Circle Mountain and Gobbler's Knob
This past Saturday, I went up Circle Mountain and Gobbler's Knob with George Wysup and Tom Hill and a whole Sierra Club crowd. It was definitely fun, although we wound up slogging through a whole lot of snow.
The bank claimed it was 35 degrees out in Claremont when I headed to the meeting point. All Friday, I was sick to my stomach, so I'd eaten a piece of toast, some plain pasta, and drank four liters of cola. I started off the day with some soda, and immodium. I was so enthusiastic about doing the hike that I was just hoping the immodium kept me plugged up.
George was very friendly, and we had a nice drive up to the trailhead. Because of ice and snow, we couldn't drive too far down the road, and had to walk an extra half-mile or so to get to Circle Mountain. It was fairly steep, but since the folks ahead of me were postholing down into the deep snow, I managed to keep up okay. From the top, we had a great view out to the desert, and of the line of peaks to our south.
Tom opened some champagne to celebrate his 200th HPS lead, and we spent a few frozen minutes congratulating him, before heading down. We then headed over to Gobbler's Knob. In times of better weather, you can drive within one mile of the peak, and just climb up the steep final slope to the top.
Heh. Not this time. We probably hike three miles through snow and ice just to get to the base of that final slope. After making it that far, it was a bit of a strain to make it up the steep final slope, over a small saddle and up to the final summit. It was worth it, though, as we had a fine view of the back of Baldy. Very cool.
As weather was blowing in, we had a very quick lunch, then headed off as fast as we could. The ice and snow were fairly slippery, and most of us went down at least once. I think I fell a total of four times, myself, but it didn't hurt much. A few folks had lugged snow shoes up there, and they managed to come down with no problems whatsoever, beating all the rest of us handily. I gotta learn how to do that!
This group was slightly less talkative than some of the others I've hiked with, but they definitely get out and hit the peaks!
The bank claimed it was 35 degrees out in Claremont when I headed to the meeting point. All Friday, I was sick to my stomach, so I'd eaten a piece of toast, some plain pasta, and drank four liters of cola. I started off the day with some soda, and immodium. I was so enthusiastic about doing the hike that I was just hoping the immodium kept me plugged up.
George was very friendly, and we had a nice drive up to the trailhead. Because of ice and snow, we couldn't drive too far down the road, and had to walk an extra half-mile or so to get to Circle Mountain. It was fairly steep, but since the folks ahead of me were postholing down into the deep snow, I managed to keep up okay. From the top, we had a great view out to the desert, and of the line of peaks to our south.
Tom opened some champagne to celebrate his 200th HPS lead, and we spent a few frozen minutes congratulating him, before heading down. We then headed over to Gobbler's Knob. In times of better weather, you can drive within one mile of the peak, and just climb up the steep final slope to the top.
Heh. Not this time. We probably hike three miles through snow and ice just to get to the base of that final slope. After making it that far, it was a bit of a strain to make it up the steep final slope, over a small saddle and up to the final summit. It was worth it, though, as we had a fine view of the back of Baldy. Very cool.
As weather was blowing in, we had a very quick lunch, then headed off as fast as we could. The ice and snow were fairly slippery, and most of us went down at least once. I think I fell a total of four times, myself, but it didn't hurt much. A few folks had lugged snow shoes up there, and they managed to come down with no problems whatsoever, beating all the rest of us handily. I gotta learn how to do that!
This group was slightly less talkative than some of the others I've hiked with, but they definitely get out and hit the peaks!
posted by K at
4:06 PM
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