Survey of Trail up Guatay Mountain

December 16, 2012

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On December 16, 2012, I participated in a hike from the Pine Creek Trailhead in Pine Valley to the summit of Guatay Mountain sponsored by the Take a Hike group on meetup.com.

The first part of the trail may be the remains of an old fire road, or perhaps an old alignment of Highway 80, which it parallels. It is not on the topo, which was compiled in 1960 and revised in 1988.

The turnoff to the summit is not marked, but it is obvious.

The topo shows that the trail to the summit of Guatay Mountain runs along the course of an old firebreak. This is not surprising. It runs straight up and down fairly steep slopes in some places.

The weather was not ideal. The ground was wet, and it was cloudy and misty, so we didn't see much from the summit. However, we were luck in one respect. The trail in some places is covered with loose dirt and sand, which can be quite slippery when dry, but fairly firm when slightly wet.

The total length of the trail is slightly under three miles.

The coordinates of the summit are N 32 50.615 W 116 34.464.

The coordinates of the beginning of the trail are N 32 50.372 W 116 32.524. It can be quite hard to find; the only definite landmark is a small pipe gate set back from the road.

Transcript of survey.
Image annotations.
Data plotted on topo

Philip J. Erdelsky