John Sheehe's video: 12 20 2020 - Silver Peak and Gold Mountain with Yukon Cornelius

The first (Silver) and second (Gold) peaks of a tri-HPS peak Sunday in the Big Bear area. For Silver, I braved the .3 mile drive on the rough road to the trailhead. Be warned, 2WD can make it...barely. On this hike I followed a GPS track downloaded from Peakbagger and went off course a couple times before re-routing. On the way up you'll encounter a mine entry, which is no larger than a doorway. I went in about 30 feet before I got the willies. Back to the hike...upon reaching the saddle, it's a straightforward walk to the peak where you'll find, what I believe is the airshaft for the former mine (where the peak register is located!). You can't see Big Bear from this vantage point but you do see the Lucerne Valley to the north and plenty of peaks to the south including Sugarloaf, Anderson, and the next summit for the day...Gold Mountain. For Gold Mountain I was driving from Silver Peak via the 18 and exited off Holcomb Valley and drove to the end where it turned into a dirt road (3N16). I drove a very slow 1.4 miles to the trailhead. 2WD can make it but only if you drive verrry slooowly (1.4 miles took me 25 minutes). The hike is a constant up with minimal places to catch your breath. The trail appears to be an old forest or 4x4 road. At some point the road meets up with another active 4x4 road - I saw 2 jeeps go by (and one unlucky 4 Runner whose axle broke!) Great views at the top of the entire Big Bear area. While there was manufactured snow on Snow Summit and some real stuff on San Gorgonio, it is an EXTREMELY dry year as evidenced by the lack of powder and the decreased water level of the lake. I hope the winter brings some much needed precipitation. Saw 3 different benchmarks at the top.