BADGE OF COURAGE LOCAL BOY SCOUTS FIND THERE'S NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH.

Byline: Story by Bill Becher

FOREST FALLS - It's only a mile hike. Straight up.

The High Adventure Team, part of Boy Scout Troop 642 of Simi Valley, is hiking San Bernardino Peak as part of its mountaineering program. The top of the 10,691-foot mountain is about seven miles from the Momyer Creek trailhead near Forest Falls. The trail rises more than 5,400 feet, with an average grade of about 20 percent.

We start at 7 in the morning after picking up a wilderness permit at the Mill Creek Ranger Station. We're carrying about a gallon of water each. There is no water higher up on the trail. After crossing Mill Creek, a tiny trickle in a large, boulder-strewn creek bed, we climb past prickly pear cactus through an oak forest that gradually gives way to conifers.

This hike is about breaking in bodies and boots. Davey Freeman, 13, of Moorpark is wearing a new pair of mountaineering boots. They're heavier than standard backpacking foot gear and are compatible with crampons, the toothy metal racks mountaineers attach to boots when climbing on ice and snow.

But we won't find much snow today, just a few patches at the top. The mixed forest canopy provides welcome shade as we make our way up the mountain. Soon we're seeing pine cones instead of cactus as the trail climbs relentlessly.

The San Bernardino Mountains, the tallest in southern California, rise like a wall at the eastern end of the Los Angeles basin - some say to stop L.A. from sprawling into Phoenix. The mountains are snow-capped in winter. The highest, 11,502-foot Mount San Gorgonio, rises east of us. The area was first designated as the San Bernardino Forest Reserve in 1893.

A variety of flora populates the mountains: a mix of black oak, incense cedar, Jeffrey pine and white fir at lower elevations. As we climb, the trail narrows to a path through chest-high fields of manzanita and buck brush spiked with thorns, a good reason to wear long pants on this hike.

We don't see any wildlife today, but black bears, bobcats, raccoons, coyote, bighorn sheep, mule deer and mountain lions inhabit this wilderness.

There are a variety of snakes, according to Larry Vincent, a field ranger with the United States Forest Service. They include rattlesnakes, gopher snakes, rosy boas and mountain king snakes. Only the rattler is poisonous.

``Leave snakes be to do their own thing,'' Vincent says. ``Most likely you won't see any.''

The Forest Service considers this a ``trace trail,'' which means it gets minimal attention, but last year a trail crew worked on it and it's in good shape, except for a few trees that blew over during the winter.

``Take plenty of water, and stay on trails,'' Vincent says. ``Take enough gear to be able to spend the night, if necessary. At these elevations, it gets to freezing or below at night.''

The trail reaches a saddle. San Bernardino Mountain has two peaks. We head for the east peak past lodgepole pine trees that snow and wind have twisted into gnarled sculptures.

We make it to the top after about 6 1/2 hours of steady hiking.

``It was pretty cool summiting,'' Freeman says. ``You can look across and see Nine Peaks Ridge.''

Shane Dickerson, 13, of Simi Valley reads the summit register, a notebook stuffed into a plastic container. He finds comments from a previous climb by the troop and pens a note for future scouts to find.

After eating lunch and admiring the view, we head down the mountain. I'm using two trekking poles, like cross-country ski poles that help brake my descent and maintain balance on the uneven sections of the trail. I need them, as the Scouts - thinking about the all-you-can-eat buffet that is our dinner plan - fly down the mountain. There is discussion about breaking the troop record for most dishes of ice cream eaten.

We make it back in about 3 1/2 hours with no blisters.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Davey Freeman, 13, left, is all smiles after reaching the top of 10,624-foot San Bernardino Peak. At right, Freeman, near, and Shane Dickerson, 13, enjoy the view.

Photos by Bill Becher