Shields Peak, Anderson Peak, San Bernardino East, San Bernardino Peak
29 July 1989
By: Jon Sheldon
Leaders: Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon
Fourteen crazy peakbaggers met at 7:30AM at the Forsee Ridge Trailhead on
Saturday. Of course, it was a beautiful sunny day - just as the leaders
predicted.
We had no mishaps on the way up (or on the way down): purple lupines, yellow
lilies (Alan Coles spotted them), red monkey flowers, yellow monkey flowers ...
the flowers make the tedious and steep climb interesting.
We hit the ridge at about 11:00AM and took a long refreshing break at Trail Fork
Springs. Then we set off to do "bouldery" Shields. Alan Coles, Evan Samuels and
Carleton Shay decided to head down the north ridge from San Bernardino Peak to
John's Meadow and then back to the cars.
Apparently, it's a semi-viable route: they got back to the cars at about the
same time as us, but with more scratches. They hit BRUSH! Alan (whose idea it
was) said it was worth the effort, because the rest of us missed a lot of
wildflowers in John's Meadow, including many that Alan had never seen before.
Alan also said he wouldn't do it again - so hike at your own risk.
The rest of us went down the usual way at our own pace. We all got back within a
half hour of each other. The earliest by 5:30PM, the latest by 6:00PM. It was
kind of a strenuous day (15+ miles, 5000' gain), but most of us finished with a
grin.
The participants were (besides the leaders): Evan Samuels, Daniel Bleiberg,
Darcie Miller, John Southworth, Rocky Morton, George Pfeiffer, Carleton Shay,
Marc Ratner, Karl Kraues, Jim Peterson, and Bob Ferguson.
Footnote: Frank Goodykoontz, Dave Welbourn and Georgina Burns got their own
permit, started a little earlier, and did the peaks in a different order. We
kept running into them. The last we saw of Frank and Georgina was at about
2:00PM when they were on their way to do Anderson and Shields and then Charlton
and Dobbs and return via Vivian Creek. Dave Welbourn (who has a lot more sense)
decided to return to his car. We hope that Frank and Georgina made it back
before dark, but we doubt it!
