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Jun 18, 2024 — The Gardner Peak Trail doesn't actually lead to the summit of Gardner Peak, but with some time to kill this afternoon, Austin and I decided to just enjoy the trail to its terminus. This was a nice hike with good scenery, a worthy add-on to my Pine Valley Mountains trip, even if it doesn't reach a peak. We started at the trailhead located just inside the Pine Valley Recreation Area boundary. My understanding is that you don't need to pay if you are parking at this trailhead, but we were dropped off by a family member who had already paid to enter, so I'm not sure. We could see Gardner Peak above, a forested dome adjacent to a much more interesting-looking craggy false summit.
The trail began through the lower elevation scrubland before ascending into the trees, gaining steepness as it continued north. We passed an old road labeled on maps as the Pine Valley Canal Trail, and it was tempting to just take this flat path either east or west. Instead, the less obvious Gardner Peak Trail continues climbing quite steeply. There were some occasional views to the south toward the taller Pine Valley Mountain peaks.
The Gardner Peak Trail reached a saddle before wrapping around the northern side of the ridge through a bit more vegetated terrain. This upper section of the trail winds through a shaded rock garden dotted with large boulders and pine trees and even passes through a small, charming meadow bordered by aspen trees. We got a view of Gardner Peak and a steep tower of boulders to its north. The trail began to thin out as it weaved around rocks and up various slopesk, gradually ascended to a flatter section where unusual rock formations appear scattered around.
We hiked past the craggy false summit we had seen from below, but the trail becomes faint and frequently obstructed by fallen trees past here. It only really started to lose its shape after around 8,400 ft, dipping in and out of little gullies and eventually entered a burn area. Past the burn area, we just continued to a viewpoint of a notable rock feature, deciding we didn't care to reach the brushy and unranked summit. Maps show the trail reaches a bit closer to the base of the peak, but we'd lost it and didn’t make the effort to locate it for the final few hundred feet.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
