Backpacker – September 2019

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019
62 BACKPACKER.COM

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OVERNIGHT

SAN GORGONIO

MOUNTAIN

San Gorgonio Wilderness

This hike to the top of the tallest

peak in Southern California (11,499

feet) is a locals’ rite of passage. It

travels 16.6 miles (round-trip) on

the Vivian Creek Trail, ascends

nearly a vertical mile (5,209 feet),

and leaves the trees below for views

of 10,833-foot San Jacinto and the

Tra nsverse R a nge. Ca mp at High

Creek Camp (mile 4.8) to split the

climb. Trailhead Vivian (34.0794,

-116.8835) 82 miles ea st of L A

Season June to October Permit

Required (free; reser ve up to 90 days

in advance); bit.do/SanGorgPermit

Info sgwa.org

MULTIDAY

SILVER

MOCCASIN TRAIL

Angeles National Forest

Thru-hike this 53-mile sneak route

in the forest to the north and you’ll

pass from canyons to the heights

of 9,399-foot Mt. Baden-Powell.

Trailhead Vincent Gap (34.3737,

-117.7521) 92 miles northwest of LA

Shuttle car Chantry Pass (34.1957,

-1 18 .0225) 76 mi les sout hwes t

of Vincent Gap Season June and

September to October Permit None

Info http://www.fs.usda.gov/angeles

Los Angeles

DAYHIKE

COOPER CANYON FALLS

San Gabriel Mountains National

Monument

Find peace and quiet, clean water,

and fresh air just outside the city

on a 3.1-mile (round-trip) hike to a

waterfall in the San Gabriels. Start

on the Burk ha r t Tra il, descending in

the periodic shade of Douglas fir and

Jeffrey pines. After about a mile, the

trail forks—keep right, then scram-

ble down to the left (use the 15-foot

fixed rope) to the waterfall where

ferns line the canyon f loor.

In spring, the watery roar drifts

uphill like a summons, but in late

summer, the falls slow to a trickle

threading down a mossy wall. Look

for tiny trout in the pool below.

And while relaxing beside a cool,

fern-lined waterfall is the principal

charm of the hike, for Rosales, the

best part comes a few weeks after

she’s led a group hike for Latino

Outdoors, when participants call

her to say, “Oh, we went out aga in.

Thanks for showing us how.”

Trailhead Buckhorn Campground

(34.3400, -117.9196) 56 miles north-

west of L A Season Ye a r - r o u n d

Permit $5 daily pass; purchase at

the trailhead Info www

.fs.usda.gov/main/angeles

Maricela Rosales

OUTDOOR BRANDS

COORDINATOR, LATINO

OUTDOORS

WHEN MARICELA ROSALES

lobbies California lawmakers on

behalf of public lands, it ’s per-

sonal. “I was once an inner-city

kid and I understand why it’s

important for children and fami-

lies to have these things,” she

says. “It connects us to some-

thing bigger than ourselves.”

Growing up in central Los

Angeles, Rosales’s neighbor-

hood parks weren’t safe and the

mountains on the horizon were

out of reach. “I really wanted to

be part of these spaces,” she

says. “I just didn’t know how.”

She didn’t solve the riddle

until she attended college at UC

Riverside, when she fell in love

with the desert.

She now tells people taking

their first dayhikes what she

wishes she’d been told: “You

don’t need to go to the moun-

tains, you can go to the local

community garden or a park and

really enjoy nature in its simplest

form,” she says. “What you do

outdoors is up to you.”

San Gorgonio

Mountain’s

snow-capped

summit rises

above the desert

heat in Joshua

Tre e.

YO

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G

U

ID

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Hike

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