A couple days ago I had some business up on Alamo Mountain and once I'd wrapped that up I decided to relocate to the near by McDonald Peak. Not much of a peak, this one. The most challenging part of this half mile, 400 foot climb is locating the trailhead. I think I had a pleasant 20 minute charge up the thing, barely got all the kinks from all that driving worked out by the time I summited. Didn't really matter, I only dropped by for the view.
For some reason this summit is on the Angeles Sierra Club 100 Peaks List (follow the link for directions). Most of the summits named on that list have been there since the 1950's or earlier. Aside from the views south of Sulfer Peak and Topatopa Mtn, or the right-next-door views of the massive Cobblestone, I can't really think of a reason for putting this nob on a must-do list. That being said, I very much enjoyed getting a good side-on view of Cobblestone. Ahh, memories of yucca, heat, and steep stuff. Cobblestone, surely one of the best peaks in our forest. And a lot of history in that summit box too. Nico would probably agree.
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| White Mountain Ridge and Cobblestone Peak |
Getting back to McDonald, the peak this post is nominally about, this peak doesn't see much traffic. Mine was only the 3rd notation is the journal for 2013. Glancing through the journal I put together that like many of the easier HPS peaks, this one gets climbed mostly by Sierra Club group hikers. If you haven't seen one of these group hikes in action it can be rather alarming, especially for those of us who tend to do things quickly and quietly. Seeing 10-20 people on an obscure summit trail that you thought you had all to yourself can certainly upend that peace and quiet you went there for in the first place. The Clubbers usually drive up from LA with a list of several peaks to hit in a day. Oh well, different strokes for different folks I guess. McDonald is a nice piney summit without any of the work involved, good views too. Just make sure you've got something else to do in the area because this peak isn't much of a mountain.
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| A view due south from the summit. Sulfer Peak and Topatopa Mountain are the foreground summits. |
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