Moments in Dirt and Ink

Angeles National Forest San Bernardino National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Although 2000 feet higher, Kelly Camp was not much cooler than Commanche Camp the night before. I pack up and tuck my gear away. This place does not have anything like the traffic at Icehouse Saddle, so I am not as worried about getting it totally hidden. Heading up the old camp steps along the trail gets me out of came and climbing to the ridge. In between is an area where burn and regrowth has left a trail that circles about in ridiculous ways. Looking north to Timber Mountain and Mount San Antonio. At the top of the ridge, it shows an advantage of saving these peaks with a similar view for a new day. It is a whole new world down there today compared to yesterday. The city grid stretching far west and east is now gone in favor of a sea of clouds with a few islands. There were vast connected cities here before and now there is just Santiago Peak in...

San Bernardino National Forest Angeles National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 The night was about as cool as my sleep system could go without a little help, but I did not have to sacrifice my pillow for the warmth of the jacket within it. Bright stars shone through the breaks in the trees when I looked. Today, there are mountains to climb and then a stop at Kelly Camp before climbing some more. I expect the established camp probably has a spring associated with it, but there is certainly no water source to be seen on my map. The rangers at the station googling were able to find the suggestion this may be true and that it was dry in May. For a stream, that would be damning, but springs run on their own offset schedule. Not knowing where to find it, I really need to get water where it is known. That means either here and carry it up 2000 feet or from a spring on the other side that is out of my way, but only 1000 feet below the saddle. The...

San Bernardino National Forest Click for map. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 It is beginning to look a little cooler out there and I decided I would brave the weather down south, at least up high in the San Gabriel Mountains. There are plenty of peaks up around Icehouse Saddle that I have not bagged yet and it is an extra nice hike, so I decided I would do that. I also have a memory of one early May many years ago when I came out to backpack up Icehouse Saddle and out to one of the two campsites within two miles of it, however when we got to the ranger station, we were told that the trail was mostly clear up to the saddle, but everything else was under two feet of snow. It is funny how a lurking memory of unrealized planning can motivate one. Still, in the name of going for something new, I decided to come up to Icehouse Saddle from the east instead of the west. In researching that route, I found that someone has put two night caches along the trail between Thir...

Angeles National Forest Locate the trailhead. Icehouse Canyon is on a right hand straight (the road turns sharply left) just after Baldy Village. To enter the Wilderness some two miles up, you need to get a permit. We also needed a hang tag to hold the Golden Eagle so we were good and let them count us. That didn't make parking any easier on a Sunday morning. Backpackers and early(er) risers had gotten all the real spaces in the large lot, and quite a few of the imaginary ones. I was able to imagine one more spot on the second time around so we weren't so good on the parking but we weren't blocking anything either. The trail itself goes up at a steady, determined pace. It is about 3.6 miles of constant up. It does not go flat, it does not go down, it just climbs and climbs until it gets to the saddle. There is one junction along the way which is actually just another way up to the saddle but takes about two miles longer to get there. We took this going dow...