Quick Stats: 15.7 Miles & 5,191′ gain over 7 HPS peaks while cruising along the ACH with Alyx’s “Freedom Panels” removed.
There are a bunch of mountains on some local lists that I want to summit, but are too short of adventures to do on their own. The Sierra Club’s Hundred Peaks Section has a ton of mountains on there that are simple hikes just a couple miles long, but are so secluded in the local mountain ranges that it’s a few hours of driving roundtrip to get to the trailhead(s). I’ve had this idea for a while to do a driving tour of some of these mountains– group them all together and spend a morning driving down the Angeles Crest Highway (ACH) hitting them all as I go. So one morning I did just that, and called it “Brielle’s Tour du ACH.” I started on Friday morning by driving out near my first objective and dirtbagging overnight.
Pinyon Ridge
Pinyon Ridge has two different options as routes: A long meandering truck trail, or the ridiculously steep short hike up a burn scarred slope. Since I was chaining this with a bunch of other peaks, I opted for the shorter direct route which would save me almost 5 miles of hiking on a truck road. I had slept on Big Pines Highway not far from where I would make my way up the North Slope. In the black of night with just my headlamp, I made my way up the North Slope, found the spot that is considered the summit, and then retraced my steps down back to Alyx.
This was not an enjoyable experience– it’s dense brush in spots if you decide to get off of the loose firebreak, and is also a maze of brush at the top trying to find the spot that is considered the top. I wouldn’t recommend anyone ever do Pinyon Ridge unless they want to complete the HPS, and even then would recommend the other route. For those keeping score, this quick jaunt was 1.3 miles and 907′ of gain.
Peakbagger (dot) com Entry from 7/29/2022
Mount Lewis
Mount Lewis was a much better experience compared to Pinyon Ridge. It’s a short little hiking trail that pops in and out of existence and starts from Dawson Saddle. It’s super easy to follow and was a cute little peak.
This quick jaunt was 0.7 miles and 499′ of gain. When I got back to Alyx is when the “Freedom Panels” got removed.
Peakbagger (dot) com Entry from 7/29/2022
Mount Islip
This was the longest individual hike of these different peaks. Starting from where Little Jimmy Road and the ACH meet, it begins on a truck trail from the start before eventually making its way to a network of trails (including the PCT) that will take you all around this area of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Along the way I was able to message with Frankie who was planning to head off on her own adventure this morning. She decided to do Bastard Ridge, and then take that further up toward Mount Wilson. I had done this 5 peak adventure before, and knew how crazy it was. There was something delightful about getting my alone time in the mountains while my love was elsewhere in the same range on her adventure.
Anyway. I hopped on the Mount Islip Trail which took me through the Little Jimmy Campground, before meandering its way toward the summit of Mount Islip.
Another of those summits with some ruins, and some beautiful views deep into the San Gabriels. It wasn’t long before I was making my way back down and back to Alyx, completing an adventure over 6.1 miles and 1,283′ of gain.
Peakbagger (dot) com Entry from 7/29/2022
Kratka Ridge
Kratka Ridge was another one of these shorter adventures to the South of the ACH. Starting near the Mount Waterman ski area, you hike up the ridge to where there are some rusted ruins of a previous ski run.
Nothing exciting to note. This area, like Mount Islip, was nice in that it wasn’t a burn scarred mess. The next two were North of the ACH, which meant I’d be hiking through fresh burn scars; but for now I had just completed 1.4 miles and 658′ of gain to bag Kratka Ridge.
Peakbagger (dot) com Entry from 7/29/2022
Mount Akawie
Mount Akawie was very much like Mount Lewis in that it’s a short little jaunt of nothing noteworthy from the trailhead on the ACH. For some reason Akawie was a little better in terms of regrowth, but still just a short little hike of 1.4 miles and 378′ of gain.
Peakbagger (dot) com Entry from 7/29/2022
Winston Peak & Winston Ridge
At this point in the day I was coming up on my last adventure. I had a stretch goal of 1 or 2 more summits, but they are far away from these two along the ACH, so weren’t a part of the original plan. It was getting later in the morning, things were heating up, and I decided that this might be the last adventure of the day.
It was long before I knew for sure it was. I opted for the most efficient route possible for these two, which meant a steep climb to the summit of Winston Peak before dropping down behind it, over a subpeak, and then to Winston Ridge. I was sweating profusely by the summit of Winston Peak, and could see from there how far it was to Winston Ridge. Realizing how hot it was and how I was running hotter than normal, I increased my water intake as I made my way out there.
Near the top of Winston Ridge, I started to feel less than stellar. My pulse rate was higher than normal and not recovering quickly; I was feeling a slight bit nauseated; and I also caught a weird chill at one point. I knew what this meant, but I was also a long way from Alyx.
I continued sipping on water in the sparse shade at the top before making my way out of there. I decided to really hustle on the downhill slopes to minimize time out in the heat, knowing that I would have to move slow on the inclines to keep myself from getting into legit heat exhaustion / heat stroke territory. The saddle between the subpeak and Winston Peak was a little demoralizing since I knew it meant a steady include from here until Alyx (I was taking the longer route around Winston Peak with less overall gain). As I made my way further along the trail I started to get those chills again, and I made a point to message Frankie– I wanted a geotag of where I would be incase something wasn’t right; and in my message I even told her to expect a message by a certain time. After more trudging in the heat I was back at Alyx. Frankie had also decided to turn back on her adventure after a couple summits, and we decided meeting in Pasadena for brunch was the better choice than potential heat stroke.
