Eleven met at the Diamond Bar rideshare by 7:05 AM. After receiving driving
instructions for the Grays Peak trailhead, we set out. When Erich and I arrived,
Betty Stirratt was there to meet us. Betty made 12.
Grays Peak trail is relatively new. We first noticed it Labor Day weekend, 1996
while peakbagging in the Big Bear area. The signed trailhead is on the left side
of Hwy 38 about 3 miles east of Big Bear Dam if you are coming from LA via
330/18 to Big Bear. If you are coming from Redlands via Hwy 38 or from the high
desert via 18, the trailhead is located 1/2 mile west of Fawnskin on the right
side of Hwy 38.
The Grays Peak trail is a pleasant alternative to the rocky/brushy route in the
peak guide. As an added bonus, there is no dirt road driving. The trail goes
above highway 38 for about 1/3 mile then climbs to a dirt road. The trail joins
the road. From here continue uphill to a signed junction with a second road. Go
right at this junction. A short way further, there is a posted junction, here
the road/trail goes right about a 1/4 mile to a little creek. A sign states two
miles to Grays Peak. The trail leaves the road and follows the stream for a
short way, crosses the creek and swings over to the northwest side of a ridge
which it follows to about 500 feet elevation gain below the summit of Grays
Peak. The trail then takes a long swing around Grays Peak first toward Butler
Peak then up the little valley to the west of Grays' summit. The Forest Service
Trail ends at a rocky view peak about 60 feet below the true summit. A use trail
is cut from the Forest Service yellow post through some trees, over a fallen
log, through some ceanothus brambles to the rocky summit. Our group of twelve
took one hour to climb the three miles to the summit. Along the way we saw tree
outlined views from the San Gorgonio Ridge, Big Bear Lake, and Butler Peak. We
crossed a couple of small patches of snow on the north side of the peak.
After returning to Grout Bay, we had a short lunch break at the picnic area. Here
David and Elaine Baldwin and Janet Damen signed out. True Hundred Peakers, they
had to do something for the first time instead of Bertha for the second. The
rest of us caravanned to the Cougar Crest trailhead which is located about two
miles east of Fawnskin on the east side of Hwy 38, 1/2 mile west of the new
Forest Service Discovery Center.
Cougar Crest trail is very different from the Grays Peak trail. The Grays Peak
trail is in granite boulders, Black Oak, White Fir, and Yellow Pine, with an
understory of ceanothus and manzanita. The Cougar Crest trail is in a
Pinyon/Juniper/Mountain Mahogany forest. The Grays Peak trail is granite gravel.
The Cougar Crest is dirt with lots of broken pieces of sedimentary rock. The
views from the Cougar Crest are better because the forest is shorter, which
provides increasingly good views.
Nine of us set out up the open canyon floor, shaded by an occasional Yellow Pine.
We hiked past the mine ruins where the trail bed narrows and begins to
switchback steeply up a ridge. From here the views of Big Bear Lake, Sugarloaf
Mountain, and San Gorgonio Wilderness only got better. Andrew signed out here
and went back to cars, because of blisters. The eight of us continued up to the
junction of the PCT where we turned south with increasingly nice views of
heavily snow clad San Gorgonio. At the first jeep road crossing, we left the PCT
and climbed steeply about 1/2 of a mile up the jeep road to the summit of Bertha
Peak. Here we had good views of very green Hitchcock Meadow in Holcomb Valley
and the wonderful view across Big Bear Lake to the snowy peaks of the San
Gorgonio Wilderness. We were back at the cars by about 4:10. Erich and I went to
the new Discovery Center afterwards.
The others on the hike not mentioned were Yasmin Sibulo, Don Nelson, Annemarie
Schoffer, Marty Friedman, and Teresa Smith
