Zig Zagging up the Trail The long, enduring summer finally came to an end. I figured the only way to exit such a splendid season is to go for the gusto and end it with not only a bang, but a burst, bam, boom, too. 

I set out with a group of 14 to conquer the San Bernardino Mountains’ granddaddy of them all, Mount San Gorgonio. At 11,499 feet this monolithic mountain is quite intimidating from afar, but it’s even more intimidating up close. Once I stepped foot onto the grand façade I could feel its massive earthly body of granite jabbing at my body.  

I knew I was in for a fight to reach the top of this impressive mountain, so the only thing I could do was put my head down and throw punches. In other words I went down swinging. Heck, I kicked, scratched and clawed my way to the summit. And in the end I came out on top, and won!   

It was an organized group hike, which was the final leg of a series of hikes called “The Seven Summits.” I admit I skipped the first six summits, but I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to surmount the Big Kahuna. Of course I couldn’t have done it without the team.     

The team consisted of three guides, Teddy D. and Heather D., our fearless leaders from Mountain Fitness Center and Peter from Equada Outfitters. Not only is Peter a quality scout and guide, but later that evening we discovered his hidden talents as a gourmet chef. He cooked the entire group of 14 one mean Chicken Pad Tai meal with the fixings.  I’ve never had it so good after a gut wrenching hike of eight hours, five of which were with a 30 Relaxing at Base Camp - The Food was Deliciouslb. backpack.  

The rest the troop were recreational hikers like me, who were part of the “Seven Summits” summer hiking series. Congratulations to Ron from Monrovia, Dan from BBC, and Kiwis Peter and Jeanine for hiking all seven summits this year. Also, a big shout out for Robin the Ski Bum. She took out six summits this year with one to go. She only needs to bag Bertha Peak to secure all seven summits. She says she plans to conquer this easy to moderate tail by the end of October. Rounding up the team was Christie the Notti Girl from Nottinghams, Jeanine and Sittin’ Tom from some deserted island and Gray Dog from Big Bear Hostel with his lovely girlfriend Melissa. And let’s not forget the Seven Summits’ one and only courageous mascot, Chief (the half wolf, half husky howling hound). By the way thanks to Sittin’ Tom for carrying up an extra 32 oz. Fosters for an evening nightcap.  

I have to admit I suffered a few burdens on the hike. The troublesome snags I ran into included sun block on my left eyeball, lack of sleep from the night before (only 4 hours), a wretched up left knee from descending down the mountain, sore muscles all over, a narrowing pain in my left shoulder, no bird book to identify an unusual looking bird with a white head, and a difficult night of sleeping without a pillow. The most painful however was on the last day, when I took a bee sting for my teammate Ski Bum. She is allergic to bee stings, so I bravely sacrificed my body to take the sting on my shin to save her from a dreadful breakout of hives.  

So in the end, I asked why go through so much pain. It’s simple; the pleasure of accomplishment outweighs the pain tenfold every time!  In other words when you soar high all other sores are low.    

Climb to the Peak,  

Daniel Pea    

At the Summit of Mt. San Gorgonio