A Pleasurable Trek To Winston Peak Ends Another Hiatus

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Kyle Kuns

My absence from hiking mercifully came to an end last Sunday (11-1). I’ve been away for a variety of reasons. However, being tethered to the city was mostly a result of the process of selling our house and moving into a fixer which my wife and I are finally somewhat settled into. My long hiatus was in many ways an emotional roller coaster that thankfully ended in a place my wife and I want to be in. For my first trip back into the forest, I wanted to go alone, proceed at my own pace, stop to look at whatever caught my eye for however long I wanted to, and just enjoy being in nature without any other agenda. I also wanted the hike to be one I’d find easy to do and to have a midpoint at a great spot where I could comfortably have a long lunch break, enjoy great views, and relax alone in the woods.

One of many pauses to take a moment and enjoy viewing elements in the landscape. I like looking at the interplay between light and shade when looking at a tree’s canopy from below.

It would be easy to select a hike with those requirements on a weekday. However, for a Sunday hike I needed to really think through where to go to get the experience I wanted. Between Three Points and Cloudburst Summit (around mile marker 54.10 on Angeles Crest Highway), there’s a large parking area with picnic tables and toilets. Passing by often and rarely seeing any cars parked there, I decided to make that my starting point.

View toward parking area near mile marker 54.10 on Angeles Crest Highway from the Pacific Crest Trail. Mt. Waterman is in the background.

Near the parking lot (in the direction toward Three Points) is a little-used access point to the Pacific Crest Trail. There’s actually one of those thin brown signs marking the trail that is easily missed when driving by. I never noticed it until I hiked from Three Points to Winston Peak last year. ¹ After a very short initial portion of mild gain, the trail has a gentle slope. A portion of it is a still driveable dirt road leading to Camp Glenwood. From Camp Glenwood, the trail contracts and widens in width due to it being a former road that is no longer maintained. ²

The current state of the former road (that is now part of the PCT) between mile marker 54.10 and the next crossing of Angeles Crest Highway typically feels more like a nice trail than a road.

Normally, I wouldn’t be enticed to go on a hike that requires much walking on a dirt road. However, in this case, there are great long views down Cloudburst Canyon and toward Mt. Pacifico, Winston Ridge, Winston Peak, and Pleasant View Ridge that are mostly blocked from view when driving along Angeles Crest Highway. In most places, the terrain feels more like a trail than a road, the pines and cedars provide a lot of shade, and there are a few spots with some nice rock outcrops.

First view toward Winston Peak heading toward Cloudburst Summit from mile marker 54.10.

Most of the way to Cloudburst Summit is gentle enough in slope that my out of shape cardio wasn’t anything I was conscious of. I enjoyed the easy stroll stopping numerous times to glance up at a tree, take in a view, or to sit on a rock and have a snack. After crossing Angeles Crest Highway to continue on the PCT, the views of Mt. Waterman and across toward Strawberry Peak become dominant.

View toward Mt. Waterman from the PCT near Cloudburst Summit.

I felt energized when I reached Cloudburst Summit and the trek up to Winston Peak went easier than I expected. When I reached the peak, it felt like I was there too soon. I wasn’t ready to be halfway done and have lunch. Fortunately, this peak is one of my favorites ³. It is heavily wooded with an abundance of rock outcrops connected to reasonably flat spots that could make great campsites. Since my first summit, I’ve wanted to explore these areas below and around the peak. It was wonderful to finally have the time to do so. I probably spent about an hour and a half exploring some of these areas and having lunch.

One of my favorite views from one of the hilly areas off trail near Winston Peak.

One of my favorite views from one of the hilly areas with boulders and potential campsites off the trail near Winston Peak.

The trek back went quickly. The views coming down from the peak directly toward Mt. Waterman or further out toward Mt. Baldy are among my favorites. I like the spacing of the trees, the long views, and the almost continuous presence of boulders as the trail alternates between being somewhat steep and merely hilly. The hilly parts of the terrain hint at places to explore in the future and yield a sculptural quality especially when combined with the many boulder formations. I wasn’t very tired when I reached my car. What a relief to know I’m not as out of shape as I feared. I also got my wish and didn’t see anyone. I look forward to taking it up a notch this Sunday.

My lunch spot where I enjoyed the view toward Mt. Baldy

Notes:

I haven’t had a chance to make my step by step instructions for this hike. However, if you look at these instructions from last year’s longer hike starting from Three Points, you’ll find all the information you need to do this. Just skip the first segment. ↩
This part of the Pacific Crest Trail would make an excellent choice for snowshoeing. The trail is wide enough throughout that it should present less of those narrow icy portions of many of the other options in Angeles National Forest. ↩
I think Winston Peak would be more popular if more people knew longer routes to get there like the one I took instead of the short 1.2-mile round trip path from Cloudburst Summit or the loop with Winston Ridge that makes it a stop along the way instead of a worthy destination. ↩

Snow Hiking In Los Angeles: Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden Powell

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Kyle Kuns

The last days of October finally brought some rain to Los Angeles. This first storm of the season yielded enough precipitation to allow for a substantial snow hike. However, I wasn’t sure of that when I left my house last Sunday hoping to find myself in a winter wonderland. As a result, I headed up Angeles Crest Highway with several options in mind for potential snow hikes. Although I thought it was possible I might find very little snow, I brought my microspikes and snowshoes with me so that if I found icy or deep snow I wouldn’t need to turn back as I did last year above Limber Pine Bench.

View from the summit trail leading up to Mt. Baden-Powell.

I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden-Powell. This was in part due to the fact that I hadn’t hiked that section of the PCT in snow yet. Also, while I could see the peaks along the way were in snow, their associated trailheads were not. With Mt. Baden-Powell (at 9,399′ in elevation) being the highest peak reasonably accessible as a day hike from Angeles Crest Highway, I felt the trek from Vincent Gap would give me the best shot of being continuously in snow deep enough to sink into without reaching soil. It turned out to be a good decision.

With the exception of a small stretch along a ridge, numerous switchbacks connect Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden-Powell.

This section of the Pacific Crest Trail is moderately strenuous and is used by many as an early season training hike for the Mt. Whitney Trail. The key reasons for that are; the trail is at high elevation, it follows a large number of switchbacks up one face of the mountain similar to the path covering the 99 switchbacks from Trail Camp to Trail Crest, and it has an average grade of 750′ per mile which is steeper than the 590′ per mile average grade of the Mt. Whitney Trail. What makes this hike moderate is it’s comparatively short length of 7.6 miles round trip.

One of the few flatter areas of this section of the PCT provides a good place to make gear changes.

The trail is well maintained and was easy to follow in the snow throughout. It is also a popular trail, so there were numerous people there before me whose footsteps also helped to lead the way. Although there was no snow at the trailhead, about a mile and a half up the trail the snow was deep enough to provide a continuous hard packed ground cover. At that point I stopped to put on my microspikes. With the sun melting the ice from the trees, it sometimes felt like it was lightly raining as I walked under them.

View toward the Mojave Desert from the Pacific Crest Trail.

The switchback nature of the hike makes changes of views to be mostly about getting a higher perspective of the same panorama or up close changes in the dominant species of pine tree that takes place with elevation gain (Lodgepole and Limber Pine being my favorites on this trail).

Limber Pines in the cloudy mist

A little over halfway up the trail I found myself moving from sunlight into clouds as they were making their way around the mountain and heading out over the Mojave Desert below. Visibility now being low, I found myself preoccupied with the snow and icicles which had formed differently on the trees, branches, and needles. The colorful bark of the limber pines stood out more against a grey background and icy snow covered needles.

Slight mist in the air softened and enhanced the view up toward the sun

Most of the rest of the way up the mountain involved constant transitioning between being in the clouds with low visibility to moving outside of them into the sunlight with a long view out to the desert below. Numerous pockets of differing degrees of mist between those extremes yielded subtly lit landscapes with engrossing interplays of sunbeams, light, and shadow.

Heavy mist from the clouds makes the Wally Waldron Tree and Mt. Baden-Powell barely discernible.

Heavy mist from the clouds makes the Wally Waldron Tree (center of photo) and Mt. Baden-Powell barely discernible.

The day was filled with dramatic visual experiences as the clouds sometimes moved swiftly over and around the mountain. A stunning example occurred over a five minute period as I approached and reached the Wally Waldron Tree. At first I could barely see it through the dense mist of the clouds and Mt. Baden-Powell was barely discernible.

Five minutes later the lower clouds moved away opening the sky to the sun.

Within five minutes I was at the Wally Waldron Tree and the lower clouds had already moved away opening up the view to a misty sunny sky.

Within five minutes the clouds moved away allowing the sun to break through. Still a little misty and softening the view of the sun, the difference was intensely uplifting. The splash of blue, the snow appearing more white than grey, and the view of the peak beyond were striking developments over so short a time period.

View looking south from Mt. Baden-Powell.

It was clear and the air was surprisingly still on the peak given how fast clouds were swirling around it. Although the view out was blocked these clouds (I couldn’t even see Mt. Baldy), the drama of the quickly changing light and cloud shapes made the experience wonderfully exceptional.

Sun breaking through and softened by the mist on the way back down the mountain.

The trip back down the mountain provided similar experiences as the clouds never burned off while I was there. It was another phenomenal day on the mountain. Days like this always leave me thankful that I discovered this forest in Los Angeles which is just as easy to get to for many Angelenos as the beach is.

Additional photos: Mt. Baden-Powell, Pacific Crest Trail.

Mountain Mornings

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Kyle Kuns

I started and ended May with great backpacking trips. In between was mostly about dealing with more injuries. Thankfully, this time it wasn’t my IT bands or knees. It was my feet that were giving me lots of problems which I attribute mostly to my shoes. It seams every time I find shoes that work for me the manufacturer stops making them. This time, finding a replacement pair was extra difficult and I’m still not excited about what I’ve ended up with.

View from the Pacific Crest Trail close to the trailhead as Islip Saddle toward Mt. Williamson.

View from the Pacific Crest Trail close to the Islip Saddle trailhead looking toward Mt. Williamson.

Normally I’d use a backpacking trip as an opportunity to push myself. However, this time I wanted to take it easy on my feet and take things slow. I really can’t afford another setback if I’m going to be ready to hike the High Sierra Trail at the end of July. So, the two day experience was far less strenuous than one of my typical day training hikes. I was joined by my friend Lorenzo who prefers to go a little slower and savor the experience anyway.

There’s easy access to water at Little Jimmy Springs and the water is still flowing nicely.

Spending the night at Little Jimmy Trail Camp was perfect because there are so many options to hike from there that I could easily alter plan as needed. Water is also close by at Little Jimmy Springs which serves to significantly reduce pack weight. Arriving at Little Jimmy in a mood to go slow, I was easily inspired to spend about 45 minutes following a deer around in lieu of hiking further up the trail as originally planned.

Deer at Little Jimmy Trail Camp.

Lorenzo meet me a few hours later and we hiked up to Mt. Islip to enjoy watching the day turn into night. Windy and getting chilly on the peak, we ended up making dinner back down at Little Jimmy.

Dusk on Mt. Islip.

Early mornings are probably my favorite time on the mountain. Perhaps this is because I’m not a morning person and arriving at a trailhead from home early enough to experience an early morning beginning would leave me too tired to really enjoy it. On the other hand, waking up in a tent already a good distance up the mountain is something I find refreshing. Perhaps it’s the comparative rareness of my experiences that inspires me. Unlike home where I’m not always ready to get out of my comfortable bed, waking up in my tent in the forest is an exercise in anticipation. Depending on a bunch of factors, I find sleeping on a pad on the sloping forest floor to range between endurable and adequate in terms of comfort. I’ll wake up a few times overnight and I often look at it as paying my dues to earn the morning light. However, I somehow always wake up rested and ready for another day of hiking.

Early morning at Little Jimmy Trail Camp

As we made it up the Pacific Crest Trail between Windy Gap and Throop Peak Saturday morning, I became fixated on some similarities and differences between early morning and late afternoon light which reminded me of the figure ground studies I did back when I was in architectural school. Architectural figure-ground studies involve drawing two versions of the same thing. In one version, the solid objects (e.g. walls) are drawn in color (usually black ink) leaving the spaces white. The other version is the reverse. The idea is to study how the difference between the two drawings of the same thing affects how it is perceived and to assist in seeing the importance of both solid and void.

Shade and sun, a form of figure-ground relationship. The experiential difference for me is mostly impacted by temperature.

I’ve hiked this portion of trail numerous times in different conditions ranging from a fairly hot summer’s day with smog obstructed late afternoon views to hiking in snow on a on a chilly winter’s day with clear views to the ocean.

Pacific Crest Trail between Windy Gap and Mt. Hawkins in November 2011.

However, I’ve never been on this portion of trail anywhere near an early morning time. So, the figure-ground like perceptual shift of sun, wind, and shade between early morning and late afternoon jumped out at me. Although the angle of the sun is the same (though coming from different directions), the meaning of the temperature change between sun and shade and the impact of the wind is fundamentally different for me. This difference revolves around whether it’s more comfortable for me to be in the sun or the shade and if a little wind makes things better or worse.

Snags from the 2002 Curve Fire leave the landscape open and exposed and require a low angle from morning or afternoon light to provide shade. I find ascending the mountain in these conditions more enjoyable in the cool morning air.

Unlike the heat generated by the afternoon sun that I prefer getting out of, the warmth of the morning sun is typically such a welcome change in temperature for me that I want to be in it. A breeze serves to heighten these preferences. As a result, in the morning I find myself more focused on stopping and taking in views while in the sun hopefully with no wind whereas in the afternoon I prefer hanging out in the shade hopefully with a breeze. This makes the lighting significantly different and changes what I focus on.

In the morning I enjoy warming up in the sun and looking at how the morning light highlights the landscape. Long shadows being reminders of recent darkness and cold.

In both cases the long shadows make the ground more interesting for me and delineate areas to move through or stay in depending on the time of day. This range of experience which changes my perception of the terrain and requires a very early start to experience is a key reason I love backpacking.

Being in the warmth of the early morning sun on an exposed portion of the trail makes viewing the long shadow of the mountain and the contrast between light and shadow more pleasurable to take in for me.

We made it to Throop Peak before returning to Little Jimmy to gather our things and head home. The thought of morning light has me looking forward to my next overnight trip.

Finally, Some Momentum

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Kyle Kuns

I’m feeling good about my last two weeks of hiking. For the first time since last August I’m not injured and haven’t had any setbacks over a two week span. My current weekly schedule is to do a training hike (for the High Sierra Trail in late July) where I push myself, rest two days and then do an easy hike, rest one day and then play tennis, rest one day and repeat. This is now working well and I’m settling into having a routine. Of course I’ll need to break that up periodically with some backpacking, but it feels solid right now and I’m pain free!

Mt. Wilson Trail (14 miles, 4,750′ gain)

It’s been frustrating how long it’s taken me to get going again. Recovery has been painstakingly slow. I really felt like I was back in 2011 just getting started. What last July would have been an easy warm up portion of a hike recently required a ridiculous amount of stops just to catch my breath. Five miles felt like fifteen. It was great to be back in the forest but also discouraging to see how out of shape I now was.

View toward the Channel Islands from the Jesusita Trail in Los Padres National Forest (7.4 miles, 1,350′ gain).

So, getting my last training hike up to 16.2 miles with 4,849′ of gain felt terrific. Finishing with that oddly refreshing tiredness that comes with appropriately pushing oneself, and with no knee pain or blisters was invigorating for me. I even felt great the next day.

Idlehour Trail (16.2 miles, 4,849′ gain).

Balancing training hikes with more leisurely strolls through the forest is working well, especially when family and/or friends join me on these easier ones. It’s extra special when my daughter joins me (like last Sunday on the Pacific Crest Trail), this being her last year before going away to college in August.

Pacific Crest Trail between Cloudburst Summit and Cooper Canyon Campground (5.2 miles, 1,400′ gain).

Mt. San Jacinto Under The Light Of A Supermoon

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

As I write this, it’s not clear to me whether or not my hikes of the last six weeks have been as challenging as the logistics involved in planning them. Numerous surprises (e.g. my car breaking down) and reasonable changed circumstances by others (not just fellow hikers) has made some of our trips a logistical exercise in simultaneously hitting multiple moving targets. It’s been worth the effort though. In the case of our summiting Mt. San Jacinto, the numerous changes of plan turned out to yield a wonderful experience I wouldn’t have planned for in advance.

Marion Mountain Trail

Of the five of us who originally planned to go, two needed to cancel and one needed to leave by 10 am on Sunday. This meant the long shuttle hike I had a permit for was no longer feasible. Unable to change my permit from camping at Little Round Valley to Round Valley (which turned out to be a good thing), we settled on hiking up the Marion Mountain Trail. A key factor in our choice was my having read a recent account of the trail from The Late Bloomer Hiker which reported the presence of filterable water.

Boulder along the Marion Mountain Trail

Heading up the Marion Mountain Trail, our goal was to make it to Little Round Valley, set up camp, and then summit Mt. San Jacinto. The fact that the trail alternated between steep and more comfortable grades surprisingly didn’t make it faster to traverse. There were many subtle changes in surroundings to keep us visually engaged—my favorites being interesting rock outcroppings, boulders, and a meadow.

Pacific Crest Trail between Mount Marion Trail and Fuller Ridge.

By the time we made it to the Pacific Crest Trail we were behind schedule to summit and return back to camp in daylight. Fortunately, the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mount Marion Trail to Fuller Ridge is comparatively easy to traverse and refreshingly different in features that we felt a little recharged hiking through it. Since we had talked to several people on the way up and knew of the presence of water above Fuller Ridge, the muddied condition of Deer Springs wasn’t cause for concern.

Bed Springs crossing the trail on 6-22-2013.

About halfway between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley is Bed Springs where we stopped and replenished our water supply. We drank a lot on the way up and needed extra for cooking dinner, so our stay at Bed Springs was pretty long. By the time we were done it was clear we couldn’t summit and return to our campsite in daylight. During the hike up to where we set up camp I recalled reading about how that night was going to have the largest full moon of the year–referred to as a supermoon 2013. So, I started mulling over the possibility of completing our hike under the light of the supermoon.

Trail between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley. (click to enlarge)

After setting up camp and having an interesting conversation with the ranger who stopped by to make sure we had a permit, we headed for the summit. Having been there before, I felt it was important to make it to the summit before dark because of the peak scramble involved to reach it. On my other trip I found it significantly easier to find my way down from the peak than it was to make my way up to it. Although we felt a little rushed, we were still able to enjoy the changing light as dusk approached.

View of supermoon in the distance from the peak scramble up to Mt. San Jacinto.

We reached the peak shortly after the sun was visible but still early enough to see its glowing light emanating from behind Mt. Baldy and Mt. San Gorgonio.

Dusk view toward Mt. San Gorgonio from Mt. San Jacinto.

We had enough time to capture some photos before it got too dark for our point and shoot cameras to handle the subtle moonlight. Shortly thereafter we cooked dinner and enjoyed a wonderful experience on the peak under the light of the supermoon. While enjoying my dinner, I thought about how much more I enjoyed being on the peak for dinner and taking in the night view than I would have liked being down at the campground. It took a myriad of logistical changes to get me there to enjoy those moments. This got me thinking about how much I still need to learn to be able to plan to have more experiences like this. I find hiking to be an amazingly expansive endeavor constantly yielding opportunities to take a next step in deepening my connection to the natural world.

View toward Palm Springs as nightfall approached from Mt. San Jacinto.

The peak scramble down was a little tricky and the trail back to Little Round Valley was rocky and potentially elusive enough in some places that we decided to use our headlamps instead of relying on the light of the supermoon. The next day, we made it down before our 10 am deadline and found this to be an excellent backpacking trip as well as good training for our upcoming trek to Mt. Whitney.

Photos of the Marion Mountain Trail

Photos of the Pacific Crest Trail

Photos of the Trail between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley

Photos of the Trail between Little Round Valley and Mt. San Jacinto

Photos from Mt. San Jacinto