Friendly Ice House Lizard

Vital Statistics

Estimated mileage: 9.5 (a bit more for Banana Nut and Raisin Bread!)
Estimated elevation gain: ~3400
Time: Just over 7 hours (With a bit less than 3 hours of stop time)
Trail Conditions: Good to Ice House Saddle, use trail to Timber Mountain is ok (if steep! average grade of 30%) and only goes halfway, not hard to find your way to Timber though
Trail Goodies: Beef jerky, smokehouse almonds, Cheez-Its Duoz Monterey Jack (Banana Nut’s favorite cheese!) and Smoked Cheddar, Wasa multigrain crisps, Panmarino, and Peaches
Camel Factor: Straun: 5 liters, Banana Nut: 3 liters, Raisin Bread: 2.5 liters, Total: 10.5 liters (way more than we needed this time, but after coming close because someone didn’t bring enough last time…)
Other Notes:N/A
BIA(Breads in Attendance): Raisin Bread, Banana Nut, and Straun

Map:

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Straun’s Hike Summary

Well, it should come as no surprise that we didn’t get started til around 10 a.m. Parking was really full today; we had to park even further up the road towards Mt. Baldy, around a fifth of a mile from the parking lot, which added a fun little uphill jaunt to the end of the hike… There was a car parked in the Ranger’s parking space this time, but no ranger checking wilderness permits. The trail was just as busy as the completely packed parking lot would indicate it should be. We were making pretty good time towards the wilderness boundary, so for fun we decided to greet people we met with as many different languages as we could. We got some odd looks, and also some people who responded in the same language but with a look on their face that said they weren’t really sure why they’d just done so. We’d had our fun, and had reached the wilderness border, so snack time!

Right before the border there was a particularly noisy chipmunk I got some video of:

I really loved the way this guy flipped his tail with every chirp.

The Cheez-Its Duoz received thumbs up from all! With those, some beef jerky, some panmarino and a bit of rest we were on our way! Somewhere on the way up to Ice House saddle, probably about half way? I found a nice little wild rasp/blackberry bush (haven’t identified exactly what kind yet) and tried a yellow one, it was tart but seemed ripe, yummy either way! Relatively quiet except for the occasional chipmunk on the way to the saddle. The saddle itself was VERY windy, actually requiring jackets. The wind was coming from the north west over the saddle to the south east. We stopped for more snack time and then decided we’d just head up to Timber and turn around today.

Wild Berries

I’d seen a little trail heading from the saddle to Timber that wasn’t part of the Three Ts trail, and also noticed what I thought was a use trail at the corners of some of the switchbacks last time so I decided to try exploring it this time. It seems to cut about fourth tenths to half a mile off the distance, at the cost of being much steeper! There is a fairly well defined trail until a bit after it hooks into the main trail the second time, trail seems to just stop there. I checked my map and GPS and looked at what I could see ahead of me, all of which suggested I was headed in exactly the right direction for the top of Timber. The rest of the terrain looked easy enough to navigate even without a trail so I kept going, and made it to the top fairly quickly, just over 20 minutes (~.5 miles and up 650-700 feet). So, nice little shortcut if you can handle the slope! I didn’t really need to use my hands, but I was glad I had a hiking staff.

We made it!

We had more snack time and took some pictures at the top of Timber when Banana Nut and Raisin Bread made it there, and then it was time to head down. I didn’t feel like going down something that steep so we all took the normal trail down. We found a really brave chipmunk that didn’t budge even when I got really close on the way down, this one seemed to want to pose for pictures! A bit before we came back to the wilderness border we found a few more wild rasp/blackberry bushes. These ones had some pink and one deep red berry, the deep red one had such an intense flavor it was almost like raspberry jam! When we hit the parking lot it was very sad seeing how empty it was, considering we still needed to climb up the road to get to our car! But I think it was just there to make sure we were worthy, and we were! It was a great hike overall and I had a lot of fun with my little alternate approach to Timber. Maybe next time if we get an earlier start we can hit Telegraph or one of the other mountains reachable from Ice House Saddle, we can hope anyway!

Will we last?

Wha happen?

Brave Chipmunk

More photos!

Straun’s Post Hike Bread Recipe

Sourdough Panmarino

Makes: 2 large

Time: Day 1: Elaborate starter. Day 2: Mix final dough, fold dough shape, proof, and bake.

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Elaborate your starter however you choose, but ending up with the same flour and water weights. (or make a commercial yeast preferment) Allow it to rise overnight. Now would also be a great time to cook and mash your taters so they’re cool the next day! I like to leave the skins on and leave a about 25% of the taters as actual chunks, nice little surprises when eating the loaf!
2. The next day add the rosemary to the olive oil and warm it very gently on the stove, you’re just trying to infuse the olive oil with rosemary here. Allow the olive oil to cool.
3. Now, cream the starter with the water and and rosemary olive oil for the recipe.
4. Mix together the flours(feel free to use all whole wheat here, that is my eventual plan with this recipe) and salt (and some black pepper if you’re feeling spicy), then mix in the creamed starter til the dough just starts to come together as a ball. Let the dough sit covered in the bowl for 20 minutes
5. At this point mix your mashed taters into the dough, shape the dough into a ball and set it aside to rise in a lightly oiled bowl.
6. When the dough has nearly doubled it is time to start your oven preheating to 500 degrees with a stone and a steam pan, then prepare bannetons, or a couche on a tray, or however you like to hold your loaves while they rise! Gently divide the dough, quickly shape it and transfer it to whatever you’ve prepared.
7. Leave the loaves, covered, to proof. My dough had probably somewhat over risen in the first step, so for me this was only 30 minutes. Even without extra rising time on the first rise, they will probably be fine and ready to go in at 30 minutes as this is a wet dough.
8. Boil about a cup of water in preparation for baking the loaves. Prepare a peel, or parchment paper for the loaves and gently move them from your chosen proofing device to the peel or parchment. Just before you put the loaves in the oven turn the temperature down to 400 degrees.
9. Put the loaves in, add water to your steam pan, and set a timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes turn 180 degrees and continue baking for another 20-40 minutes (depending on your oven), the loaves should sound hollow on the bottom when complete. Remove finished loaves to a cooling rack and let sit for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Sliced Panmarino

Panmarino Loaf

One of the many great views

Vital Statistics

Estimated mileage: 13.4
Estimated elevation gain: ~4700
Time: Just under 11 hours (With about 4 hours of stop time at least, waiting for people to catch up, dealing with altitude, etc.)
Trail Conditions: Good to Ice House Saddle, overgrown a bit in spots past the saddle
Trail Goodies: Beef jerky, trail mix (cranberries, almonds, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, pepitas), smokehouse almonds, wannabe Cheez-Its, Casatiello, and Peaches
Other Notes: None today!
BIA(Breads in Attendance): Raisin Bread, Ciabatta, Banana Nut, and Straun

Map:

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Straun’s Hike Summary

As usual, we got a bit later of a start than intended (~10:00AM), but it wasn’t too hot yet. The parking lot at the trailhead was completely packed; we circled twice but no dice, so we headed up the road towards Baldy .2 of a mile. This time there was actually a ranger at the trailhead checking to make sure people had wilderness permits. He verified our intended destination, Ice House Saddle for sure and maybe Timber or Telegraph. After making sure we were carrying adequate water and supplies he wished us a good hike and we set out on the trail.

Over there!

It wasn’t long before Ciabatta’s knee was bothering him again, so, with some deliberation we sent him back home to proof some more (baker humor). There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from everyone, but we need his knee to get better, not worse! The rest of us continued on, hoping not to share the same fate! Just as we came out of the shady creek side portion of the trail we observed a man about 30 feet off the trail urinating on a tree DIRECTLY adjacent to the creek. Way to go buster, way to go.

There seemed to be a lot more wildlife out and about this time, or at least more visible, lots of Merriam’s Chipmunks and Steller’s Jays. Was actually able to get some pictures this time, almost got video of one of the chipmunks but it darted into the bushes, so instead I got video of a bush with the chipmunk chirping.

Steller

Merriam

Other than a few people cutting switchbacks a little while before the saddle (and right after the “Don’t Cut Switchbacks” sign), this was an uneventful portion of the hike. However, at the saddle our paths would diverge once more. Raisin Bread said his crust was getting burned (his feet were getting sore from too much gardening that week). Banana Nut and I wanted to keep going though, hopefully to Timber or maybe to Telegraph.

Just keep hiking...

Right before the Timber spur we encountered three hikers headed back down from the Three Ts trail (we would come across only one other hiker the entire rest of the Three Ts Trail!). At the spur junction we were either brave or stupid as we decided to skip Timber and go the extra 2.2 miles to Telegraph (contrary to what some might think, even though I really wanted to go to Telegraph I didn’t push for it, Banana Nut wanted to!).  As the trail descended from Timber to a small saddle, we were tending to think we’d been stupid. The masses of prickly Manzanita on the trail on either side of the saddle certainly didn’t help dissuade us of that notion.

Telegraph is really kind of a deceptive peak, as you head down from Timber through the saddle, and back up it looks like you’re heading for Telegraph itself. But then as you get closer to the top, all of the sudden the trail starts heading along the north face of this mountain you’ve been ascending and you think, “What?” When you finally come around that north face and suddenly the ACTUAL peak of Telegraph pops up like some sort of demented jack in the box you start cursing the mountain. As if that isn’t bad enough, the trail starts heading down then, and a bit more even after you get on the spur trail for Telegraph, then after the down it heads what must be straight up! Well, not really, but at that point in time it feels like it.

But then, finally, we were there! And we were happy to see a summit log since we’d been blind and missed the one on Timber last time. We took a bit of a break on the peak, ate a peach and some wannabe Cheez-Its. We couldn’t stay too long though, with our late start we needed to head down to try to make it off the trail before sunset.

I can see for miles

Just after Ice House Saddle we were able to give a very haggard and tired looking hiker some really good news, he only had about a quarter of a mile to the saddle. I think that almost brought tears to his eyes.

It ended up getting dark with about 1.5 to 2 miles left on the trail. We had a nice little flashlight so the dark wasn’t a big deal. With only about half a mile left we did run into some guy hiking UP, he seemed well prepared though (wearing a bear bell and all).

Well, it was a long, but very rewarding day and hike. Some really amazing views on the way to and from Telegraph, a great sense of accomplishment (especially for Banana Nut whose previous longest hike was the ~11 mile loop at Echo Mountain), and we got to sign a summit log even if I put our blog address in wrong… And best of all, we had yummy cheesy and  meaty “sandwich” (so named because you can make a sandwich with nothing but slices of the bread) bread to munch on!

I'm so smart

We did it!

Banana Nut Bread’s Post Hike Comments

It was totally true, Straun totally didn’t push for it but hiking to timber mountain just seemed too wuss and at the time we started, 2.2 miles didn’t seem THAT bad, but oh man, the last mile was really bad and the last 0.25 miles was ALMOST ENOUGH TO MAKE ME TURN AROUND…but we didn’t and we conquered the mountain baby!  so proud!!! Was very sorry we made everyone worry though   BUT THX GUSY FOR WAITING FOR US

We dit it!

Straun’s Post Hike Bread Recipe

Sourdough Casatiello at Noel’s Bread Blog

Makes: 2 large

Time: Day 1: Elaborate starter. Day 2: Mix final dough, fold dough shape, proof, and bake.

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Elaborate your starter however you choose, but ending up with the same flour and water weights. (or make a commercial yeast preferment) Allow it to rise overnight.
2. The next day cook the pancetta until lightly crisp, and saute the salami (chopped in chunks or slices) until it is also lightly crisp. Set both of the meats aside and reserve the rendered fat from both. When they are cool cut them into small pieces.
3. Having cooked the meat (giving it time to cool before adding to the dough), cream the starter with the buttermilk for the recipe.
4. Mix together the flours, sugar and salt, then mix in the creamed starter and eggs, til the dough just starts to come together as a ball. Let the dough sit covered in the bowl for 20 minutes
5. At this point weigh your rendered fat and use it to substitute for an equal amount of butter. Cut the remaining butter into at least 4 pieces and stir it vigorously into the dough, the dough will get fairly soft and sticky as you do this, keep mixing until the dough is smooth.
6. Either knead or mix all of the pancetta and salami pieces into the dough until fairly well incorporated.
7. Grate the smoked provolone coarsely and the hard cheese finely, and then mix into the dough until evenly incorporated. I like to do the grating right before the mixing because of an incident last time I made this where the grated cheese sort of reformed into a large piece before mixing into the dough and I ended up with a giant cave of cheese in the middle of the loaf.
8. Prepare oiled panettone molds or papers, or oil loaf pans. The dough will be fairly tacky and soft, so just quickly shape it into a loaf for a loaf pan or a ball for the papers/molds. I didn’t even move it to a work surface, I just did it straight out of the bowl. Cover the molds/papers/pans with oiled plastic wrap and leave the loaves to rise
9. Leave the loaves, covered, to proof, for me this was about an hour.
10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the lower third of the oven. If you’re baking in the papers I suggest using a cookie sheet under them to make them easier to move, and to catch the oil that will likely drip out of the bottom
11. Bake for 20 minutes and turn loaves 180 degrees. Continue baking for another 20-40 minutes (depending on container), the loaves should sound hollow on the bottom when complete. Remove finished loaves to a cooling rack and let sit for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Casatiello

Casatiello

Off in the distance

Vital Statistics

Estimated mileage: 9.6
Estimated elevation gain: 3400
Time: Just under 7 hours
Trail Conditions: Trailhead to Icehouse Canyon Saddle is generally very well maintained and fairly wide in portions, you can lose the trail in some of the rocky areas but the general direction is clear. From the saddle to Timber Mountain is much skinnier to very skinny, but all of it was passable.
Trail Goodies: Beef jerky, trail mix (cranberries, cashews,and almonds ), some other sort of trail mix (vanilla pomegranate cashews? and something else, it was kind of odd) smokehouse almonds, Granola Bread
Other Notes: No snakes! No injured hikers (although I did see a dog that got a rock in the paw)! Less bugs!
BIA(Breads in Attendance): Raisin Bread, Ciabatta, Banana Nut, and Straun

Map:

Raisin Bread’s Hike Summary

After a couple of weeks of thinking about it, we actually managed to make it to Icehouse Canyon.  We had a late start because of a test Ciabatta needed to take, but that ended up being a whole big ball of sadness, too tragic to mention here.  Anyway, we picked up our wilderness permit at the visitor’s center, parked further up the mountain using our brand new adventure pass.

The day started with Straun and Ciabatta in the lead, with Banana Nut and Raisin bringing up the rear.  The trailhead featured an amusing poster griping about wasteful government spending on the property of someone living on the side of a mountain.  A river kept pace with the trail for a fair bit, and at least three cabins were occupied.  The peacefulness of living next to a spot where curious hikers stare at your house all day is questionable, but it takes all kinds, right?

Columbine flower

Ciabatta found great big rock to climb, and Raisin, Ciabatta and Banana Nut all took turns climbing the rock, resulting in pine sap adhering to our crusts.  :(  The trail was alternately gravelly and dusty, sunny and shaded.  The elevation and occasional wind helped keep temperatures up, and the trail was wide and well-maintained for the most part.  That probably explains the trail’s popularity.

On the way to the saddle, we all consumed one of the bricks loaves of oatmeal bread Straun had baked in preparation for the trip.  Be forewarned, the fiber content is extreme.  A couple of boy scouts from San Diego passed us, and we passed their fathers in turn after chatting awhile.  The scouts were apparently not aware of the “don’t throw rocks down below you” rule.

Handy bench at the saddle

Once at the saddle, Banana Nut and Ciabatta headed down on account of Ciabatta’s bum knee, while Straun and Raisin went up towards Timber Peak.  Getting there involved paths that were barely still paths, clouds of aggressive flies, and dizzying heights.  Unfortunately, the trees did not let up even at the peak, so sweeping vistas weren’t on the menu, but we thought we saw the top of Mt. Wilson in the distance.

Alone on the hill

Overall, the trail was splendid, although the elevation kicked our collective loaf-ends.  We even saw chipmunks this time, and there was a blessed lack of rattlesnakes.  We’ll be back, Icehouse Canyon!

Additional Photos

Banana Nut, Ciabatta, and Raisin Bread prepping for WILDERNESS ZONE entry

Banana Nut, Straun, and Raisin Bread prepping for WILDERNESS ZONE entry

Standing Tall

Straun at Timber Mountain

Banana Nut and Ciabatta post boulder assault

Banana Nut and Ciabatta post boulder assault

Banana Nut and Ciabatta trying to help Raisin Bread up

Operative Raisin Bread peaknapping in an unorthodox position

Snow patches!

The rest of the set

Straun’s Bread Recipe

I’m trying a new method of posting recipes here, vs what I’ve been using on my bread blog. We’ll see how it works? It has been a while since I’ve made a YeastSpotting submission, been trying to refine some already posted recipes, and, well, busy hiking! This is also cross posted back on my bread blog. This bread is really good, if a bit heavy, and I did unfortunately screw up with the way I set the timer and so I underbaked it a bit. Alas, I’ll fix that next time.

Granola Bread crumb

Granola Bread

Estimated mileage: 11.7
Estimated elevation gain: 4068
Time: Just under 8 hours (With about 1.5 hours of stop time at least, waiting for people to catch up, trying to deal with a snake, and helping the injured hiker)
Trail Conditions: Trailhead to Orchard Camp is very good, Bailey Canyon Connector Trail seemed fairly good (if skinny), Manzanita Ridge portion of the Mt Wilson Trail has some iffier spots, but is still fine overall.
Trail Goodies: Beef jerky, trail mix (cranberries, almonds, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, pepitas), smokehouse almonds, Sunchips
Other Notes: I was really lazy and never took my camera out on this hike, so no pictures! Unless I edit some in from the previous hike
BIA(Breads in Attendance): Raisin Bread, Ciabatta, Banana Nut, Straun, and a member so secret he cannot be named

Map:

Straun’s Hike Summary

Straun had been thinking of doing a hike further east, but we didn’t really have the chance to prepare so we set out for Mt Wilson trail again. The trip started out fairly uneventfully, we were going a bit faster than last time. Could definitely tell the 2 weeks had made a difference, a lot more dry plants, still a lot of flowers though! And then as we innocently continued along the trail, Incident #1 happened. Ciabatta’s watermelon container exploded in his backpack. This mandated a quick watermelon eating party!

We didn’t bother stopping at first water this time, it looked crowded and we were on a mission (though we weren’t sure what it was)! A little bit after first water was Incident #2. A Snake came onto the trail after a member so secret he cannot be named passed by. It wasn’t a dangerous snake, but it was recalcitrant and didn’t want to leave the trail. We were trying to be nice and not spook it, but we eventually just had to go around it. Leaving the snake behind we tried to decide on a path. Take Hiker Bob’s Bailey Canyon Connector Trail, or continue on up to Orchard Camp? We stopped and painted a variety of rocks to resemble dice and rolled to decide. The roll came up as a pointy rock and a round rock, that meant Hiker Bob’s Bailey Canyon Connector Trail. Well, really, we just went for the connector because we hadn’t done it before.

This turned out to be a poor choice, though we wouldn’t discover why til we had almost completed that section. As we started up the connector trail we noticed a pack of spiders running away from it, odd, but of no concern. Further up the trail on the very steep, very exposed, switchbacks we were being assaulted by a couple of horseflies. At the time we just thought they were jerks, we came to realize later they (and the spiders from before) were trying to warn us about the real jerk up ahead. Yes, Mr. Jer K. Face the rattlesnake. We came around a bend of switchback into a small grassy area with a single bush right by the trail. As we got closer… yep, we heard the rattle. He was hiding under the bush, we couldn’t see him, and he didn’t want to leave. Note, this would be the first of three rattlesnakes we would encounter. Deciding there was no safe way around the snake, since we couldn’t see him. We headed back down the… very steep… very exposed connector trail. The trail at least seemed to be in pretty good shape considering we didn’t see a single person on it.

Well, that path was vetoed so we revised and decided to head up to Orchard Camp (and on to Manzanita Ridge for a few of us). Nothing especially interesting happened on the way to Orchard Camp, although the large vinca plants shortly before you get there were looking a little water starved when compared to last time. At Orchard Camp we split up, Raisin Bread and Banana Nut decided to stay a bit then head back down the mountain while Ciabatta, Straun, and a member so secret he cannot be named decided to continue on to Manzanita Ridge, and maybe Mt Wilson itself (hahaha). On the way up was rattlesnake encounter #2, it was off the trail to the right somewhere? It was only heard, and not seen, but it hadn’t tried to NOM NOM NOM on the 5 or so people that went past right before us, so we figured we were safe, and indeed we were.

Again, fairly uneventful until we hit Manzanita Ridge. Once again, the bees on the ridge were searching us and our backpacks for nectar and pollen. Either the bees picked an unfortunate place to build a hive, or the person who put the bench up there picked an unfortunate spot for the bench, because it is a constant bee assault zone. Due to the threat of bee sexual harassment we didn’t stay long on the ridge, we encountered a group of about seven hikers coming down from Mt Wilson, this was one of their training hikes for Mt Whitney. They started down a bit before us, but then let us pass them. About a half a mile after that we found a hiker laying on the ground (we had seen her coming down with a friend while we were heading up). She seemed to be okay at first glance, and in fact answered that she was okay and waiting for her friend, followed by about a 15 second pause and the explanation of WHY she was waiting. She broke her ankle! The other group was coming up behind us now and one of them had cell service and called 911. Apparently her friend had managed to get through as they said there was already a helicopter up, but we were able to give them a better description of our location and GPS coords. Not sure if it helped or not but we used a mirror to flash at the helicopter when it got closer. After a bit the sheriff from the helicopter arrived and seeing that the injured hiker was okay, we traveled on, ending major incident #3.

The rest of the way down was pretty quiet except for rattlesnake encounter #3, RIGHT at the start of the trail leading from Orchard Camp to Manzanita Ridge. This one was sleeping, thankfully, because we walked RIGHT next to it. At the end while we were waiting for Raisin Bread and Banana Nut to get back from showering, we saw a hiker come down off the mountain, change clothes, get on a bike and ride away. He came down shortly after we did, and we had seen him heading UP while we were already about a mile down. Kudos to that guy!

Overall, an eventful but very fun hike!

Cinnamon Nut Swirl’s Post-Hike Comments

I opened the door to five, very weary looking hikers. They made their way in and collapsed on varying surfaces in varying positions. Movement didn’t look likely, but eventually, food beckoned them and they headed to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

We aren’t the fastest, or most daring hikers out there; but we’re probably some of the only ones silly enough to be traveling with artisan bread. So, if you see some people on the trail munching on bread… well, it might be us, stop and say hi! No guarantees you’ll get any bread off of us though…

We’ll be putting up trip reports and pictures from some of our previous hikes as well as reports from new hikes, and, when possible accompanying recipes for the bread we had that day!