by Jennifer Dooley
On December 20th, GLS made a long awaited return visit to Strawberry Peak in the Angeles National Forest. This 7.6-mile round trip hike was another temporary casualty of the Station Fire, which burned approximately 252 square miles. The fire was started by an arsonist on August 26, 2009 and was not 100% contained until October 16th, 2009.
Our hardy, thighs-of-steel group was led by the duo of Gail and Grace. After meeting at the La Canada rideshare point and occasionally getting our hellos drowned out by wind-up-toy-sounding sports cars on their way up the hill, we organized ourselves into carpool klatches and made our own trek up to the Red Box ranger station (obeying all posted speed limits..mostly).
As we left Red Box on foot, (elev. 4640’), the weather was brisk and partly cloudy, the sun shining through the clouds in places. Layers were at the ready, should a breeze kick up. **Spoiler alert: It did…Brrrrrr!** After crossing Highway 2 to the trailhead, we followed the trail as it ascended moderately, hugging the rocky mountainside. Reaching the saddle, we noticed that someone had left a turn-around arrow in the dirt via white chalk. Was this a sign? A missive from the wilderness that only the most footloose and fancy-
free explorers need apply to continue to the summit of Strawberry Peak? Um…not sure… Anyhoodle, we ignored all cautionary omens, explicit, implied, or imagined, and switched modes from two-limb drive to four-limb drive in anticipation of the scramble to the top. What a scramble it was! Nary a thigh was left unburnt by the frequent need to hoist oneself over boulders. Many legs also had close encounters of the prickly kind, courtesy of the yucca plants lining the trail. (Pro-tip: If one finds themselves lost in the forest, hug a tree, not a yucca. Yuccas give notoriously unfriendly hugs.)
Nearing the peak after crawling past a couple of false (alarm) peaks, we were pleased to see patches of snow at the summitof Strawberry Peak (Elev. 6160’). Alas, it turned out to not be quite enough for a legitimate snowball fight. Some of us had staked out targets and were thwarted for lack of ammo…drat.
We enjoyed a breezy, chilly lunch with fantastic views at every cardinal direction. There was a good deal of snow on neighboring peaks, and snow-capped Mount Baldy was prominently visible. After our quick nosh, we gingerly began our descent. What scrambles up must scramble down! Back at Red Box, Nancy graciously shared her most delicious birthday cake (Happy Birthday, NB!!). For those of you that slept in, here is what you missed: Yellow cake with gentle citrus notes of undetermined origin (orange zest, maybe?) and fresh raspberry filling, all topped off with dark chocolate frosting / floral decoration. Please, no drooling; your keyboard thanks you.
In sum, a fantastic time was had by the group, and sore legs the next day brought back fun memories of our outing!
