Two mountains were left on my San Bernardino List of the Sierra Club 100 Peaks List (actually 280 mtns.)
Cleghorn and Cajon Mountains, located on the western edge of the San Bernardino Range, are only about a mile from each other, but to reach them both in a one day hike is impossible due to the terrain. Just getting to them is logistically challenging. In order not to make two trips. I decided to combine a 4WD, mountain bike and hike to bag them both in one day.
I started out on Cleghorn Road (2N47) exit off I-15 for a drive by/walk up Cleghorn Mountain. The 4W drive was long and somewhat tedious, but the walk-up Cleghorn Mountain was a non-event. It was barely ¼ mile and 100 feet elevation. I got a great view of Cajon Pass and a long train making the climb.
I went down the 4WD road to Silverwood Lake and then part way up 2N29 before switching to the mountain bike. I didn’t think I was so out of shape for biking, but I was. There were gnats and I was going uphill so slowly that I couldn’t go faster than the gnats. I finally got to the road/path to Cajon Mountain which I thought I could bike up. The road was blocked and was nothing more than a large cobblestone path. My biking skills could not handle that, so I stared hiking the next mile in my mountain bike shoes. Not comfortable. I came across a half-eaten deer carcass, so I picked up a pocket full of rocks. I saw the u-tube video where a runner was able to fend off a mountain lion attack with rocks and I wanted to be prepared. I went past Cajon Mountain to Cajon Lookout for a nice view of the San Gabriel Range. The hike up Cajon Mountain was terrible. The buckthorn was over my head and finding the trail someone had hacked years ago through the brush was extremely difficult.
Biking downhill to my truck was a much more pleasant experience. I’m very glad I can cross these last two mountains off my list. (click on any picture to view slides)
