North Maggie Mountain
Ascent of North Maggie Mountain (West Slope, class 2), April 19, 2025
Timeline:
April 18, 2025. After returning from a weeklong trip to Chicago, Madison and New Haven, I hastily dropped my luggage at home, filled the back of my 4Runner with various camping and hiking items, and departed at 14:30 to Springville. There was traffic getting out of LA, on account of Easter weekend. I arrived in Springville shortly after 17:30 and went to have dinner at the Cowpuncher's Café, a great eatery where I was treated in a most friendly manner. My plan was then too drive as close as I could to Hidden Falls campground, though I strongly suspected the road would be closed well short of that point, potentially adding miles to the following day. I first went up Bear Creek Road, but it was closed at the Mountain Home Conservation Camp (a prison). On the way down, a man who was walking his dog informed me that the alternative approach, via Balch Park Road, would also be closed. But having read in Bob Burd's report that the western entrance might afford fewer additional miles of hiking, I thought this option would be doable. So I went that way, up a beautiful winding road. 15.6 miles from the intersection with Bear Creek Road, I came to two signs barring the way. This was well-short of where Bob had parked, past Frasier Mill Campground. I parked, and went to sleep early in the back of the 4Runner, feeling jetlagged from my East Coast trip.
April 19, 2025. Around 12:30, I head noise from an idling truck. Its owner pulled up to my car and gently asked if I was fine. I said I was only trying to get some shuteye, but I was parked in the middle of the road and it must have seemed strange to him. The truck went back and forth a couple more times that night, waking me up each time, and causing slight anxiety. But when I woke up at 5:00, I saw that one of the signs had been pulled aside, allowing passage further on up the road. I had a breakfast of coffee and shortbread, and started driving at 5:50. After 2.2 miles I came to the "official" winter closure locked gate. There was no passing through that one. I parked in front of it (too close, as I would later discover), and started hiking at 6:05, happy to have shaved 4.4 miles off of my day (however, I was still 5.25 miles from Hidden Falls campground, and that had the effect of more than doubling my day's mileage). The initial portion followed the road, past Frasier Mill Campground, a grove of giant sequoias (including the Hercules tree, where an entire room was once carved out), to the Shake Camp campground. There, I was able to locate the upper trail that travels west of the Tule River to rejoin the river trail a couple of miles upstream. This trail was covered with debris and fallen trees from the winter, which slowed me down. I had initially planned to climb both North Maggie Mountain and Moses Mountain, but the extra miles of hiking made me rethink. Considering that the way up Moses was east facing, while I would climb the west slope of North Maggie, and that the former peak had some class 3 climbing (which could be treacherous with snow), I decided to prioritize the latter.
At the junction between the upper trail and the river trail, I realized that my plan entailed having to cross the river, which in this early season was flowing very full from melting snow. I was wearing approach shoes, and there was no feasible dry crossing, so I plunged head on into the icy water, soaking my shoes through and through. I started following the river trail, through numerous giant sequoias. Soon the ground turned to continuous snow. I had not anticipated that, and had brought no snow gear whatsoever - even leaving some hiking poles in the car (the rest of the day made me wish I had brought them along). My approach shoes afforded appropriate traction, even though the early morning snow was frozen solid, so I decided to see how far I could go. On I went, till I reached the (snow free) west slope of North Maggie Mountain. It was uphill from there, on steep brushy terrain, till the snow became continuous again at around 8,000 feet of elevation. I made the best of it, and soon reached a bowl with steeper terrain leading to the north ridge of the peak. The snow was still frozen, and the going was treacherous. I used a sharp stick as an improvised ice axe, till I gained the gentler slopes north of the summit. I reached the top at 11:50, 5:45 hours from the start. Not too bad for 5,200 feet of gain and 9.3 miles, given the conditions. I looked around for a register near the summit, but could find none (maybe it was buried in the snow). I ate half of my sandwich, and took in the views toward Coyote Peaks, Angora Mountain and Olancha Peak to the east, Maggie Mountain and the Maggie Lakes to the south, etc. The view west, however, was obstructed by clouds that had just rolled in suddenly. These would soon surround me, creating an ethereal atmosphere.
I left the summit after half an hour, a bit worried about having to descend steep hardpacked snow. The descent went reasonably well, and knowing the terrain a bit better, I chose a more efficient way down. The snow had started to soften a bit, giving better purchase. But the weather was taking a turn for the worse, and I had to wear a fleece and gloves. The return went smoothly, and I was back on trail around 14:00. This time, I decided to follow the river trail to the Hidden Falls campground, thinking (wrongly) that it would prevent me from having to cross the river again. By then my shoes and socks had dried enough to be almost comfortable. At 15:15 I arrived at the campground only to see that there was no bridge - one had to walk across a concrete berm over which the river was flowing. So my shoes got soaked again. I took a break at the campground to wring out my socks, and on I went, uphill along the dirt road.
Now following a well-graded road, my pace picked up, and I covered the remaining 5.6 miles at a much faster clip, despite the wet shoes and the weight of the day. Much of the way went through the devastation of the 2020 Castle Fire. I was soon back at a major trail junction, where my GPS watch helped me identify the correct turn. I took more time to enjoy the giant sequoias on the return, stopping briefly to take a closer look at the Hercules tree.
It was 17:15 when I reached the car. I quickly changed into dry socks and shoes, made some tea and settled down in the back of my car to rest a bit and warm up before the drive home, leaving the trunk door open. I heard a truck pull up and a man, sporting a prominent grey moustache in the style of Sam Elliot, came into my field of vision. He started to scold me in very stern terms for parking too close to the gate. I told him I thought the gate was locked for the season, but he said that loggers still go through - including himself. Mind you, I was not obstructing passage, at least not for cars and trucks, but he said that logging equipment would not have been able to pass, and that if a forest fire happened, fire crews would have mercilessly tossed my 4Runner into the ditch. I was lucky that it was Easter weekend and that everything was wet from recent rain and snowmelt. I apologized profusely and repeatedly, and the tone of our conversation turned friendly. Kevin (that was the man's name) had lived and worked in the area for 21 years. He dwelled in a trailer home (though he did not say where exactly), was single, and twice retired. He said he was trying to retire for a third time, but was working with a logging company and a sawmill, and had the keys to the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest during the time of road closures (May to October). He asked me where I had been during the whole day, and did not seem too impressed by my answer, though he seemed reassured that I had good intentions and was not some lunatic. He told me to come back when the forest opened, after Memorial Day, to see more of the giant sequoias at the main grove, which I had not gone through. I stepped out to shake his hand and introduce myself properly, describing some of the day's adventures (especially the wet feet) and he soon left. I lied down for a few more minutes and then began the drive back to LA, reaching home at 21:40.
(11:07 hours elapsed, 10:01 hours moving, 19.98 miles, 6,175 feet of elevation gain).