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To the
Top of Mt. Lowe the Easy Way
By
Land ~ Sea Discovery Group Staff
Mueller
Tunnel |
I’m sad
to say it but if you have a schedule like mine the only way to the
top of Mt. Lowe is the easy way. Getting up early on a Sunday morning
my son-in-law Jesse and I drove up beautiful Angeles Crest Highway
to the Ranger station at Red Box. We turned in here and admired
the view before we drove on to Eaton Saddle, which is the first
spot on the road you can look to the south over the San Gabriel
Valley. We parked near the Mt. Lowe fire road gate being careful
not to block it in any way. As we walked the road in a slight gradual
climb off our left was the sprawling Eaton Canyon. Soon we were
rounding the south face of San Gabriel Peak and entering Mueller
Tunnel. Before entering the tunnel I told Jesse that a few months
ago at a slide show, John Robinson told of his hair-raising venture
across what was then called the old Cliff Trail. Jesse asked where
it was and nearly died when I showed him the trail along the sheer
rock face in front of us. “No way.” He yelled. “Not
for us, that’s for sure.” I said.
Continuing on
to the saddle between Mt. Markham and San Gabriel Peak we were soon
passed by a trio of mountain bikers on the long trip down to Pasadena.
Just past the saddle a well-marked trail led us up across the southwest
slope of Mt. Markham on finally to another saddle, which turned
out to be Markham and Mt. Lowe. From here we traveled around the
east side of Mt. Lowe. When we were last there the trail was in
good shape and well marked.
Old
trail sign in oak tree. |
Jesse spotted
an old sign in an oak that the tree had grown around. We could
make out that it said “TO MT. LOWE.” There was an
arrow and what looked like the distance in miles but we could
not read the rusted sign that well. Thanks to this old oak this
is one of the few remaining signs along the Mt. Lowe Railway.
Sea
of clouds on Mount Lowe. Photo by Jake Brouwer
2001 |
Once on the
top cool breezes and spectacular views greeted us. This was a
three-mile roundtrip. The easy way to Mt. Lowe.
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