Rolling Meditation

Southern California's Three Saints – Southern California's three tallest peaks are all named for saints: San Antonio (everyone calls it Mount Baldy), San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. This fall I set out to stand on top of all three. Mount Baldy came first, two weeks ago. On October 9 it was San Gorgonio's turn. San Gorgonio Mountain – At 11,503 feet, San Gorgonio is the big one: the highest point in Southern California. I did it as a single-day loop from the South Fork trailhead. I drove up the evening before, got to Barton Flats Campground around 9:30 pm, and slept in the van. The plan was a 5:30 start by headlamp; the reality was boots on the trail at 6:28, just as it was getting light. From there it's a long climb through pine forest, past Poopout Hill and South Fork Meadows, to the fork where the Dollar Lake and Dry Lake trails split. The stream running right at the fork is the South Fork of the Santa Ana River, still flowing this late in the year. South Fork trailhead...

Southern California's Three Saints – Southern California's three tallest peaks are all named for saints: San Antonio (everyone calls it Mount Baldy), San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. This fall I set out to stand on top of all three, one hike at a time. First up was Mount Baldy (10,064 ft), on September 26. Mount San Antonio – I drove up from home that morning. There were a lot of cars parked by the trailhead, but I found quite a bit of parking farther up the road, between the trailhead and the resort parking lot. I started from Manker Flats at 9:20. The directions are simple: walk up Falls Road past San Antonio Falls to Mt. Baldy Road, then turn up the Baldy Bowl Trail, which climbs past the Sierra Club Ski Hut. The spring there was still running in late September. It's a steep one: 4.1 miles of nearly nonstop climbing to the summit, which took me 3 hours and 10 minutes. From the top I could see the other two saints, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto, lined up to the east and waiti...

Ten days around the mountain – I've been planning this trip for my 50th birthday year for over 6 months and it came to fruition these last two weeks. 10 days in the Alps with good friends, glaciers, mountains, wine, cheese, and hot showers...what could be better?!? Thank you to all who participated in this journey with me. I will remember this adventure for the rest of my life... and without further ado, the map! Tour du Mont Blanc · 1–10 August 2026 Chamo-Nerds TMB 2026 Interactive Map! Elevation Profile Lowest 1,171 m; highest 2,756 m Days — tap to hide or show start & finish where we slept dashed = estimated, watch started late (day colour) dotted black = taxi, bus or lift transfer Terrain: OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA), data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Dashed segments are straight lines between mapped points, not surveyed trail.