Hike #1295
Red Box Three-peak Hike
October 12, 2016
John Morton, Hike Leader
GPS Data: (One-way leg distances)
Redbox to Trailhead = 0.6 mi.; Elevation gain = 330 ft.
Trailhead to Mt. Disappointment = 1.7 mi.; Elevation gain = 1177 ft.
Mt. Disappointment to San Gabriel Peak = 0.8 mi.; Elevation gain (from saddle) = 280 ft.
San Gabriel Peak to Mt. Deception = 1.8 mi.; Elevation gain (from saddle) = 200 ft.
Mt. Deception to Redbox = 2.0 mi.; Elevation loss = 1290 ft.
Trailhead Directions: Meet at Red Box Station at mileage paddle 38.38 on the Angeles Crest Highway (about 14 miles from I-210 at the Mt. Wilson road turn off). There are restrooms at Red Box.
Summary: We will have an opportunity to hike and climb to the top of three peaks on this outing, Mount Deception, Mount Disappointment and San Gabriel Peak. As the government surveyors did in 1875, we will reach Mount Disappointment first. The summit is cluttered with electronic installations and empty buildings dating from the 1950’s when an Army Nike missile station was located there.
At this point some of the group will probably eat lunch and head back down for refreshments. But the remaining hardy souls will climb the west ridge of San Gabriel Peak to the summit where we will get an unmatched 360-degree panorama over the wrinkled San Gabriel Mountains while we eat lunch. Mount Deception is north and west of the other peaks and is reached from a steep trail taking off from the paved Mount Disappointment fire road. From the summit we will have a great view of Bear Canyon.
The Hike: After walking up the Mount Wilson Road from Red Box about .4 mile, we take the San Gabriel Peak Trail (built by the JPL Hiking Club in 1988) 1.4 miles to the upper end of the Mount Disappointment fire road and then walk another half mile up to Mount Disappointment at 5960 feet elevation and about 1300 feet gain from Red Box. We then drop down to the saddle between San Gabriel Peak and Mount Disappointment and take the ridge trail 400 feet and .4 mile up to the peak at 6161 feet elevation.
After scrambling back down the trail to the saddle we will hike down the paved fire road to a point about one mile past the junction of the stub road leading up to Mount Disappointment where we reach a saddle at 5450 feet elevation. Here we start up a steep trail almost 400 feet and .35 mile to the summit of Mount Deception at 5796 feet elevation. It is all downhill from there as we first hike back down the paved fire road, then the paved Mount Wilson road to Red Box.
Refreshments at Red Box.
