Pine Mountain, Idyllwild

On April 28th this year, Patsy and I made an exploratory loop between the Morris and Forbes Ranch roads on the east side of the Desert Divide. The Desert Divide is a spur ridge that runs due south from Red Tahquitz Peak on the San Jacinto Massif. We started by the Joe Scherman GSA (Girl Scouts of America) camp on Morris Ranch Road, crossing their property heading NW to pick up a trail that led to the Forbes Ranch Road. Then we headed up to Forbes Saddle on the Desert Divide and thence south along the Divide, bagging Pyramid, Pine Mountain and Lion peaks along the way before dropping back down to the car on Morris Ranch Road through some more private property. These three peaks are all featured on the Sierra Club's HPS (Hundred Peaks Section) list of notable peaks in Southern California.

When is a summit not a summit? The summit of Pine Mountain (7,054' 33.38'55"N 116.33'37"W), as defined by the Sierra Club's HPS, Pine Mountain #2, is not the summit. They opine that, "It is not necessary to climb the large, plinth-shaped rock at the south end of the summit ridge." Nevertheless, this monolith is the tallest feature on the mountain. Picky, picky. But who cares if it's "necessary"? Alpinistas ask only, "Is it climbable?"

Pine Mountain is topped by an impressive granite monolith that stands 60 feet high at its closest point to the ground. It looks unassailable, although it also looked like there might be a cairn on the top. In April we didn't venture over to the monolith for a closer look, but now we were still flush with success from staying the course (and staying on course!) of the ever so hard 2001 Soft Body Classic. We determined to see if we really could climb Pine Mountain.

Sunday morning, Shawn, Patsy and I arrived at the Morris Ranch Road trailhead. This time we came prepared with a climbing rope, harnesses and shoes, along with a small rack of hardware. The Morris Ranch Road offers the fastest access to the Desert Divide, only about an hour to reach the saddle. We headed south and soon enough caught sight of the monolith on Pine Mountain. It does look a wee bit intimidating, even from a distance.

The hardest part of the hike is the section between the trail and Pine Mountain. From the obvious saddle between the trail and the peak a well-ducked trail leads around the SW side of the mountain. Make sure you find this trail! We reached the false summit of Pine Mountain at noon.

After eating lunch we heading over to the monolith. The closest face was encrusted with coarse black lichen. The face looked both impressive and impregnable, somewhat reminiscent of the monolith in "2001 A Space Odyssey". We believed that there might be a way to climb this face; a rock was set at the base which made it at least look as though someone had tried. It really looked desperate though, poor pro. and covered with lichen, and so we walked around looking for another approach. The SE, lichen-free, prow offered the way.

We roped up and I led off. Easy moves led to a step across a chasm and then up and traverse right beneath a vertical step (good pro). Climbing up and back to the left led to the exposed, yet easy, prow itself. I would rate the climbing about 5.3. All you really need for protection are a couple of your smallest camming devices. I was soon on the broad summit. There was a cairn! There were also two bolts for the rappel. Excellent! Thus, the question of how to descend was handily solved. But who else had been up there and who placed the bolts remains a mystery as there was no register.

Before descending we piled a few more rocks on the cairn and backed up the frail cord running between the two bolts with our own webbing. Who knows how long that cord had been there? It was brittle and bleached white. As we rapped off the black lichen crumbled beneath our feet. I'm so glad I didn't have to try climbing the first route we looked at.

On the way back, we made a detour to Cedar Spring campground. There was a decent flow of water, something on the order of a couple of gallons per minute, so this is likely a reliable year-round water source. There were also two very large campfire rings and adequate camping space for a couple of dozen hikers.

This exploratory climb turned out to be a really enjoyable Sunday romp. When we started out we had no idea whether we would be carrying the climbing gear in vain. Maybe it would be too easy and a rope unnecessary, or perhaps it would be too hard. We were lucky as, with the rope, it turned out to be good fun.

The Sierra Club is doing a disservice by discouraging enjoyment of this fine climb. Pine Mountain offers one of the most rewarding summit experiences in Southern California.

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