This was my HPS list finish, my final hike based on a Sierra Club sponsored list of 286 peaks over 5000 feet around Southern Calfornia. I’d been actively working on the list about 7 years. Friend Philip Stinis and I set up a car shuttle, for a 1-way overnight hike from Humber Park in Idyllwild to Apple Canyon, with a planned bivy in Little Tahquitz Valley. The bivy wasn’t really necessary, as we could have done this hike in one long day, but it was fun to camp out and have more time to enjoy the hike.

We started up the Devil’s Slide trail, first tagging Tahquitz Peak (a repeat for me) before finding a nice place to camp. The following day we hiked Red Tahquitz, Southwell, Antsell Rock, Apache, and then Spitler. Antsell Rock was by far the most exciting peak of the day, with a rather exposed class 3 climb the final few hundred feet. Phil forgot his car keys in my truck back at Humber Park, so the effort for the car shuttle was moot and we were lucky enough to be able to hitch a ride. All in all a beautiful and memoral hike on the desert divide, to finish up a project that has given me many memories over the years, fortunately mostly pleasant ones 😉