The Pinnacles, Mount Marie Louise

26 February 1967

By: Bob Herlihy

Leader: Bob Herlihy
Asst.: Joe Darrow

February 26 was a beautiful, cool Sunday morning. A handful of early arrivals at the Toll Road Campground witnessed the arrival of a caravan of vehicles, with a bunch of smiling (or yawning) faces looking out the windows at the small group which suddenly grew fourfold. It was a good HPS family turnout, with 4 Akawies, 3 Hayers, 2 Kozlowskis, and 2 Goffs among the 26 hikers who started out shortly after 8 o'clock.

The route to the Pinnacle was carefully chosen and very direct. We avoided entanglement in the brush and picked an interesting but easy route through the huge rocks, going through a narrow split in one place and up through a vertical hole in the rocks in another place. We reached the summit a little before mid-morning, but due to a cold breeze, did not stay there long. The register had been mutilated beyond retrieval by a demented prankster within one week before our trip. Shortly after 11 o'clock we returned to the cars, where we had an early lunch.

After lunch we drove as far as the stream crossing about a mile and a half southwest of the Rock Camp Guard Station. We hiked from there to the northeast base of Mt. Marie-Louise, then went up an almost brushless firebreak to the summit, where the beautiful view included snow-capped San Jacinto, San Gorgonio, San Antonio, and a wide expanse of the high desert area. We returned to the cars before the middle of the afternoon. Joe Darrow's impromptu and excellent services as assistant leader greatly contributed to everyone's enjoyment of this fine day.