Heart Bar Peak, Sugarloaf Mountain, Granite Peaks, Tip Top Mountain, Mineral Mountain

26 October 1991

By: Patty Kline

Leaders: Frank Goodykoontz, Patty Kline

This was the coldest weather I had been in since I got caught in a snow storm trying to do Mt. Lyell in Yosemite the end of last June.

Half of the participants checked out after hearing the weather report Friday. Five of us made it to the roadhead for Heart Bar at 7:30 on Saturday morning. There were the 2 dedicated leaders (dedicated to going away most every weekend of the year regardless of weather to bag peaks), Tom Sakowych, Matt McBride and Evan Sammuels.

We were up and down Heart Bar in no time at all. Then we drove over to the Sugarloaf roadhead. Lunch was finished off quickly at top because it was in the 40's with a wind blowing.

We car caravanned over to the much lower roadhead for Granite where we camped for the night. A nice community dinner was served in Frank's van with seats for all. Tom Sakowych served his wonderful chicken soup recipe and I made a garbage bag salad. We then listened to the World Series before going to bed. It rained for a few hours that night.

In the morning, we observed a snow level down to 8000' from our view of the Big Bear mountains. The storm clouds looked pink and airy moving in from LA the night before at sunset.

Sunday morning, we left at 6:30 am. To us, it was really 7:30 am because we chose to observe Daylight time on this first morning of Standard Time.

Granite Peaks is one of my favorite HPS peaks because it is so hidden. The rocky outcroppings are nice too. We didn't drive in as far as the peak guide indicated thereby making a loop hike. We went on the far side of the peak after we summitted, then cut down a different gully to the road. We walked close to the road going back to our cars.

We went on to Mineral and Tip Top. This was a nice weekend with five peaks and dramatic weather.