Rabbit Peak #1, Iron Mountain #3

27 September 1987

By: Joe Young

Leaders: Joe Young, Stag Brown

On several occasions a few HPS members have expressed an opinion that we should lead easy hikes, at least once in a while. For a change of pace, Stag and I put an easy hike in the schedule to satisfy those who desire such a hike. On Sunday, September 27, about two dozen hikers joined us for this extraordinary event.

The group first carpooled to the Monte Cristo Campground on the Angeles Forest Highway, where we claimed a couple of sites for our lunch. We then further consolidated into four cars to drive as close as we could to the peak. A surprise rainstorm the Wednesday prior to the hike had created some rough spots on the dirt road so we were not able to drive all the way up to the point recommended in the latest John Backus write-up, and this added perhaps 3/8 of a mile to our hike. The two dozen of us began an agonizingly slow hike up the road, then slowly scrambled up the ridge, stopping frequently, chomping at the bit to get up the peak. On the summit we celebrated Bridget O'Sullivan's official entry into the HPS (that is, her 25th peak). Three hikers checked out and proceeded toward Granite and Roundtop. They would later rejoin us on Iron. Our descent was also slow. Three hikers did not make the summit and we collected them on the return.

After returning to the campground, we enjoyed a magnificent potluck lunch, which had been advertised in the schedule write-up. Bridget and I used the occasion to wrap up last minute cooking details for the Oktoberfest, such as reviewing the recipe for muesli, which would be part of the Swiss style breakfast. Oktoberfest would be the following weekend.

The lunch party lasted about two hours. A few left, others merely stayed back in the campground, but about one dozen hikers bagged Iron#3. The pace was back to its customary swiftness. While on the summit the three hikers who did the loop trip met up with us and we all returned to the campground.