This was the last of the HPS hikes South of HW2 Angeles Crest Hwy I still had to do. Reason: It is HARD!!
We started the hike around 8:00AM from Dawson Saddle. The first 1.8 mile starts gently from an elevation of 7,920 feet to 8,800 feet at the junction with the Pacific Crest trail From there it is an easy going 2.5 miles along the Angeles Crest to the summit of Mt. Baden Powell at 9,399 ft, with beautiful views to the north of the Antelope Valley and to the south of the San Gabriel mountains. The summit of Baden Powell has a monument commemorating the founder of the Boy Scouts.
So far so good! We took a snack break at the summit, while enjoying the wonderful views of the numerous mountains we had climbed before. Also, from the summit we had a great view of destination, Ross Mountain, some 2,000 feet below!
The first part of the "down hill" was easy enough, following the ridge line along a very steep drop-off, the incline becoming steeper the closer we got to the bottom about 1,000 feet down. The views along the way were quite amazing! The next 1/2 mile was flat, except for 2 bumps that Diana decided we had to tag. After crossing a short field, we arrived at a lookout point from where we had a great view of Ross Mountain, which could only be reached by first dropping another 1,200 feet down a very steep use trail to the base of Ross at about 7,200 feet elevation. After another half mile of climbing up and over several false summits we finally reached Ross Mountain!
We took a long break in the shade, enjoying lunch and some cold cokes! After signing the HPS Register, we decided to walk to the far side of the mountain, in order to get some great views of Mount Baldy.
A little after 1:00pm, it was time to face the music and start the climb back up to Baden Powell. First though we had to drop down to the base of the mountain, after which we huffed and puffed to the top of the first incline, while taking several short breaks to catch our breath. We took a short break in a nice grassy area, which had great views of all the mountains around us.
Shortly after, we hit the trail again to attack the final climb back up to Baden-Powell. The first part was the steepest, but not as bad as what we had experienced earlier. Gradually the grade became a little easier and after 2.5 hours of climbing we again reached the summit of Baden-Powell!
After taking another break at the summit, we hiked the 2.5 miles on the PCT and the final 1.8 miles back down to our cars at Dawson Saddle.
In total we hiked about 15 miles in 10 hours with well over 5,000 feet of gain.
What makes this hike hard, is that most of the gain is reached on the return trip from the summit of Ross.
What makes this hike well worth it, is the incredible views of the spectacular San Gabriel Mountain range, and the solitude even though Los Angeles is so close by!
Ross Mountain, July 10, 2016
Ross Mountain (Pictures by Herman, Jorge, and Diana)
