Once again we are back home in Southern California. It is here that I feel more like myself. The mountains and desert terrain is what I know best, and to start our adventures, we chose one of our favorite trails, Waterman Mountain.
Waterman Mountain was named after Liz Waterman, the wife of Bob Waterman who explored the area in 1889 along with Commodore Ferry Switzer. The mountain was originally named “Lady Waterman Mountain” after Liz. Later, when the U.S. Geological Survey mapped the mountain, they removed the “Lady” and the mountain is referred to as “Waterman Mountain”.
We took the trail from Buckhorn off the ACH climbing south through tall stands of Jeffrey Pine, Ponderosa Pine and Incense Cedars. This section took a hit from the Bobcat fire in 2020, and there are many charred trees, but the trail is still beautiful nonetheless. The vanilla smell of Jeffrey pines and dry sand along the trail was familiar and welcoming. I felt a sense of comfort. All worries and troubles from the past year were swept away on the fresh mountain air as we stepped onto the trail and began our climb. Once we reached the saddle on Waterman’s east ridge, we enjoyed the spectacular views down into Bear Canyon and out to Twin Peaks. Wildflowers were still blooming along the ridge. We took a short break before heading westward and up to the summit where we sat amongst the large rock formations and enjoyed our lunch. I reminisced how one year on New Year’s day we sipped champagne from the rocks and watched the stealth bomber fly over from the Pasadena Rose Parade. This mountain has always held special meaning to us and the San Gabriel High Country will always be one of my favorite sections of the Angeles.
Click “Read More” below to view more photos from this hike.
Being back in the mountains of California was the most incredible feeling of coming home. The evening we arrived we walked the hills of Griffith Park overlooking the city lights of Los Angeles. I really can’t describe how happy and at peace I finally felt after being out of sorts on the east coast for the past couple of years. The next morning we drove up the crest into the ANF. I’d not forgotten anything about the highway with its twisting turns, steep drop offs and views of the mountain peaks. I could still point them out. I guess they are not so easily forgotten after spending so much time on top of them. It was a beautiful morning and our plan was to return to Waterman Mountain, a mountain we’d climbed many times, snowshoed in the winter and even spent a New Year’s morning on the summit sipping champagne waiting to see the stealth bomber flyover after it opened the Pasadena Rose parade. We parked the jeep and hit the trail in the cool air and warm sunshine. Immediately I was gifted with the familiar vanilla scent of Jeffrey pine. It almost brought me to tears, only reinforcing that I was truly home. As we made our way up the trail, I noticed the damage that had been done by the Bobcat fire which happened just shortly after we left California in 2020. The trees were charred, but surprisingly the trail was in good shape and still beautiful nonetheless. I thought of all the firemen who put their lives on the line to save this beautiful land. We took our time hiking up the trail through the great conifers and rock formations. I wanted to savor every single moment of this trail. Upon reaching the junction for Twin Peaks and the summit to the top of Waterman, we stopped and sat on the rocks as we’d done so many times before. The quiet forest and sound of the mountain breeze whispering in the trees reminded me that this is where I belong. I felt grounded, centered and at peace. Like a huge weight had been lifted and carried away on the wind. When we were ready, we climbed the rest of the way up to the summit where we sat, had a snack and gave an offering to the forest, thanking it for always being here and taking us in. I had so much gratitude in my heart. We were back! Ready for more adventure!
Today we headed up to my favorite go-to place for snowshoeing, Waterman Mountain. We started out on the fire road which had been plowed. When we reached the junction to the Waterman Trail, we hopped on it and began the climb up. The beginning of the trail had been broken by other snowshoers, but it was deep and difficult to maneuver. Eventually, the trail disappeared and there were no more tracks. We were on our own at this point to break trail. It was a nice challenge and we were having fun. Boy was it a workout! We were postholing a lot and it was hard work getting through the deep, heavy snow. It was definitely not the powder we all prefer. After we’d had enough of a challenge, we decided to head back to the fire road and take it easy. Coming back on the trail was just as difficult going down as it was going up. We returned to the fire road, hiked until we were satisfied and then headed home. It was beautiful winter day!
Every Sunday I wake up at the crack of dawn to hike. This past Sunday when my alarm went off at 5 am, my husband persuaded me to stay in bed. It was nice sleeping in for a change. Once we got up, we went out for breakfast then came home and relaxed until the afternoon. Around 2ish we headed up the ACH and into the Angeles National Forest to hike Waterman Mountain. We had our backpacking gear, and this time I was trying out a new Gregory backpack. My Osprey Kyte was bothering my shoulders, so I thought I should check into another pack. The Gregory seems to be a much better fit on my back. I was carrying around 27 lbs. We did approximately 7 miles taking the Waterman Trail up to the summit at 8,038’ feet and then heading back down on the fire road past the ski lifts to make a loop. We passed by the seasonal pond just below the summit. I’d never seen water in it before, but we’ve had so much snow this year that it looks like the pond may be around for a little while longer. Just as we were approaching the pond we saw a Search and Rescue chopper circling low. This was followed by a vehicle coming up the mountain with a team of rescuers. They showed us a photo and description of a hiker who’d gone missing on Saturday. They asked if we’d seen him, but unfortunately, we had not. We then continued our descent. The forest was quiet and the light was much different then I’m used to seeing it in the early morning. It felt very peaceful. The weekend crowd had cleared out and when we got back to the parking turnout, our car was the only one there. It was so nice I really didn’t want to leave! We got to see the sunset as we drove back on the ACH. It was a really nice afternoon. I think we need to do more late afternoon hikes in the future. It’s a nice change from waking up so early.
I am really enjoying this snowshoeing thing! It was a beautiful day, so we decided to venture back into Angeles National Forest taking an alternative route around the recent rock slide on the ACH near Red Box and check out the conditions on Waterman Mountain. The ski lifts had recently been opened, so we knew there would be a good amount of snow. We past the lifts as skiers and snowboarders were just heading into the parking area and parked our car at the usual spot for the Mt. Waterman Trailhead. There was only one other car in the turnout when we arrived, and the air was chilly with an occasional gust of wind. We geared up (There’s a lot more to gear to deal with in winter.) and started up the Mt. Waterman Trail. At the junction with the Fire Road, we decided to head in that direction instead of our usual route. The snow conditions were mixed with sections of crusty ice on top of snow in the shade and a powdery mix in the sun. The snow was deep but packed and the fire road was a bit steep. We got a good workout as we enjoyed the views of snow capped Mt. Baden-Powell in the distance. We took our time and had the route mostly to ourselves. About two miles up we reached the junction with the ski runs. We stopped and watched some of the skiers and snowboarders do their thing. We could have continued on, but decided to take our time and head back. I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of another beautiful winter day!
Today we set out to hike from Mill Creek Summit on the Pacific Crest Trail and up to the Pacifico Mountain Campground. I knew this mountain was a north face, and I had a feeling we might encounter some icy patches on the trail, but we decided to give it a go. I knew there would be some snow up at the campground after the recent rain, and I wanted to take advantage of that since we never know what kind of winter we’ll have here in Southern California. We were about two miles into the hike and we started to come across patches of hard packed ice. We had microspikes to slip onto our boots for traction, but if we were to continue, coming down would be sketchy. Neither one of us wanted to risk spraining an ankle, so we decided to turn around and head back. Since it was still early in the day, we drove to Charlton Flats, had some lunch and then drove up to Waterman Mountain which I knew would be reliable for a nice snow hike. It was about 12:30 when we started on the trail and I expected to see many more people hiking, but it was actually very quiet. Most of the snow play folks stayed on the fire road or over at the Buckhorn day use area and there were very few people hiking up the Waterman Mountain trail. The few people we past were hiking with dogs in tow, or rather I should say they were in tow of their dogs. That’s the one thing I love about hiking… seeing all the happy dogs on the trail. As we got higher up, we seemed to be the only people on the trail. The sky was gray with overcast clouds and the mountain seemed still and peaceful. It was around 2:15 when we reached the Twin Peaks junction which is about 3/4 miles away from the Waterman Mountain summit. At this point we both decided it was time to head back to make sure we returned safely before the sun set and the temperatures dropped and turned the melting snow to ice. We both went home satisfied after spending another beautiful day in our Southern California mountains.
This weekend we had a fun field day practicing our basic navigation skills with a good o’le map and compass. We recently had taken a class at REI and wanted to practice what we learned in the field. We decided to hike to the West Ridge of Waterman Mountain. This would give us a chance to do some minor cross country route finding on an unestablished trail. We started the hike at Angeles Crest mile marker 54.10. We followed the road to a fork in the trail and headed southeast. The trail is wide at first and easy to follow. Eventually, we came to a junction with a watercourse and a very faint use trail that would fade in and out as we made the steep climb up to the wilderness boundary on the ridge. It was a nice challenge and we completed the task successfully! After making our way carefully down the slope and back to the parking area, we decided to drive to the nearby Winston Peak and climb to it’s high point where we could see the surrounding mountains and use them as landmarks to practice triangulation. The hike up to Winston Peak is steep, but short. From the top we could see Will Thrall, Pallet Mountain, Mount Baden-Powell and Cucamonga Peak to name a few. It was a great spot to put these basic navigation skills to good use. In this day of modern technology, we have so many fancy electronic gadgets readily at our disposal. But it’s always good to go back to basics and also an extremely valuable skill to have. It was another fun day in the mountains!
Sunday was another beautiful day for a snow hike. Although it was a little warmer than the last snow hike we did a few weeks ago, there was still plenty of snow to turn the forest into a magical winter wonderland. We packed our winter gear and headed up to Waterman mountain. We know this mountain pretty well by now, and I feel safe here. The trail is easily graded and there aren’t many narrow sections. There’s also an option to hike up a fire road if you so choose. We took the Waterman Trail from Buckhorn just off Angeles Crest Highway. The day started off with blue skies and few clouds, but by the time we finished more clouds were rolling in. There was a lot of water flowing from the rains we just had which formed beautiful icicles. The pines were heavy with pure white snow which made me feel like we were walking through a scene from a winter fairy tale. As last time, this trail was so quiet and peaceful. We took our time making our way up to the summit and enjoyed the picturesque forest. I'm not sure if we’ll get to experience this again this year since it’s just about Spring, but it really was wonderful and I can’t possibly think of a better way to spend a Sunday.
What an incredible day in Angeles National Forest! I was hoping to get to see more snow before the winter was over, and today I got my wish! I woke up at 5 am and we headed up Angeles Crest Highway just after the sunrise. I didn’t want to leave too early not knowing what the driving conditions would be like. As we got higher up in elevation, we started to see the snow. The roads still had a very light covering, but the driving was fine and there was no ice. It was beautiful just driving along the highway. Our destination was Waterman Mountain. This trail is one of my favorites in the summer and seeing it for the first time in winter was a treat! The pine trees were heavy with snow and icicles. The forest was incredibly serene and peaceful. The only sounds we heard were the birds singing and the ice melting off the majestic pine trees. The air was fresh and the sky was crystal clear. It was a bluebird day for sure. Today was also the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to photograph snow. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I hadn’t gotten into photography yet. Also, I was just so used to having snow in winter, that I really didn’t think much of it. Well that sure changes when you don’t get to see it anymore. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.
