Led by Gail Wise and Jennifer Dooley
Jeff Johnson
Gail and Jen led a group of hardy GLS hikers to Pacifico Mountain, one of the San Gabriel peaks that: has a good trail; is not right off the Angeles Crest Highway; is prominent enough that you can see south over L.A. to the Pacific Ocean and north over the Mojave Desert to the Sierra Nevada, at least on days when the air is clear.
It was a long hike, 13 miles and 2300 feet of gain and loss, but everyone had a good time and made it back to the cars exhausted.
You may be wondering: Why it is called Pacifico Mountain? And isn’t it actually Mount Pacifico, like it says on the Forest Service signs? Here is what the Hundred Peaks website offers readers on this subject:
The origin of this name remains obscure. Pacifico is Spanish for “peaceful”. One story is that Bob Waterman named it because he felt that the summit was as pleasant as this name would imply. On the other hand, Will Thrall contended that it was named by Tiburcio Vásquez (1835-75) who used Sheep Springs, on the west side of the mountain, as one of his hideouts. Neither story has ever been confirmed. It has also been suggested that whoever named it did so because the Pacific can sometimes be seen from here. This was the last peak Will Thrall ever climbed – he had his 80th Birthday party and climb here (1953).
Called “Mount Pacifico” on original HPS List.
Name first appears on USGS Tujunga quad (1900).
Peak was on the original 1946 HPS Peak List. Weldon Heald climbed this peak in 1940.
Here are some pictures taken on the November 8 hike.
