McPherson Peak, Peak Mountain

13 April 1991

By: Alan Coles

This trip was rescheduled from the March date due to snow and wet conditions. I was going to cancel this trip due to lack of interest but George Schroedter, Evan Samuels, Dorothy Pallas and Delores Holladay were interested in going so along with Janet and I, we met at Aliso campground early Saturday morning. After some discussion on trail conditions we elected to do the McPherson Pk trail.

The trail has been reworked and is in fine condition for 95% of the way. I am aware that it is being worked on in order to reroute the final portion of the trail near the summit. However, heavy snow collapsed brush over the old trail making the last few hundred yards to the summit an arduous chore. We eventually managed and arrived around 11. There were still 5-6' snow drifts along the ridge but most of the mountain was clear. We then did Peak Mtn and returned via Hog Pen Trail which is in excellent shape.

Afterwards we went over to the Cuyama Buckhorn where I had my first Ostrich burger. Later I escorted George and Dorothy to the Fox Mtn trail where they spent the night and climbed the peak on Sunday. The rest of us went home that evening.