There are 5 peaks in the Big Bear area that everyone is supposed to hike (Bertha, Delamar, Gold, Grey’s, and Sugarloaf) to get a Sierra Club patch. Dorie was missing Delamar and we had to bag it. It’s a very short 1.8-mile round trip, but the trail is faint and very steep. We made it, had a nice snack with views of snow-covered San Gorgonio. However, in researching how to get her patch, I found out that the summits had to be on a ranger guided hike. I don’t qualify.
The next day we headed north of Lake Arrowhead to hike The Pinnacles. The terrain here was more like the desert instead of the nice pine and juniper cover we had on Delamar. We almost felt we were back in Utah. There is a shooting range nearby and it’s a good thing we noticed it before our hike. Otherwise we’d been a little nervous hiking and hearing all the gunfire. The top plateau had several large boulders and is a popular climbing area for locals. The actual peak required a few good climbing moves. It was a strenuous 4.8 mile and 1,080 vertical climb. (click on any picture to see slide show)
The lake view from the top of Delamar was beautiful!
My knees were barking on both downhills, but the decomposed granite surfaces coming down Pinnacles was a real challenge for me!!