Hike #1487
Red Box Three Peak Hike
May 18, 2022

Hike Leader:  Sam Prum

Meet at 8:00 am for start at 8:30 am.
Rabbits will hike at 7:00 am.

Please print your own hike descriptions and maps.

GPS Data: (One-way leg distances)
Red Box 4640 ft. ASL.
Mount Disappointment 5960 ft. ASL.
San Gabriel Peak 6161 ft. ASL.
Mount Deception 5796 ft. ASL.
Trailhead to Mt. Disappointment = 2.1 mi.; Elevation gain = 1330 ft.
Mt. Disappointment to San Gabriel Peak = 0.8 mi.; Elevation gain (from saddle) = 430 ft.
San Gabriel Peak to Mt. Deception = 1.8 mi.; Elevation gain (from saddle on paved road) = 260 ft.
Mt. Deception to Redbox = 2.0 mi.; Elevation loss = 1150 ft.
Latitude/longitude of trails: 34.250900 / -118.106504

Trailhead Directions:  Meet at Red Box Station at mileage paddle 38.38 on the Angeles Crest Highway (about 14 miles from I-210 at the Mt. Wilson road turn off).  There are restrooms at Red Box.

Summary:  We will have an opportunity to hike and climb to the top of three peaks on this outing, Mount Deception, Mount Disappointment and San Gabriel Peak.  As the government surveyors did in 1875, we will reach Mount Disappointment first.  The summit is cluttered with electronic installations and empty buildings dating from the 1950’s when an Army Nike missile station was located there.

At this point some of the group will probably eat lunch and head back down for refreshments.  But the remaining hardy souls will climb the west ridge of San Gabriel Peak to the summit where we will get an unmatched 360-degree panorama over the wrinkled San Gabriel Mountains while we eat lunch.  Mount Deception is north and west of the other peaks and is reached from a steep trail taking off from the paved Mount Disappointment fire road.  From the summit we will have a great view of Bear Canyon.

The Hike:  After walking up the Mount Wilson Road from Red Box about 0.4 mile, we take the San Gabriel Peak Trail (built by the JPL Hiking Club in 1988) 1.2 miles to the paved Mount Disappointment fire road and then walk another half mile up to Mount Disappointment at 5960 feet elevation and about 1330 feet gain from Red Box.  We then drop down to the saddle between San Gabriel Peak and Mount Disappointment and take the ridge trail 430 feet and 0.4 mile up to the peak at 6161 feet elevation.

After scrambling back down the trail to the saddle we will hike down the paved fire road to a point about 0.7 mile past the junction of the JPL San Gabriel Peak Trail where we reach a saddle at 5535 feet elevation.  Here we start up a steep trail 260 feet and 0.35 mile to the summit of Mount Deception at 5796 feet elevation.  It is all downhill from there as we first hike back down the paved fire road, then the paved Mount Wilson road to Red Box.  Total distance if all three peaks are climbed is 6.7 miles with 2050 feet elevation gain.

BYO refreshments at Red Box.

Google Earth photo - Three Peaks Hike

2022-07-30