"Parked in a picnic area near Crystal Lake Cafe. Started the hike from there. Meanwhile, the trailhead parking lot was filled to overflowing. I didn't mind adding on extra mileage in exchange for not dealing with the parking lot. As the hike goes, I walked through the campground, then up the Windy Gap Trail, and then came back down the Big Cienega Trail, forming a nice semi-loop. " — MikeTeeples • May 7, 2022

"June 13, 2020. Hiked Mount Islip, Mount Hawkins, and Baden-Powell, and bagged Mount Burnham on the way back. I as watching AllTrails for the supposed turn off to get Throop Peak, but I don’t think that turn off actually exists anymore. Looks like the turn off is earlier on the Baden-Powell end. I’ll just have to go back and bag that one, too. Perfect weather and there was a flag and new peak sign up at Baden-Powell. " — runningvegan • Jun 13, 2020

"This was my 3rd climb of Islip, and from a 3rd different way. I hiked up the Islip Ridge Trail from the lake area itself. At a switchback curving from south to north early on around 6100', I left the trail for a short cross-country walk (about 0.15 mi r/t) to the southwest to Bump 6130 with a sweet view of the San Gabriel Wilderness under the shade of pines and firs. I then returned to the trail and continued the warm, mostly sun exposed (with some shade from the open stands of pines and firs) slog along the very scenic ridge, with more views to the San Gabriel Wilderness to the west, the Crystal Lake basin below to the east, and Hawkins Ridge farther to the east. I made it to the summit where the roofless summit stone cabin was filled with several feet of snow, making the last bit a slippery slog over deep snow, but the summit itself was clear. I stayed for about 45 minutes, chatting with a boy scout group who came up 20 minutes after I made it. Then, avoiding the snow, I scrambled down the south slope to quickly rejoin the Islip Ridge Trail. I hiked down to a small saddle, and turned south off trail for a short, easy climb to a small summit about 7,620 ft in elevation. I r..." — brianpowell • Apr 20, 2019

"Perfect weather for a relatively easy hike in Angeles National Forest. A lot of Boy Scout campers going to, staying at, and coming back from Little Jimmy Campgrounds though for sometimes crowded trails, but generally not too bad." — marc • Oct 27, 2018

"Lovely peak. Just a jaunt up from the Little Jimmy campground. Got up this one with HPS peaks South Mount Hawkins, Mount Hawkins, Throop Peak, Mount Burnham, and Baden-Powell." — JustinB • Apr 26, 2018

"This was my 2nd ascent of Islip. The first was the harder route from Crystal Lake Campground, but this time, I came up from Islip Saddle (6,650') on Angeles Crest Hwy. This route is moderately easy. I took Pacific Crest Trail to Little Jimmy Campground, and from the rear of the camp, I took the Islip Trail to the summit. I relaxed a while on the summit, and descended to Windy Gap and took the Pacific Crest Trail to Mt. Hawkins (8,850') and returned to Islip Saddle afterwards. I also wanted to get to Throop Peak (9,138'), Mt. Burnham (8,997') and Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399'), a 17-18 mi round trip, but my body was not having it that day! So, I settled wisely for Islip and Hawkins. The forest up by Little Jimmy is spectacular, full of Jeffrey, Sugar, and Ponderosa Pines, and White Fir. The scenery from Islip is spectacular. The elevation gain to Islip alone is 1,600' over about 6.6 miles round trip, so it is not overly strenuous nor steep except at the first stretch at Islip Saddle." — brianpowell • Sep 9, 2017

"Neat hike up Windy Gap Trail- 2,400' elev. gain from Crystal Lake Campground. Most of the forest was burnt in recent years. But, there are still nice pockets of it here and there. Lovely Sugar Pines, Jeffrey Pines, and White Firs at Windy Gap (ca. 7,600')." — brianpowell • Aug 1, 2015

"Went up from Crystal Lake with 2 of my buddies and 18 Beers! We got stoned off our ass and hiked up through the Cedar fire aftermath. Got a good buzz and enjoyed the views from up top. Bummer we had such a hot week and all the snow had melted quickly. this was my 3rd time up here and the #15 of my 100 in 2014 Goal. " — 1-with-Nature • Feb 16, 2014

"Joined up with OCHC sponsored hike to Mt Islip after early Hawkins-Copter Ridge warm-up hike. TH was Windy Gap (Hwy 2 mile-marker 66.38), route from Windy Gap Trail to PCT, then Islip Peak trail; 2.8 miles r/t with ~1,000' gain total." — BradStemm • Sep 14, 2013

"My Girl and I started from Crystal Lake which due to this drought is more like Crystal Pond. From there we hiked up and thru the burn area of the Curve fire of a few years ago and hooked up with the Big Cienega Trail which led us to the Windy Gap. From there is was upward and onward to the Summit. Great Views and the mountain looked awesome as we approached from the west on the final stretch. We met a cool group up top and we all had some cold beers I hiked up in a cooler in my pack. Here is my Blog from this day: http://www.1w-nature.com/2/post/2013/05/mt-islip-on-asummer-sunday-scusion.html" — 1-with-Nature • May 19, 2013