Seven Summits of Big Bear

Well with October arriving today and chance of snow in the forecast, it seems that fall is actually here and winter around the corner. So with that said, the Seven Summits of Big Bear 2011 will be coming to a close in the upcoming weeks as we start to take down signs and punches from the summits. Therefore if you are still trying to complete your summit quests then best be making plans to get them done in the next few weeks.

We have started the process of getting finishers patches for all of you who have completed all the summits this year and would like a patch.  I will begin accumulating names of each person that has completed all the summits.  We will be placing the order on Nov 1, so get those summits done and send me your information to make sure you get your finishers patch. Please send the following via email to heatherdevito22@gmail.com and put “Seven Summit finisher” in the subject line.

1- first and last name and age

2- picture of your completed punchcard AND/OR photo’s from the summits.

3- mailing address of where you want your patch(s) sent

Think that is it for now, thanks again for all the fun times this hiking season and we hope to see you again next year.

Part of the 6am crew at the summit

The Seven Summits crew took on San Gorgonio in large numbers last Saturday. They came from different trailheads, started at different times, but in the end the goal of summiting San Gorgonio was accomplished! To the left is a partial group photo of the crew that hiked from South Fork trailhead at 6am, took the Dry Lake route and summited around 1:00pm. This group included Robin and Rick, an engaged couple completing the Seven Summits together for the 2nd year in a row! The weather was beautiful and summit packed with hikers getting in their high altitude “high” before the summer ends.

Other groups were the 7am crew that included 13 year old Marshall who accomplished climbing all the Seven Summits this summer! Way to go Marshall! The majority of this group went up via Dry Lake, but came down via Dollar lake for a nice loop. There was also a crew that braved the cold nights and opted to spend the weekend camping at Dry Lake and summiting on Saturday. Nice job ladies! A few other groups opted for different routes to the summit, including Nat Cohen and his crew coming at it via Fish Creek.

Everyone had a great day and were treated to breathing taking views of Southern California from the highest peak in the area. Congrats to all who took on the challenge of climbing 11,499 feet, you made us proud!

Group hike to Sugarloaf on 9/3/11

Group had a great hike to Sugarloaf, most were getting ready for the big climb up to San Gorgonio. Thanks to everyone who made it, nice work.

The highest peak in the immediate Big Bear Valley will test your strength and stamina, but will provide some great views on the way up. Punch will stay up for a few more weeks, so if you didn’t make it up yet, get on up there!

This was the first group hike up to Butler Peak for the Seven Summits of Big Bear, due to the Butler Peak fires in 2007. We had a group of 40+ make the 12 miles roundtrip trek up to the  fire lookout. This even included 9 year old Makaela Baptista from Big Bear and 12 year old Matron from Woodland Hills, who both did amazing jobs on the long hike.  Ten month old Cayden Devito also made it to the top, Summit #5 for her, although she does get a little help from her mom and dad. Big Bear high school sophomore and Everest summiter, 15 year old Jordan Romero also joined us for the trek up, helping little sister Makeala along the way, even seen carrying her backpack for her at times. What a great big brother! All in all it was a great first trip up to the awesome peak and fire lookout.

We are now filling spots for the Sept 17^th hike up to San Gorgonio. The hike will be done in one day this year. Due to wilderness permits being required we have a limited number of spaces available. These spots will be given to hikers that have met the following requirements:

1) Have hiked at least 5 of the Seven Summits this year

2) Have hiked at least 2 of the summits with the group this year

3) Have hiked either Butler Peak or Sugarloaf  Mtn in UNDER 5 hours this year

If you meet all of these requirements and think you are ready for the 24 miles roundtrip and some serious elevation climbing, then please send an email to Heather at heatherdevito22@gmail.com

Spots will be given on a first come, first serve basis to those who qualify. If there is more than one member to your group, all members must meet the above requirements. Please write the full name of each qualified person interested in joining the hike.

We were able to get the Butler Peak details posted over the weekend. Thanks for your patience!

We’ve done most of our navigating with map and compass and did something wrong with the GPS we used when we did the route in June. That means we still don’t have the exact mileage, but we think our estimates are pretty close. Ted’s got plans to go on Wednesday with Grayson’s GPS, but if you plan on hiking Bulter Peak earlier than our group hike on Aug 13th AND have a GPS that can track your hike, please send us the mileage and track (would be soooo cool to start having GPS tracks available on this site…).

Please pay attention to the hike details for a crucial turn off the singletrack and on to the fireroad that you don’t want to miss. Also parking will be delicate at the entrance to Hanna Flats Campground, so please try to carpool if you can and park off to the sides of the road. When you’re parking, think of FIRETRUCKS, not just nimble jeeps, being able to get around your vehicle, and that’s not to mention the normal Saturday vehicle traffic that will be going by… What’s an extra 50 yards on an 11 mile hike to park your vehicle respectfully? Remember to also have your adventure pass visible.

See you up there!

Thanks to Scott Hoffman and Sasha the San Gorgonio punch is in place as of last week. It is located in the main black box that is cemented into the rocks at the summit. The punch is attached to our usual small laminated Seven Summits sign and the whole thing is simply placed in the box. Let’s hope folks are considerate and that it stays there. Thanks again to Scott and Sasha!

Delamar Mountain group hike was a fun and long one this weekend. Had almost 50 hikers join the action on another gorgeous Big Bear morning. Took a diffierent route this year, heading up Cougar Crest to the PCT instead of Polique Cyn Rd. Might have been longer, but hiking on trails is much nicer than fire roads, especially since part of Polique is now paved! The last part of getting to Delamar is a tough one due to the fallen trees, rock piles, overgrown old trail and I guess it’s a little steep at the end. Okay, yes it’s really steep at the top! But the views from “Little Delamar” and the blooming flowers along the PCT make it worth the efforts. Here is the group picture from the hike. Congrats to all that made the trek, way to hang in there!

Group picture prior to the start of the Delamar hike 2011

Here is the picture from the Gold Mtn hike, turns out it was one of the hottest days of the summer so far! I bet everyone on the trial that day would agree that it was a bit toasty   Nice job to everyone that was out there!

Group picture prior to the start of the 2011 Gold Mtn hike

Great day for a hike! Feel free to share links to your own collection of photos too! Doesn’t look like you can download the pics in the slideshow, so there’s thumbnail of the group photo which links to a version you can download.

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