What's a good elevation training trail that doesn't have snow/ice currently?

[Linda N]

Hello SoCal Hikers!

For my training for Mt. Whitney, I am looking for high elevation trails that I can do to train and prepare myself. I did Mt. Wilson, #1 on the SoCal Six Pack of Peaks, which was great. Next would be Cucamonga Peak via Icehouse Canyon but I’ve been hearing it’s not safe right now with still snow there. If you know of a good hike (with current good conditions) that I can do within a max of 2 hours driving distance from Downtown LA, please let me know and it would be very appreciated. Thank you in advance. Looking to hike this Sunday 3/13/16.

Warm Regards,
Linda

[Philip Y]

Hi Linda,

I don’t know too much about the various hiking trails (at elevation) that don’t have snow and ice. With that said, the El Cajon Mountain Trail is a very challenging one. It’s highest elevation is 3639, but the elevation gain is 4040. This is listed as a hard hike on alltrails.com I did this one on Feb 6 and it was challenging and will give you a great workout! I found that for every 1000 feet I went up, I gave back 500 feet. Same for going down, for every 1000 feet I went down, I had to go back up 500 feet. It is about two hours south of LA off the I-15. It’s not elevation training, but it is great conditioning. I was going to go to Icehouse canyon this coming weekend and just hike around to see where I can go without special gear. I am thinking twice about that and will probably do a local (San Diego County) hike. I plan to go up to Icehouse Canyon in the near future though, just to get out there and learn the trails. Not so much to bag the peak. I probably won’t attempt that until the summer. Good luck on your search!

Best regards,

Phil

[Linda N]

Thanks so much Phillip! 🙂

[Jeff Hester]

Linda, here are a few great ones that are snow-free (almost always):

• Santiago Peak in Orange County. 16 miles RT and 4000′ vertical gain<
• Mt Wilson via the Mt Wilson Trail. Same peak, but different route.
• Mt Lukens – the highest point in LA city limits
• San Gabriel Peak, Mt Disappointment, Mt Deception, Mt Markham and Mt Lowe – string them together for one big hike

Hope this helps!

[Linda N]

Thanks so much Jeff! After looking through your list of hikes the other day, I actually decided to do the 5 peaks one for this Sunday. Can’t wait! Will definitely do all of your other suggestions too. Your site is such a fantastic resource and it’s very appreciated.

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