels like two at 11,000 feet.

The summit. Note that despite the approaching storm and cold temps, we were so elated to have made it that we didn't notice we were freezing.

It's official: 11,503 feet.

The views from the top, and on the way down, were amazingly expansive despite the hazy weather. We saw out to San Jacinto Peak (second tallest in So Cal), Big Bear Lake, Joshua Tree, and south all the way into Mexico.