Friday, March 2, 2012

Pinos Peak via Bell Ridge

Yesterday (March 1), Patrick Moran and I took a surprisingly great hike up and down Bell Ridge to Los Pinos Peak (4,510 feet) in the Santa Ana Mountains.  Though the net elevation gain is ~3000 vertical feet, all of the ups and downs on the serpentine ridge make it 4300+ vertical feet round trip. This trail, which I heard about from a friend, is not marked on any map or guidebook I've seen, though it is discussed in some mountain biking blogs. 

The numbers: ~13 miles, ~4300 vertical feet, 5.5 hours.

 A misty dawn.



Patrick exuding some serious aura.

The snow and mist made for a refreshing hike. 

 Patrick on the summit, which we reached at 9:15.

Santiago Peak, um, peaking above the clouds. 

 Heading down.

Looking back up the ridge. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'll be doing this hike soon. Glad I finally found a write up on it. Except I'll be using the car shuttle and finishing at trabuco canyon trail head