Mt Waterman Steep Section Detour?
Edit: sorry folks, should have waited until I could post descriptive images
Hey local hiking experts. I found myself stumped without proper gear starting at 34.34637, -117.95510 on the trail from the 6000' Day Use lot to Mt Waterman.
The steep section seems to begin there and end at 34.34215, -117.95410. I made it about a quarter of the way up before deciding the inevitable slip was not worth it. No poles and as good as my shoes are, I had too much weight on my back and neck to be comfortable going further.
I took an unmarked (on OnX, at least) trail that branches off to the west at about 34.34619, -117.95484, a few feet past where the steep upward section begins, and followed it to 34.34619, -117.95484, where it looked like it might continue up to meet the marked trailhead. Describing it without coordinates, it doubles back westward following a slight incline upward until it hits a westerly face of the mountain and moves back eastward up a steeper section, where I stopped due to time. The trail itself was sparsely used by ANF standards and faded into the background a few times but was easy enough to pick back up.
It seems like had I kept following this east and upward it would have joined the official trail.
Is anyone that's bothered to read all this familiar the unmarked trail I'm on about, or does anyone have another alt route from 6k' Day Use to Waterman?