The view looking west from the Mt. Waterman trail over the cloud-covered San Gabriel Valley. Mt. Baldy and Cucamonga Peak in the distance. Photo Nancy Beverly.
On the Angeles Crest Hwy the morning of the hike. Photo Sandra Hwang.
Led by Nancy Beverley and Anne Mullins
By Nancy Beverly
The drive up to Mt. Waterman via Angeles Crest Highway was crazy — we started out in drizzle, then it rained, then we were in such heavy cloud cover we could barely see the road in front of us. I kept wondering if I was going to have to cancel the hike because the conditions were so wet. But then around Vetter Mt., things started to clear up a bit…and by the time we got to the Waterman parking area, nearly clear skies! Once again, like several other hikes I’ve done this spring, we were ABOVE the clouds!
We had ten lovely hikers on this expedition of six miles roundtrip, up to the 8038′ peak of Mt. Waterman.
Big thanks to Anne Mullins, a long-time Sierra Club pal, for being my co-lead / sweep.
GLS hikers on the Mt. Waterman trail. Photo Anne Mullins.GLS hikers at the intersection of the trail to the top of Waterman and the trail toward Twin Peaks to the south and Three Points to the west. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Wallflower by the trail. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Snowplant emerging from the forest floor by the trail. Photo Nancy Beverly.
These dead trees on the slopes of Mt. Waterman were probably killed by the most recent of the many fires that have burned across the mountain in recent decades. The snarly tops of these trees show that they were infected by mistletoe before the last fire so they were weakened and less likely to survive than other trees nearby. Photo Nancy Beverly.
This hollow tree trunk lying by the trail shows evidence of more than one fire. One fire sent burning debris down the slope where it came to rest against the uphill side of the tree, burning through the protective layer of bark. The tree was left standing but the heart of the tree was open to start rotting away. Then when the next fire came, the interior of the tree was open and hollow so embers falling inside the tree set the inside on fire. This fire, or the next one, could have been the one that killed the tree. On these trails, you can see trees that have been burned inside like this but are still standing and still growing. Photo Nancy Beverly.
