Who: Just Me
When: December 16th - 17th
Why: Lets get the hell out of here!!!
Due to budget restraints and flat out lack of time I haven't been able
to get out in of the city for some time now. I have hit the local OHV
area but thats really not a true get away. Ive come to the realization
that I need these sporadic trips to the middle of nowhere in order to
stay sane.
My latest trip was a last second idea. Head over to the Lyle Creek
Valley and camp Pacifico II. Its a camp site several of us have
camped before and named Pacifico II because of its geographical
resemblance of the Mount Pacifico camp site in the Angeles Forrest
range.  

Thankfully I was able to get out of work early that evening. I headed
out at around 8pm. My truck was already mostly packed. All I needed
to do was gas up and make a stop at the store for supplies.

I got to the trail head at around 10pm. The Lyle Creep canyon was
extremely cold that night. At about 3000ft level the temperature was
hovering in the low 40's to upper 30's.
I had in mind that I wanted to camp Pacifico II but I did not know if I
would be able to drive the last portion of the trail. The portion of the
trail we like to call Malcolm's Hill (he was the first to get his truck up it)
stops all but the most able 4x4 trucks from reaching the peak that the
camp site sits on.
The drive to Malcolm's hill is relatively short drive from the entrance of
the Lyle Creek valley. 95% of the trail is graded and sees allot of
recreation vehicle traffic.  Its really actually a boring drive at night.
During the day it is much better because of some very nice scenic
views of the Northwester portion of the San Bernardino Mountain
ranges.
Once I reached the last part of the trail I was up at about 6500ft
elevation. There was still a lot of snow and ice on the ground from a
small storm that had come through the previous weekend. I had
serious doubts that I would be able to do Malcolm's Hill. Just as I
feared it was sprinkled with snow and ice filled the many ruts carved
into the face of the hill.
With more determination than I normally wield while  off roading I
made an attempt on one of the 4 ways that Malcolm's Hill can be
negotiated. I quickly found it to be too icy so I tried the same route
Malcolm had made a few months ago. On my first attempt at the
slope I actually made very good progress, getting about half way up
before loosing traction on the ice. Against my better judgement I
adjusted my position be spinning my tires in a semi controlled
manner. I shifted the truck from facing straight up the slope to a more
sideways direction. The potential stupid move worked and with some
more maneuvering I got enough traction to get all the way up the hill.

I got to the camp site and started a fire. I hadn't planned on a fire but
as luck would have it the previous occupants of the camp left some
nice dry wood in the fire pit. The gauges on my truck showed I was at
7500ft and it was a chilly 18 degrees. With the 5 to 10mph breeze I'm
sure wind chill put the temp into the low teens. With a medium size
fire going i pulled out my handy dandy canvas recliner, sat back and
relaxed. I ended the evening some hours later. Not wanting to tend
the fire all night i folded down the seats in my truck and bedded down
inside.

The next morning I awoke to a spectacular view of the surrounding
mountains......
Fog and low clouds filled the local valleys and canyons making
for an almost surreal landscape.
My camp at Pacifico II. Note the north side of
Mount Baldy in the background.
At my leisure I pulled out the gear needed to cook up some grub.
On the menu for breakfast were Eggs, corn beef hash, sausage, OJ
and coffee.
After Breakfast I packed up. On my way off the camp site peak I
drove by a group of Jeeps that had just made the drive up Malcolm's
Hill. They gave me some strained looks as I made my way by them
in 4Low 1st gear. Just past them but still withing an ears shot I
yelled out, "Go Chevy!" Just to razzle the Jeep guys. It gave the guys I
could see a smile.

And then the descent. Below are two pictures from midway down
Malcolm's hill. Most of the hill is roughly at a 45 degree slope,
however up near the top there are sections closer to 50 degrees
and are held together by pine tree roots.
Not more than 10 minutes from the camp site is an open area that connects to
a hiking trail. The trail leads up a set of ridge lines that connect to Mount Baldy.
I stopped and hoofed up the trail stopping at a plateau a mile or two from
where I parked.

Once I got back to the road It was mid day and I wanted to try out two trails I had
noticed were open the night before that had not been open earlier this year.
The drive down from the area I was spectacular. The low clouds and fog were
still lingering keeping everything above 5000ft crystal clear.
Down near the cloud line visibility went down to
5 feet at times. Wonder what it looks like in a
cloud? Here is what it looks like.....









Yes, looks like the gray box but this is what i was
driving through at times.
Lyle Creek Camping Trip 12-16-05
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