A Trip to the Top of Mount Lukens

Hi everyone.

I hope you are all well, and happy as can be. It's
midweek, and finally have time to share about the
adventures Java and I had this past weekend.

Because with height comes clarity Java and I set out
on Saturday to climb the highest point inside LA city
limits. Other than being the high point in the City
of Angels, Mt Lukens is notable for being the south
west most peak of the San Gabriel Mountain range.
locaed just north of the town of Sunland. It was once
the home of a fire look-out tower, but now houses a
large number of Radio towers, Cell sites, and repeater
stations; very much a monument to modern day
technology. One positive note from reaching the
summit was that both Java and I were irradiated from
top to bottom, so in theory we left the peak germ free
:-) Just exaggeration and kidding around of course -
I think! :-)

Once we actually found it, we discovered the that our
path to the top, Stonecreek Trail, was very well
maintained. It's a footpath with a constant,
moderately steep pitch, from the trail head to the
summit. The challenge in finding the trail after
crossing crossing Big Tujunga Creek. After spending
far too much time trying to find a dry means of
crossing I shed my foot-ware, and liberated Java from
his pack, then we proceeded to wade through the creek.

The creek itself is very nice, we passed a few spots
with some excellent swim holes. In fact there was a
small group that we encountered having the time of
their life jumping, diving, and splashing around.

Once past the creek, and after we back-tracked to find
it, the trail starts immediately up and only levels
out about 4 miles later at the top of ridge line to
the peak. Along the way, there are plenty of wild
flowers, grasses, ferns, small critters and birds to
observe. There is a nice granite rock formation
nestled in a ravine at the head of a small waterfall
about half-way up the trail. I had expected the trail
to be completely exposed, but after the first 1000 ft
of elevation gain, the trail was mostly under the
shade of oak trees, small conifers and the shade of
the mountain side.

Of course the higher we got the better our view of the
San Gabriels became, although not our visibility dis
not improve any. Regrettably, this past weekend the
greater LA area had some horrible air quality and what
would have otherwise been a spectacular view from the
summit, instead was a view of an endless, opaque brown
layer of smog that blanketed the entire LA basin as
far as I could see. To paraphrase my nephew Ariel,
who recently encountered the same sights, "Damn
Angelinos... take the bus already!"

The smog layer aside, the summit was still rewarding:
like I mentioned we got decontaminated, gratis; saw a
red feather hawk take flight and got a chance to see
the remnants of the snow that continues to linger our
local mountain tops.

Although considered strenuous (it was), in general the
hike was very good, and only slightly diminished by
the poor air quality.

Unlike the day before, Sunday was dedicated to
domestic endeavors, and my daily run.

Day Hike Summary: 8.5 miles total. 3300 ft elevation
gain, Summit Elevation = 5074 ft.

I'm glad to be alive, and loving it. I hope you are
too!

-Manny

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