1/1/14 A return trip to Iron Mountain. This time on New Year's day with almost no snow. The 7 hour pace was considerably slower than my previous 5:34 run/hike time, but not bad for hiking a 15 mile trail with over 7,000' of gain. With a 2,000'/mile section along the way, it's still unquestionably the toughest downhill in SoCal.
1 I didn't take too many pictures on this trip since I had pretty good coverage on my previous visit here. It isn't always the most scenic trail, but you do this one for the trail itself. It's a butt kicker!
2 A look a the ridge the trail follows out to Allison Gulch and then up to Iron Mountain. You add up a lot of total elevation gain with all of the ups and downs along the ridge.
3 Much different view of Mt. Baldy than last time I was here. But a great view nonetheless. It's New Year's morning, and hiking is becoming a New Year's day tradition for me. What better way to bring in the new year? It sure beats watching floats on TV!
4 The helicopter rescue pad on the way up the trail. I can never decide whether or not it's reassuing that it's here.
5 I nice view down one of the canyons in the area.
6 Getting closer to Mt. Baldy.
7 Looking down the trail in an attempt to capture just how steep it is in places. Unlike Cactus to Clouds, it's loose dirt and scree here, which makes for an extra challenging workout on the downhill.
8 Another look at the trail. Here an almost 45 degree incline in the middle of a 2,000' mile. Possibly the steepest mile of trail in SoCal.
9 There are some great views of Mt. Baldy on the way up.
10 My Suunto Ambit 2 and bloody hands from Yucca stabbings. Perfect ingredients for a great day on the trail!
11 More crazy steep trail. As hard as it is cardio-wise going up, it's unquestionably physically harder going down.
12 A long ways up from the ridge trail below.
13 First signs of snow at around 6,000'.
14 A shot of Mt. Baldy from very close to where I took one of my favorite snow capped pictures last time I was here.
15 Made it to the top of Iron Mountain at 8,007'.
16 View from the top looking across the LA basin all the way out to the ocean, which you could probably see on a really clear day.
17 Looking out towards Mt. Jacinto from the summit.
18 A look down into San Gabriel canyon. It's deeper than the Grand Canyon!
19 View of Mt. Baldy from the top. Unlike last time, there were actually a few people on the trail today. But judging by the sign-in box, I was still one of only a few to summit in the past several days. One of these days, I really want to take the ridge all the way to the Baldy summit. There's no trail, but it looks doable. Definitely on the to-do list for another day...