i had a few days off and there has been a mountain that has been begging me to climb it as i drive by it on the freeway. anyone who has looked east of I-5 in orange county has seen it, it looks like a saddle. the front peak of the saddle is santiago peak. it is the highest spot in oc, and marks the boundary between orange and riverside counties.
The "road" into the canyon
Not a good sign when you are in the rough according to your car's gps
The box at the trailhead
it always looks so close and relatively gradual, and at 15 miles, i thought, heck i could do that.
yesterday i tried. i got started around 7, and by 830 i was wondering if it was possible. the first hour was cool and tree covered,
then i broke the treeline and followed 2miles of unshaded chapparal switchbacks. i took advantage of all the shade i could find, believe me.
Nasty blister about 1/3 the way up, solved the problem, and was fine.
at about 1230 i reached the top.
TOP
it was quite a disappointment. i had known that the peak was covered in tv and cell phone repeaters, but the trees and bushes prevented any sort of view.
Neither picture is from the top (that is lake elsinore)
about a quarter of the way down i ran out of water. and with 11 miles to go that was not a joyous discovery. i went as fast as i could down the mountain. i stopped for a half hour in a particularly cool and shady spot, for a nap, but otherwise limited my breaks. it was in the low 90's and i had a long stretch of "not shady" to go through. reaching the treeline was a mixed blessing, a half mile into it the trail stopped and you walked through another half mile of cabins. no one was around. with less than a half mile left i was dryer than i have ever been, and hoping someone would be visible for just a cup of water, but no such luck. i did eventually make it to the car, and a nalgene bottle full of hot water. there was a family there who offered me cold water, and i am grateful to them for it. so miserable.
it always looks so close and relatively gradual, and at 15 miles, i thought, heck i could do that.
yesterday i tried. i got started around 7, and by 830 i was wondering if it was possible. the first hour was cool and tree covered,
then i broke the treeline and followed 2miles of unshaded chapparal switchbacks. i took advantage of all the shade i could find, believe me.
Nasty blister about 1/3 the way up, solved the problem, and was fine.at about 1230 i reached the top.
TOPit was quite a disappointment. i had known that the peak was covered in tv and cell phone repeaters, but the trees and bushes prevented any sort of view.
Neither picture is from the top (that is lake elsinore)about a quarter of the way down i ran out of water. and with 11 miles to go that was not a joyous discovery. i went as fast as i could down the mountain. i stopped for a half hour in a particularly cool and shady spot, for a nap, but otherwise limited my breaks. it was in the low 90's and i had a long stretch of "not shady" to go through. reaching the treeline was a mixed blessing, a half mile into it the trail stopped and you walked through another half mile of cabins. no one was around. with less than a half mile left i was dryer than i have ever been, and hoping someone would be visible for just a cup of water, but no such luck. i did eventually make it to the car, and a nalgene bottle full of hot water. there was a family there who offered me cold water, and i am grateful to them for it. so miserable.
3 comments:
How high is the peak? I don't understand how the view was totally blocked by trees. Could you get to the tower? At three miles per hour up hill you were going pretty good. Glad you made it. Midget
don't think of it as a "peak" so much as a broad slightly domed area. the towers were fenced off, and manzanita and scrub surrounded that, some pines and oaks. not totally blocked, but not as nice as it was on the trail. 5687 ft. sore today.
I had no idea that there was anything a mile high in the OC. D
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