Iškyla į San Gorgonio kalnus
This picture is from the top of San Gorgonio. In the distance you are able to see Big Bear Lake and across from the lake is where Rambynas stovyka is located, Holcomb Valley.
11503 feet of elevation, 5470 feet of ascent and a total of roughly 19 miles round trip. What could go wrong? Here is our story of the LA skautu hike up San Gorgonio, Southern California’s highest mountain peak.
On top of the world from left to right: s.v. Liudas Deveikis, vyr. sk. Lina Polikaitytė, sese Aurėja Bilevičiūtė, s.v. Aiden Venckus, s.v. Henrikas Murauskas, s.v. Antanas Norkus, and s.v. Viktoras Petokas.
On July 10, 2019, a group of 8 Lithuanian Scouts; 5 from Los Angeles (s.v. Liudas Deveikis, s.v. Viktoras Petokas, s.v. s. fil. Tomas Petokas, vyr. sk. Lina Polikaitite, and s.v. Aiden Venckus), 1 from Toronto, Canada (s.v. Antanas Norkus) 2 from Lithuania (s.v. Henrikas Murauskas, Marijampoles Rajonas and sese Aurėja Bilevičiūtė, Vilniaus Rajonas), decided to embark on a journey to conquer this mountain. This hike was an optional hike that happened during our Ramiojo Vandenyno Rajono, GAMTOS GLOBEJAI Rambyno Stovykla. It was the first time something like this was ever organized. We waited a couple of days after stovykla had started in order for us to get physically acclimated with the altitude since we knew that elevation sickness could play a factor in this hike. We started a little later than we wanted, mid-day, on a lovely, but hot day. To get to our camp, High Creek Camp at 9440 feet of elevation, was roughly a 5 hour hike due to the increase in elevation and us carrying our backpacks with all of our gear. This hike is not for the faint of heart. It was very difficult with lots of zig zags and a steep incline, however the views that you see along the way are simply stunning, words cannot describe them. We made sure that during our hike we took plenty of breaks to catch our breath and hydrate, which was definitely needed since it was rather hot, but more importantly to admire the wonderful views and take many pictures. We arrived at our camp a little later than expected but still with plenty of daylight to set up our tents and start relaxing. Our fearless leader, Tomas Petokas, who organized this hike for us had prepared us well enough prior to the hike so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Once we set up our tents and got situated, we started to prepare our dinner, a very simple dinner that tasted so good probably because we were all so exhausted from the hike and just super happy we made it together as a group. Once we all ate dinner together as a family, we talked about our plan for the following day and how to reach the peak. We knew that the hardest part of the climb was coming up, so we prepared for it with a good nights rest.
July 11, 2019, 6:00 am. Since it was already so bright out we all woke up around the same time. The anticipation of climbing to the peak meant nothing could stop us, no matter what lay ahead. For breakfast we had oatmeal and some cereal bars. We were lucky that there was a stream at our camp so we made sure to fill all of our water bottles and some extras using a water filtration device that we had so we would not get sick. Our trek towards the top began at 7:40 am. We knew that this was going to be the hardest part of the journey so we wanted to leave early enough to ensure we had ample time to hike up while also soaking in all the views at the peak. The climb to the top was 3-4 miles with about 2000 feet of ascent, much harder and steeper than the previous day. Lucky for us, a fellow hiker informed us that there was not much shaded areas on this section, so we made sure to stop when there was shade. On our way up we found some snow, so of course we had to play in it and take pictures. Aureja, who was visiting us from Vilnius, even made a snowman. We had a little snowball fight but we knew we would see more so we decided to move along. Our journey continued upwards, but we encountered a little problem: as we approached our final destination, we were running out of water. Lucky for us, just before the final ascent to the peak, there was a huge patch of snow and being scouts, we figured why not fill our water bottles with snow and let them melt while we hiked so we wouldn’t run out? We filled all the bottles up, enough to ensure we had some on our way back to camp.
With the Lithuanian and American flags on the summit from left: s.v. Henrikas Murauskas (Marijampolės Rajonas, LT), s.v. Aidan Venckus, s.v. Antanas Norkus (Toronto, Canada), s.v. Liudas Deveikis, vyr. sk. Lina Polikaitytė, sesė Aurėja Bilevičiūtė (Vilniaus Rajonas, LT) ir s.v. Viktoras Petokas (Note: he gave his Vyčių įžodis during stovykla a few days after the hike). Missing from photo is iškylos vedėjas: s.v. fil. Tomas Petokas (RVR, Kalniškio tunto tuntininkas).
Three hours later, we finally made it to the top!!! Simply put, we were on top of the world, at least it felt that way to us. We were all exhausted, but so ecstatic to reach our goal, that we just admired the views for a couple of minutes. Once we caught our breath, high-fived, and hugged each other, we of course, had to take pictures. We were all so happy for each other that we made it up as a team and no one gave up regardless of our injuries, exhaustion, and everything else. "Great challenge I would definitely repeat! Every minute of tiredness, lack of oxygen and boiling hot weather at the end felt like nothing compared to the stunning views and wonderful company of careful, determined, and excited people,” said Aurėja Bilevičiūtė. I, Liudas, had my phone with me to capture all these moments on our hike so I made sure I took plenty of pictures on top of the mountain. Fortunately, we also met a fellow hiker that was kind enough to take some group photos of us. The views were one of those moments, however, when pictures do not do it justice. Being so far above the tree line, we had unobstructed views for 360 degrees of the whole valley, Big Bear Lake, and the San Bernardino forest. There was even more snow at the apex of our climb so we had another snowball fight and took a lot of pictures. A very cool thing up there was a tin can with paper in it so that everyone that reaches the top can sign their name, which of course we all did. I love photography and views and of all places I’ve been, the view up there was so remarkable, you would need to see it with your own eyes to understand the magical scenery. None of us wanted to leave, but we knew that we had to start hiking back to camp so we started our descent at about noon. We thought the hike down would be easier since it’s all downhill but we were not ready for how brutal the downhill portion still is.
Coming back down from left: s.v. Aiden Venckus, sesė Aurėja Bilevičiūtė, s.v. Henrikas Murauskas, s.v. Antanas Norkus, s.v. Viktoras Petokas, s.v. Liudas Deveikis, and vyr. sk. Lina Polikaitytė
Since hiking downhill is easier than uphill, we took fewer breaks, however there were times when we needed to take breaks because all of our legs were just so tired from all the hiking. We made it back to our camp about 2 hours later. This was going to be our last major stop so we made sure to hydrate, refill all the water bottles again, eat the food that we had left to eat, and pack all of our gear up. Knowing that we had to leave the place as we saw it, clean, we made sure everything was picked up and there was no trash left behind. After all was said and done, our real journey downhill was about to begin. By now it was around 3 in the afternoon and our goal was to make it to the bottom by 6, so 7 miles in about 3 hours- definitely feasible. We were making great time going down while talking amongst ourselves, singing songs, and laughing at each other’s jokes. We made routine stops to rest our legs and hydrate but we had a mission to finish this hike all in one piece. The trek downhill, especially the zig zags was extremely painful on the legs and some of us started feeling muscle cramping and leg aches as we were hiking down. But no pain, no gain right? I must say that although the hike down seemed to last forever, the time flew by rather quickly and sooner than realized we made it to the bottom of the mountain!! At this point some of us were walking really gingerly and very slowly because we were so soar, but man, it was all worth it.
“San Gorgonio was a challenge for all of us. I am really glad that our scout company was united, dedicated, and helpful. I cannot express my experience in any words. It was perfect, with amazing people. It just showed me that you have to push forward, even when it gets rough” (Henrikas Murauskas). This hike tested us in all sorts of ways. By no means did we know exactly what we were getting ourselves into except that it was going to be a difficult hike. We were all committed to accomplishing this hike together, and we did. We pushed each other past our normal limits, encouraged each other to keep moving forward and congratulated each other once we accomplished the goal. Being scouts from all over the world, we knew that in order for us to do this as a team we had to stick together. We needed to make sure that we were ready to support one another no matter what. Scouting has taught us “to always be prepared.” We knew that teamwork was very crucial. With this being said, this is what brought us so much closer as a unit. We may have all known each other already but, doing this hike made our friendship and bond that much stronger since we all wanted to do this and did it together. As mentioned by Henrikas, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends for this hike. I knew, as I’m sure others did as well, that we were not as physically prepared as we wanted to be, but no matter what challenges came our way, we conquered the beast. Coming back to our “home,” stovykla, after this hike was amazing. The support we had from the fellow campers could not have been any better. Everyone asking how we felt, how we did, and jokingly saying “what took us so long,” since we did arrive later than planned. Others were able to see how tired we were, how physically and mentally exhausted we were, but the smiles on our faces said it all, we were happy to come back all together in one piece and as a group, no person left behind. San Gorgonio, you will always have a special place in our hearts and I speak for all of us when I say, we are so thankful we did this as a unit. This hike brought us so much closer together and we will never forget it.
We came, we saw, and we conquered San Gorgonio, now on to the next challenge!
s.v. Liudas Deveikis
Los Angeles, California