The was the second day of a quick 48-hour sortie from my home in Phoenix to a couple of highpoints in Southern California, and, of course, a visit with my brother's family and my wonderful niece Emma, just a couple months old. I made the drive west on late friday evening (almost running into a drunk standing on the highway - I-10 - near Palm Springs). Saturday I made a day hike up to Mount San Antonio, commonly called Mount Baldy, the highpoint of Los Angeles County. That evening I rode along with my brother for a couple hours as he patrolled the streets as his duties as a cop in the city of La Verne. That was fun, too. Today, Sunday, I planned to visit the summit of Orange County at Santiago Peak, then make the long drive back home to Phoenix. The weather was warm and smoggy and generally awful mid-summer SoCal crud. Santiago Peak is a chapparal-covered peak of reasonably impressive height, considering its proximity to the ocean. It forms the eastern border with Riverside County, and in fact I would be approaching this one from entirely within Riverside County. A number of service roads cross the range and a couple traverse the crest, serving the various tower complexes that sit astride the range. It's a natural place for media and communications towers, considering its central location to the population centers in Orange County (Anaheim, Santa Ana, etc) and the Inland Empire (Riverside, Corona, Ontario, Temecula, etc). Otherwise the range is covered in a thick carpet of dense woody scrub, the kind that makes cross-country travel impossible. So while the roads 'mar' the natural aspect of the range, without them getting to the top would be brutal (and hot, considering here I am in July). This would be a 'hike-by-truck' visit, a fun endeavor in and of itself.

I worked my way south along Interstate-15 into Lake Elsinore (the city, not the lake) and exited at the Indian Truck Trail about a dozen miles south of Corona. I went right (west) and shortly came upon a church/retreat center in Korean writing, right about where the pavement ends. From here on up to the top was narrow, winding dirt road. The road was in reasonable condition, but narrow enough to warrant taking it slow - mostly about 10 miles per hour and no higher than second gear. I chose to use 4-wheel drive just for better handling, especially in some of the occasional sandy bits. Traffic was nonexistent, which was good because in many sections, there was no room for vehicles to pass. I did almost plow into a dirtbiker who came around a bend pretty quick before slamming on his brakes. So, in about an hour I had covered maybe a dozen miles, coming to a T-junction high on the ridge, with Santiago Peak off to the right, and Trabuco Peak a ways to the left. The flora was mostly scrubby manzanita and grass, and the weather was hot - about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Past the T-junction, the road became more rocky and rougher, making 4-wheel drive nice to have. I thought about parking low and hiking the rest but the heat wasn't kind to that idea. I eventually rolled up to the summit area, parking amid the towers. The hiking portion was just a short walk up a hill to the benchmark, which I found easily enough. Haze spread out over the western lowlands of Orange County, and dust and haze out over the eastern views. The big peaks were in view, sticking out above it all, but still occluded a bit by the haziness. After some rest I drove back down and got moving for the 300 miles back to home. The round trip off the interstate was about 25 miles and took me about 3 hours.

Future visitors may find the area near the Indian Truck Trail exit in different shape due to construction. I doubt they'll ever pave Indian Truck Trail. Access to the summit is also possible from the Orange County side near Rancho Santa Margarita. On a clear spring day it's a pretty peak; otherwise it's hidden by haze, heat and smog.

Update, 2005: Don Nelson reports the Indian Truck Trail has had some washouts and is closed for 'the foreseeable future'. See the summitpost page for alternative options.