Santiago Peak Hike, Saturday Jan 14

[bwarbiany]

Hey, myself and a couple of buddies will be doing this hike on Saturday Jan 14... It's Santiago Peak (aka Saddleback), the highest point in OC. At 15+ miles and ~4,000 ft of elevation gain, it's going to be a strenuous hike.

Meeting at the Holy Jim Falls trailhead about 8:00ish. Be aware that you need an Adventure Pass (available at most sporting goods stores, $5 daily or $30/year) to park at the trailhead, and also that the road into the trailhead is gnarly and probably requires a high-clearance vehicle.

If you will be planning to join, let me know.

[JonW]

I put it on my calendar..... to drink a beer and think about you that day!

[brahn]

So many more fun hikes of similar difficulty out there, it's tough to justify this one. The thing it has going for it right now is less snow than most of those. I'd join you, but that's my anniversary weekend so I'm out.

[bwarbiany]

Darn, sorry you can't make it...

Having done this hike before, what sort of conditions do you think we might expect given that there's going to be a lot of rain this week? Based on the forecast, the rain should mostly be cleared up on Thursday, with some chance of rain on Friday.

[brahn]

On the trail, I think you'd generally be fine just muddy. The stream crossing might be a little more challenging than normal.

The bigger issue you're going to have is that the road to the trailhead appears to be closed due to a mudslide around 12/20 that they haven't repaired.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/clev ... width=full

From the look of it you can't drive or hike the road right now.

Edit: news release with pictures! I don't think you'll want to be going out there...

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/clevelan ... EPRD528237

[bwarbiany]

Well, crap... That doesn't look good. Thanks for the info!

Might have to make a last-minute change... Again.