Just another of our public services

We make the mistakes so you don't have to. What can I say...we're just givers, you know?

Climbing Modjeska Peak, the second highest point in Orange County, had been on our to-do list for quite a while. Modjeska is the hump next to Mt. Santiago. Together they create the saddle in Saddleback, a name one finds attached to many things in this part of Orange County, including, of course, the Saddleback range in the Santa Ana Mountains. You can recognize Modjeska by its relative baldness. Its partner, Santiago, is virtually covered with various towers and structures. We wanted to climb Modjeska before tackling Santiago, a longer hike with more elevation gain.

Well, we've checked it off, but we could have had a lot more fun doing so.

Some pre-trip research informed me that hiking Modjeska would cover a little over ten miles with about 2500 feet of ascent (the latter turned out to be about right, the former, not so much). I was also aware that most of our hiking would take place on truck trails. These dirt service roads are familiar to many who hike in the Santa Anas, Main Divide Road being a prime example. In fact, I had waited for the Maple Springs Truck trail to be open to the public (there is a Cleveland NFS gate at the nominal end of Silverado Canyon Road) so that we wouldn't have to hike eight extra miles (four miles along Maple Springs TT the pavement ends and that's where we parked to begin our hike).

For some reason it never occurred to me to think about all the other people - non-hiking types - who might also be waiting for the road to open, and therein lay our first mistake: by the time we climbed the four miles along Maple Springs trail to reach the junction with Main Divide road we were pretty well-dusted and disgusted by all of the off-road vehicle traffic (Laura spent much of the time holding a bandana over her mouth). Lesson #1 - When hiking these multi-use roads wait for a weekday opportunity, or only travel on roads where the gate is closed.

Some guides advise that after reaching the Maple Springs junction you should take Main Divide road south. This leads to an area with a couple of towers where there is a turnoff onto another service road that leads to Modjeska Peak. But we'd gotten a tip, from someone who'd done this hike, to look for a single-track trail that jumps off of Main Divide soon after the turn. We quickly opted for less noise, dust and distraction, found the the small, barely-noticeable trail (it climbs steeply off the road to the left just after passing through the Main Divide gate) and headed up, up and away.

The trail was, as advertised, steep but still a huge improvement over the buzz of the truck trails. We climbed through some thick shrubby areas and even some forest, enjoying nice views of the foothills and lowlands to the west before finally meeting the service road after about a mile. This rocky path eventually provided nice views to the east, including San Gorgonio and San Jacinto, on an otherwise uneventful last push to the top.

After lunch at the summit we headed down. When we got to the point where our single-track ascent intersected the service road, we decided to see what we'd missed when we left Main Divide road earlier. Perhaps it was the food and drink, or the satisfaction of summiting, that played with our usually reliable cognitive faculties. Maybe we were just sun-addled. But for some reason we figured most of the off-roaders would be gone, and, well...we like loops. So off we imprudently embarked upon our second and third mistakes: the motorized traffic was by no means done (head-slap!), and we had not really thought about how much time and distance this loop would add to the hike.

It took quite a while just to hoof it back to the junction with Maple Springs trail, and despite the steady, not-at-all-challenging downhill grade our return trip felt interminable. Between the intermittent but regular drone and dust kicked up by cars and motorcycles, the collecting of cans, bottles and other trash (which I, in my cynicism, blamed on the off-roaders, as if hikers never left trash anywhere) and a hike that was supposed to be ten miles turning out to be almost thirteen miles, we ended up back at our car just a tad cranky (well, more me than Laura, she was mostly just tired).

A little post-hike tea (for her) and soda (for me) helped clear the dust and the irritation. But it's another reminder to prepare well for these kinds of outings. What's most disappointing, though, is that usually at the end of such a substantial hike we have seen some great things, taken some great photos, and accomplished something worthwhile. This time we had the accomplishment of reaching the peak, but not much else to show for thirteen miles, except some particularly dusty shoes.

Info: Distance - 12.8 miles, Elevation gain - 2591' (steady up, then steady down), Rating - Moderate/difficult (summer heat can make this hike a bear)

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