October 31, 2018
I’ve documented a few hikes I’ve taken with my step-daughter(Echo Mountain and Mt. Lowe), most of these have been a lower elevations and the vegetation has been less than foresty. The kid has been yearning for a hike in the forest, I suggested Mt. Pinos, about a 90 minute drive from Glendale. The problem with Mt. Pinos is that due to it’s elevation it actually gets quite a bit of snow, sometimes sticking around until early July in places. While some might not find driving and hiking in 4-6 feet of snow to be a problem(fellow jackal jl questioned my dedication), both the kid and I are native Southern Californians and are neither used to driving or hiking in snow. We finally found a day that worked with her schedule at the hospital and that would be snowless and proceed to drive up to the mountain. Most of the climb to the summit is by car, ending at a parking lot at the 8400′ level. The trail to the summit is actually a road(there’s an Air Force radar installation at the summit) and it’s only about a 2 mile hike.
Mt. Pinos is a 8847 foot high mountain northwest of Los Angeles and is the highest point in both Ventura County and Kern County(the county line bisects the summit). It’s made previous appearances in On The Road as the foreground for star trails that were shot in Lockwood Valley at the foot of the mountain as well as a Milky Way picture that was shot on the mountain. Immediately north of the mountain is the San Andres Fault that runs though a valley separating Mt. Pinos from the mountains further north at the southern edge of the Central Valley. The native Chumash people considered the mountain to be the center of the World.
Read MoreMt. Pinos is a 8847 foot high mountain northwest of Los Angeles and is the highest point in both Ventura County and Kern County(the county line bisects the summit). It’s made previous appearances in On The Road as the foreground for star trails that were shot in Lockwood Valley at the foot of the mountain as well as a Milky Way picture that was shot on the mountain. Immediately north of the mountain is the San Andres Fault that runs though a valley separating Mt. Pinos from the mountains further north at the southern edge of the Central Valley. The native Chumash people considered the mountain to be the center of the World.
View to the North.
Once we reached the summit, we first went to the condor viewing area. They had some benches and some interpretive displays about the condors. Unfortunately there was a guy there that was talking rather loudly to himself(he could have been on the phone), so we went to the western flank of the summit. The summit is pretty large and flat. This picture looks north with the Central Valley in the haze to the right and the Coastal Range on the left. The mountains in the foreground to the right are on the other side of the San Andres Fault that runs though the valley.
