December 14th 2008

4.8 miles             575 ft elevation change

This is another short hike necessitated by attendance at a murder mystery party the night before and the anticipated “Artic blast that is expected to bring heavy winds, bone-cold temperatures, snow and rain”. Cheeseboro Canyon is an area we have hiked over the last twenty years or so but not as much recently since it became popular with cyclists, some of whom if not attempting to run you down at least cover the defenseless hiker in a coating of dust.

The parking lot is fairly full, not a good sign, but a pair of park volunteers in Santa hats are greeting hikers and cyclists alike. We avoid the more travelled canyon trail and strike out uphill on the Modelo trail, disturbing a perched kestrel as we go. It is crisp, in the low fifties but the clear sky belies the storm warnings. There is some grass sprouting at the side of the trail but the hills remain brown.

Modelo Ridge

Attaining the ridge the views are impressive with puffy cloud hanging away to the south over the ocean. The last time we did this part of the route was on a pitch black evening in November with our Thursday Night Hikers when we celebrated Deirdre’s birthday. We descend from the ridge to the picnic table that was the site of much frivolity that evening last month. Instead of staggering back along the canyon as we did that night, we cross over and climb towards Cheeseboro Ridge.

Cafe au lait

The wind is gentle but chilly and so we camp under an oak tree for coffee before ascending the ridge. A pair of cyclists pass and stop for a stretch. The man tries to convince his female companion that biking up the ridge northward will be more fun than the alternatives, of which there are several at this juncture. While not totally convinced she follows him up the ridge to the north. We climb in the opposite direction to join the ridge running south. At this point, Deirdre, who has just discarded one of her under jackets, produces a scarf to wrap around her head. This is cold weather for California!

What storm?

There is a little more cloud approaching from the west but the air is clear. Over to the east we can see the front range of the San Gabriel mountains with Mount Baldy, at just over 10,000 feet and some sixty miles away, peeping over their shoulder. Just a little to the south of Baldy, Mount San Gorgonio at 11,500 feet, thrusts itself through the haze. This is some one hundred miles away and would require more than a scarf for warmth. The more immediate view offers Ladyface to the south and the Boney ridge, which I visited the previous weekend, to the west. 

Homeward.

We descend into Cheeseboro Canyon passing the apparently pathetic attempts at revegetation. Why is a tractor here in the park? The non-native species are not about to surrender their territory! We reach the parking lot, now a little quieter, and drive off, still under clear skies, for a more exhausting bout of Christmas shopping .

 

P.S. The storm struck with a vengance later that evening!