Madison, Jeff and I celebrated the new year with a hike to Peak 3221, which is near Switzer, off the Gabrielino Trail. Lizzie Miller, in her 1895 book The True Way, referred to it as Burnt Peak.
Based on minimal scouting, I thought we'd encounter a quarter-mile of dense brush, so we went prepared, bringing loppers and a machete.
Starting at 8am meant that we found a nice parking spot in the lower lot at Switzer. We headed down the Gabrielino, enjoying the early morning and peaceful vibe of the uncrowded canyon. The water was flowing strong, but not too strong. The crossings posed very little challenge. At the old camp we noticed new furnishings fashioned out of oak branches. We chilled on the couch before ascending out of the canyon bottom.
Our second leg took us up and around Switzer Falls, which was partially visible through the trees and brush. Then we came to Lizzie's Vista, where Rose Peak and the Bear Canyons come into view.
Continuing along the trail we soon hit our launching point for Burnt Peak. At first it looked like the wall of brush that I had promised the dudes.
But while I was peeing, Jeff and Madison found a hidden entrance to an already cut path.
The route follows a very narrow ridge, referred to as "the backbone" by Lizzie Miller. The cut path weaves through head-high chaparral. It resembles lines quickly created by firefighters for practice, but it might also be someone's personal project to their favorite, secret peak. While the trimming was substantial, the tread had not been worked much, if at all. Approaching a small bump we missed a bypass segment and had to negotiate a steep drop on the other side.
On the return we found the bypass and trimmed the overgrown entrance which we had missed.
Despite having a precut path, it was slightly overgrown, and we did put our tools to work improving the clearance here and there, especially on the final push to the summit.
The summit already had a rock pile, but no register or benchmark that we could find. There were a couple anchors with attached wires, and along the ridge we found pole stumps, so there must have been a telephone wire back in the day, probably going to Pasadena via Oakwilde.
We trimmed a space for lounging around the summit and then set out the liquor.
Yes, the dudes imbibe.
Madison brought a bottle of Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog, and the three of us polished it off like it was candy.
I brought Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey and beer. It's safe to say we got fairly hammered and were happy to be on a new peak for the new year. We left a register, but by then I was pretty drunk and forgot to write the peak name at the top.
We stumbled around the summit admiring the views. I looked for a benchmark but couldn't find one. We were treated to some skywriting that endorsed Alabama in the Rose Bowl game.
Then we gathered our gear and wobbled down the trail, thankful for the work done while sober.
Jeff had never been to Switzer, so we took a quick side trip to the waterfall before heading back to the car.
We noticed a spring coming straight out of the rock near the picnic area. A sign clearly said the water was unsafe to drink. But Jeff drank some anyway, because signs don't mean shit to a real dude who does what he wants, where he wants.
