Walking up Baden-Powell

How to

You can start at the trailhead where Azusa Road (39) runs into Highway 2. Azusa Road is closed because of a landslide, but still posted. The distance from here is about 13 miles. Many people start from Dawson Saddle, which cuts the distance down four miles.

Watch the signs carefully and head toward Mt. Baden-Powell. From the peak you may be able to see Long Beach, even Catalina on a clear day.

You need plenty of water, and lunch/snacks. Only experienced hikers should attempt this hike.

Mountain bikers note: Parts of the route cover the Pacific Crest Trail, on which mountain bikes are not allowed.

NOTE: The above information is a few years old. Please confirm it.

Go to Tom Chester's site for links to an amazing number of hikes.

Nine years on the borders of Washington and northern Idaho, where Californians are regarded with more than a little suspicion, are enough to firmly brand the Los Angeles area in anyone's mind as a seething metropolis and nothing much besides.

Seething metropolis it is, but a recent move to the area made it necessary to go out in search of more, leading to the discovery that the San Gabriel Mountains north of the LA area have hidden within them enough surprises to last many years. It doesn't cease to amaze that in less than half hour you can find trails that almost match in grandeur some of those  in northern Idaho.

There are differences, of course. On most days LA's trademark smog cap can be seen, except from the really narrow valleys. And sometimes the other LA trademark, a revving engine, can be heard. That's not a sound you'd hear in Idaho's Selway-Bitterroot wilderness area, where even a chainsaw is not allowed. (Bicyclists caught riding the trails face a merciless fate: they have to haul the machines out.)

These three hikes are ironclad delightful: the Santa Anita loop, the Arroyo Canyon hike and the Mt. Baden-Powell hike.

The hike to Mt. Baden-Powell can also provide a great motorcycle riding experience, if you have one. You need two vehicles for it because one has to be left at the end of the hike.

The fun begins as soon as you turn off Highway 138 onto a road that is a shortcut to Highway 2 (Pine Canyon Road). It snakes through the San Gabriels, quickly reaching fairly high altitudes. In the early mornings you frequently see deer and other animals. Even without those it is a pleasure to be on it as it cuts through the valley toward the high mountains.

About 10-12 miles down it you enter Wrightwood, a pretty mountain town that is spread over almost 1,000 feet in altitude. It starts somewhere around 6,500 feet and bits and portions of it run to beyond 7,000 feet.

You join Highway 2 here and drive on the remaining 15 miles or so to the eastern end of our hike. Here you need to leave one car (or motorbike) and drive on (10 ½ miles) to where the hike starts.

The hike from this point (there are other points where you can begin) is 13 miles - starting at about 7,000 feet, and going up and down for nine miles until you crest Baden Powell at 9,400 feet, then a steep drop to 6,500 feet in four miles to where your first vehicle is. It is almost beyond belief that such places exist a little more than an hour from where millions of people live.

Beautiful views from the ridges - though the steep drop from those heights was frequently dizzying - lovely weather, and solitude. You won't see many others on this hike.

Mt. Baden-Powell  View from the peak