| Peak | San Bernardino |
|---|---|
| Group | N/A |
| Trailhead | San Bernardino |
This was one of the most gorgeous hikes I have ever completed. My husband and I agree that this is now our favorite strenuous hike we’ve ever done.
On September 10th, my husband and started our 3rd backpacking adventure to the top of Bernardino Peak. We were anxious for this hike since it was 16.5 miles and San Jacinto and San Gorgonio were so strenuous and challenging. However, this hike didn’t have as much elevation gain as Gorgonio and it was spread out over a lot of distance. We made it to our campsite at Limber Pine Bench much faster than we anticipated (before lunch), so we set up camp, ate, and decided to summit that day, rather than the next. We saw so many woodpeckers—they squawked like a car alarm every time we passed. The last couple of miles to the summit were challenging, but it was nice to take breaks simply to look at all of the views on the way up. The views were amazing. My favorite view was from a lookout point just before the Washington Monument overlooking Vivian Creek (you can see so far). We had the summit to ourselves, which was nice because this was a big moment for me and my husband—to us we had just summited the last peak of the Six Pack and we were really excited to soak it all in.
We made our way back to Limber Pine Bench, ate dinner, and took in the night view. This was definitely one of the best camps we had ever stayed at because of the view and the wind shelters (which protected us from the wind/rain during the night). We were able to watch a thunderstorm in the distance (over the Santa Ana Mountains) in which the thunder strikes appeared red on the horizon over the glow of the night lights—very cool view!
The next day we got to wake up and really take our time eating breakfast and enjoying the views. Rain was off and on and there was a pretty rainbow. We journeyed back to the trailhead and now we’re ready to party!!!!! All done with the Six Pack!!!
