Modjeska Peak, Santiago Peak

8 January 1990

By: Luella Martin

Leaders: Luella Martin, Erich Fickle

Thirty met at 6am at the Santa Ana Canyon carpool point. We were on the trail by 7am. David Eisenberg joined us at the trailhead in Modjeska Canyon making us 31. We hiked the Harding Truck Trail arriving on Modjeska Peak for a short lunch. We had excellent views of everything from Mt Wilson to Mt Palomar, plus the Coronado Islands, San Clemente Island & Santa Catalina Island, because of a mild Santa Ana. We had a second short lunch on Santigo Peak. We stayed on the longer road between the peaks as the north side trail had icy snow. Several hikers were surprised that there was snow in Orange County.

We enjoyed sunset views over Santa Catalina and the lights of Orange County on the way down. No flashlights were needed as we had moonlight. Besides the excellent views afforded by the ridgetop location of the Harding Truck Trail, an added advantage is a locked gate at the bottom. The group stayed together very well. We were all back to the cars by 7:10pm after 22.5 miles and 5400 gain.