Mount San Gorgonio is the highest mountain in Southern California, straddling the deserts to the east and the smoggy Los Angeles/Inland Empire basin to the west. It is gigantic: the sixth-most prominent mountain in the mainland United States (Ironically, Mount San Jacinto across the San Andreas Rift Zone is the fifth-most). Sometimes called "Grayback" for its grayish summit ridge, which is high enough to be tree-less, the summit of San Gorgonio is reached by a long trail, with a few common starting points, the most common being at Vivian Creek not far from San Bernardino. The hike is long with considerable gain: 16.8 miles round trip and 5,440 feet of elevation differential, over a vertical mile. With this peak I would have all 10 Southern California county highpoints, but I'd always put this one off because of its daunting statistics. I finally decided to tackle it since the weather was behaving very nicely, I wanted to get out of the never-ending heat of Phoenix, and I wanted to visit my awesome niece Emma, now 16-months old with infinite cuteness. I left Phoenix the day before and spent the night at a Super-8 in Banning, in San Gorgonio's shadow, arriving well after dark.

From Banning there are some back roads to the trailhead. I bypassed Redlands altogether and went through Yucaipa, trying to find an all-night supermarket, with no luck, for goodies and drinks (I finally stocked up at a gas station mini mart). I arrived at the Vivian Creek parking area at dawn. A couple two cars away were gearing up for their 130th ascent, while two older guys nearby were going up for their 70th ascent. This is a very popular hike: the lot was filled with about 20 cars already, and I'd be making my first ascent today. A lot of people backpack and camp in the mountains as well. I started in at 6:30, elevation 6,060 feet.

The initial portion of the trail is an old dirt road paralleling Mill Creek. After about a quarter-mile, the trail crosses Mill Creek and starts up the steep slopes on the other side. On the other side, I hiked up some very steep switchbacks well hidden in the forest cover. Soon, I topped out at the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area sign at 7,000 feet elevation, gaining almost 1,000 feet in less than a mile. Fortunately, this would be the steepest part of the entire hike. So far, no problem.

From the sign, the trail drops a bit then levels off before coming around to Vivian Creek. This area has some designated camping sites available, and I came upon some campers just waking up. The trail crosses the stream via an old log. For the next two miles or so, the trail gains at a moderate but pleasant grade, mainly paralleling Vivian Creek, and sometimes hemmed in by steep canyon walls. Periodically the trail wandered through some brush away from the creek. "Halfway" Camp is passed near here, half-way to where I cannot say. I caught up to another hiker named Peter and we hiked together a short while. He's an old Gorgonio veterna who knew a lot about the area and filled me in on some of the details. Nice guy. Soon, he was off on his own pace. I kept my own forward progress and came upon the base of a set of switchbacks at 8,200 feet elevation.

The switchbacks gain at a slightly steeper grade out of Vivian Canyon and allow views above the foothill peaks. I could finally see peaks miles in the distance instead of the canyon walls just a hundred feet away. The grade isn't too bad, with nice level portions, and it eventually leads to High Creek Camp at elevation 9,400 feet. I walked into High Creek Camp at 9:30 a.m., having covered 4.8 miles and 3,400 feet of gain from Vivian Creek. Most of the time this would be a good day's hike for me, but today, I still had another 3 miles and 2,100 feet of elevation to gain. I stopped here at camp to take an extended food and water break, and met a couple, Chris and Jennifer (and their golden retriever Otis), who were camped here with plans to hike the summit today. They kindly allowed me to stash some of the items from my pack I knew I wouldn't need, thus lightening my load maybe a pound or two. Every little bit helps. The skies were cloudless and there was a soft breeze, with temperatures in the 60s. Absolutely stunning.

From High Creek Camp I continued up a long series of switchbacks through moderate forest cover, steadily gaining elevation to finally emerge onto the spine of the main ridge at 10,100 feet that eventually leads to the summit. A smaller set of switchbacks led me up over a small ridge-knob, elevation 10,500 feet. The forest was thinning to near nothingness, and I had my first large-scale views of San Gorgonio's summit mass, still looming high to the north, still a thousand feet higher in the sky. Now above the trees I could see the rest of the route, including periodically spotting Peter ahead of me by about 20 minutes. The hiking here was easy but tiring, and finally, the trail gains onto the main summit mass, traversing a scree slope below Peak 11,171, merging with another trail at elevation 11,240, then gaining up easy, bare slopes to the highest point. The summit ridge is very broad and wide, and a few summit rocks could vie for the highpoint, but we were clearly at the highest of the set. Two large American flags fluttered in the breeze. I arrived at 12:30, meaning six hours for my ascent, and a new one-day record for elevation gain for me. Chris and Jennifer (and Otis) were not far behind me. We sat around the top rocks for a spell. I had a lunch and a good rest, and enjoyed the views and the energy. This was a very sweet summit.

Now, to hike down. The descent went quickly, and I was back to High Creek Camp after about 90 minutes, where I gathered my cached items, and noted Peter sound asleep on a log. Even back at 9,000 feet or so, the weather had warmed up a lot, and there was not a lot of shade up here. I just put in my steps and steadily descended, taking breaks every now and then and talking with the numerous day hikers. Lower down, the tree cover was thicker but the air was much warmer. Overall, I did well but I lagged for the last couple miles, generally beat after the long hike. I arrived back to my truck at 5:30 p.m., an 11-hour day, but a good day, as everything had gone well. I was exhausted.

I spent the night with my brother and his family in Cucamonga, "talking" with Emma who is just learning to talk. What a cupcake! The next day: the long boring drive back across Interstate-10 to Phoenix.