"Because in the end,
you won't remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing the lawn,
--- climb that damn mountain."
~ Jack Kerouac
Making a list and doing a number of hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains was on my Updated Bucket List. I have hiked Orchard Camp previously, with Art W, Gerard and Steve Ho in March 2009, with Donna in January 2012, alone in September 2015, and with Tracy and Jen in February 2016. But I wanted to do it again in YEAR 77, and figured it would be a good "warm-up" for the Grand Canyon hike that Art, Gerard, Harry and I will be doing in April.
The Weather: We checked our schedules in early March and were able to find a day, Thursday, March 22nd, when the four of us could all do the hike. Then as that day approached, so did a series of rain storms, with fairly significant rain predicted for our area on March 21st and 22nd. We not only had heavy rain on our planned hike day, it rained during that night - i.e. the early morning of March 23rd. But at daylight Friday morning, March 23rd, the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing. We worried a little about the condition of the trail, including possible hill-slides, but Harry and I decided to do the hike anyway. We felt we could always turn around if conditions looked dangerous. Art and Gerard opted out.
The Trail: The hiking book Trails of the Angeles shows Orchard Camp as a 9-mile round trip, 2000 foot elevation gain, moderate classification hike. Our Strava App calculates it closer to an 8-mile round trip. It's a steep, narrow trail and as I have gotten older, I'm thinking of the classification as more strenuous than moderate. Below are a couple of photos of the trail - at first leaving the valley (there are hikers behind us about 1/2 way up in the photo), then higher up in the shade and beautiful greenery. The middle photo is on the way up, the last on the way down (I know - they look the same).
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This trail is the same trail they use for the annual Mt. Wilson Trail Run and it is a little scary to visualize a bunch of runners going both ways on such a narrow trail, and with such steep cliffs off one side. See A Little History of the Mt. Wilson Trail Run in a section below.
The Hike: It was a beautiful, cool morning as we drove to the trailhead. The roads and trees were wet, but the sky was only partly cloudy and everything smelled wonderful. Later, during the hike, Harry taught me a new word - Petrichor, which means "the scent of rain." We parked on the street in front of Lizzie's Trail Inn, which I consider the trailhead since we have to walk about 150 yards up a steep road before we get to the "official trailhead." See A Little History of Lizzie's Trail Inn in a section below. The first photo below shows Lizzie's Trail Inn on the right and the road up to the trailhead; next is the actual trailhead; the signs on the second row are informational, the first listing some rules and giving credit to the trail crews, and the second showing the trail all the way to Mt Wilson, with stops, mileage, and elevation along the way. This sign is old and difficult to read even in person. Signs along the trail have been replaced from time to time, and this one needs to be replaced. If you enlarge it might be better than shown below.
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There were quite a few other hikers on the trail this morning, most going only as far as First Water which is about 1/2 way to Orchard Camp. We stopped for a short rest before First Water and at First Water, long enough at both places for a photo. The sign at First Water says 2.0 miles to Orchard Camp, and the sign further up the trail (which is a new sign), says 8/10 of a mile to Orchard Camp.
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We began the hike a little after 8:00 am and reached Orchard Camp about 10:30 am. Harry would have arrived sooner but he was kind enough to go at my speed. The photos below are taken at what's left of the Orchard Camp Lodge - just portions of the foundation. See A Little History of Orchard Camp in a section below.
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We left Orchard Camp after about 1/2 hour of rest and power bars. We walked down the trail
in about 1 hour 45 minutes, arriving back at the car at about 12:45 pm. You have a different perspective of the scenery on the way down of course. It's almost like a different hike. The photo of Harry below is on the way down as the valley came into view. What an enjoyable day it was! The weather and scenery were wonderful, and the conversation interesting and fun.
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A Little History of Lizzie's Trail Inn:
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The historic Lizzie's Trail Inn is at the foot of the Mount Wilson Trail in Sierra Madre and now houses one of the town's historical museums. The "Great Hiking Era" is said to have been from 1895 to 1938. Lizzie's was built around 1895 to serve food to hikers. By the 1920s it was a "Jumpin Joint" - first a diner, then a speakeasy. Rowdy crowds came for dancing, to play slot machines and drink moonshine from the neighboring still. Over the years the Inn evolved into a well-known night spot. A 1940s menu from the Inn advertises a compete meal for $1.50. The building sat vacant for many years, but Sierra Madre historians helped preserve the building and establish it as a museum in the 1990s. Next door, Richardson House began as a small 2-room pioneer cabin built by John Richardson in the 1890s. It was added onto in the 1920's and 1930's, and today holds historic artifacts from the early days of Sierra Madre. Both museums are open only on Saturday mornings.
A Little History of Orchard Camp:
From the late 1800s to the early 1940s, it was popular for people in the Los Angeles area to hike on weekends for their enjoyment to various lodges in the San Gabriel Mountains. Orchard Camp was such a lodge. This area has some really interesting history that goes back as far as 1864, when Benjamin Wilson built a trail to the mountain top to bring timber down to the valley. There was a construction camp built about mid-way between Sierra Madre and Mt. Wilson, and some mountaineers planted a small groove of fruit trees there. The place became known as Orchard Camp, and in 1890, James NcNally made Orchard Camp into a trail resort. For fifty years this was one of the most popular resorts in the mountain range. Its peak year was in 1911 when over 40,000 persons signed the guest register. During what was called The Great Hiking Era, every Saturday morning, hundreds of people would disembark from the red Pacific Electric trolley cars in Sierra Madre, and hike up the crowded footpath to either Orchard Camp, or on up to the resorts at the top of Mt. Wilson, for the weekend. This amazes me that so many people did this, because it is a rigorous climb up the trail. Orchard Camp was abandoned in 1940 and soon after the trail became overgrown and eroded and by 1953 was posted as "Unsafe to travel." Thankfully, a group of Sierra Madre volunteers worked hard to restore the trail which was reopened in 1960.
A Little History of the Mt. Wilson Trail Run:
The Mt. Wilson Trail Race is one of the oldest races in California. The first Mt. Wilson Trail Race was held in 1908. Runners raced to Mount Wilson, rested for a half hour, and then raced back down. The race was held sporadically from the first year until the late 1940‘s and early 1950‘s when it was abandoned completely. In the fall of 1965 the race was revived and is now an annual Sierra Madre event. The current race course is 8.6 miles in length going from downtown Sierra Madre to Orchard Camp and back. The elevation gain is over 2,160 feet. The course has been changed by fires, earthquakes, and erosion and for this reason no official record is recognized. Emergency support is stationed at strategic points along the course to give any necessary aid. Boy and Cub Scouts Troops provide water at the 2.3 mile marker and at the turnaround point. The race is now put on by a volunteer committee and is sponsored by local businesses and organizations.
Prior Hikes: Photos below: The first two are me at Orchard Camp in January 2012 and at First Water in September 2015; the next two photos are Tracy, Jen and me at First Water and at Orchard Camp in February 2016.
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