A steep, loose hike near Acton, where the San Gabriels meet the Mojave Desert.
While the stats on this hike are modest - just 5 miles RT and with ~2100' of gain - it's steep. But, what really slows you down is how loose it is. And, to make it even more interesting, I rucked it.
I took the marked trail, which starts about a couple miles from the Angeles Forest Highway, up Mt Emma Road. There's a sign on the road but you'll have trouble finding it unless you have a map.
From the sign it's a single track trail up to Mt Emma, and just before the peak you might be thinking that's all the work you'll have to do. That's way off: you still have an old dirt road between you and the other peak, Old Mount Emma.
And, not only is the road very loose in parts - ball bearings on hardpacked loose - it's very steep. So steep that I'd be afraid to drive it lest I recreate the final scene from The Italian Job (but without the gold). There are two major V-shaped dips and getting up and over those is not something I'd like to do in anything other than an ATV or a dirt bike. In some parts I did a slow trot to get through the loose parts, in others I walked just to the side of the road.
I wasn't expecting to see anyone and that was partly correct: I didn't see any hikers. I did however see several dirt bikers (or a few of them going back and forth). And, I not only saw a hunter, I heard shots. There were also a lot of empty shell casings on Old Mt Emma. That was disturbing not just from the eco standpoint, but also because from there you can't see over the hill enough to make sure you're not firing on people.
Navigating was so easy I thought I couldn't mess it up, but on the way back I kept going straight instead of taking a sharp right turn. As a result I had to walk back along the road. I did so facing traffic and seeing a mini truck careening down the road at high speed right at me due to the curvature of the road was a little more excitement than I wanted.
Note also that there's a major false summit: what you might think is Old Mount Emma is just a bump on the ridge, and there's a deep V-shaped depression in the way.
Despite that and the loose surface, it was a good hike and I might do it again because the views are good and it's good training.
