"Hiked from Colby Canyon. This hike took 3 horsu for 8 miles up the Colby Canyon Trail. The stream inside Colby Canyon has a lot of water. There were some insane switchbacks and some fall leaves in the last reaches of the canyon. There was a cistern at Josephine Saddle. At Josephine Saddle we attempted to summit Strawberry as well but it was too steep. The we went onto the fire road and then saw snow @ 5,200'. Then we reached the summit. It had a antenna building, a benchmark, a sign, and the summit bookshelf." — lc444 • Nov 14, 2022

"I took the fire road from Clear Creek, and it was quite an easy walk up and down on a nice cool, cloudy (but not foggy!!) day, so there were views since the cloud ceiling was higher than even Baldy to the east! I took the fire road for a reason: there are a few small summits along the road, all with either firebreaks or open enough country to access them. Even along Josephine's ridge, there is a neat summit to the east of the peak. OK, here is the bad news: it took me almost 2 months to log this climb since I have lost my SD card, so I cannot find my photos to include here ! ARRGH!! However, I uploaded the videos from the card to YouTube, so I will put the links here on this trip report. I visited 4 extra small summits in addition to Josephine, so it was technically a "5 peak day", but, with the exception of one, the other 3 were easy to get to without really going "out of the way" for them. The one summit along Josephine's ridge was easy ridgeline walking to and just past its summit, but in the end required a tricky and slippery descent to rejoin the fire road! Please check out the YouTube links here for a good idea of this very fun trip in the San Gabriel Mountains. It is..." — brianpowell • Jan 29, 2022

"Strawberry Peak via Colby Canyon and descending via the Strawberry Peak Trail. This route had two great class 3 rock scrambles/climbs and we took a detour in route to visit Josephine Peak." — Philip-Yoho • Aug 18, 2018

"Went up from the 2 taking a reasonably graded fire road all the way. Made for a nice morning hike but the way you want to do this ideally would be either with mountain bike, or as a big loop with Strawberry and Lawlor. Next time." — JustinB • Mar 25, 2018

"This hike was very nice! Started at Colby Canyon Trailhead and headed up to Josephine Peak. The weather was perfect but it did get a little cold in the shade near the top of the peak. Great views from the top. The incline was steady and continuous up to the saddle." — rickb • Jan 23, 2018

"I did an interesting hike-and-bike loop in the Angeles NF. I stashed my road bike on the Angeles Crest at the bottom of the Barley Flats Road (the gate was closed) then jumped in the car and drove to the Colby Canyon TH. From there I set out on foot to Josephine Saddle then up the fire road to Josephine Peak. I then retraced my steps back to the saddle then over to Strawberry Peak, climbing the cl. 3 West Ridge. From there it was a straight-forward but steep hike down than up to Mt. Lawlor. The hardest part of the traverse was the segment between Lawlor and Barley Flats - it was very overgrown, much with Poodle Dog Bush. Not so pleasant. Climbing up to the top of the water tank almost made up for it. From Barley Flats, I briskly walked down the fire road taking in good views east towards Mt. Baldy until I came across my bike locked to the gate as well as some water I had stashed. From here it was a pretty tough 2 mile ride uphill (I'm no cyclist), then an exhilarating 6 miles careening down SR2 back to Colby Canyon TH. I finished the day off with some other peaks I needed int he area - Occidental and Mt. Deception. Josephine had fine views of the front country - it would b..." — klotito • Jun 4, 2017

"About 3 years ago I set a goal to climb 100 peaks in the HPS before graduation from medical school. On my last day of clinical rotations, I left early and headed up the crest to tag #100! Views were a bit hazy and the marine layer overtook me on my hike out." — Christopher • Mar 25, 2014

"1-peak hike from corner of Hwy 2 and Angeles Forest Hwy. Hiked fire road 2N64 and peak trail, 8.2 miles r/t w/1,900' gain. Really big poodledog bush lines the upper section of the truck trail/fire road, 12' high and just as wide!" — BradStemm • Sep 1, 2013