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.
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!
