2 down, 4 to go! Woot

Mixed feelings about this hike. Jeff has the 6 peak hikes listed as getting progressively harder and this one is first, so I was expecting it to be the easier than it was. I did San Jacinto peak from Marion two weeks ago on Father’s day and there happened to be a heatwave and it was a very hot hike and it is listed as 5th in progression of difficulty. My take away is that San Jacinto is considerably easier than Wilson. I felt like the elevation gain the last 2 miles of the Wilson hike would never end and I did not like that there were no views to enjoy while busting my rump to get to a peak I could not see. Besides no views, there is no sight of the peak so I was climbing endlessly for a summit I started questioning was even there. I dropped an f bomb or two out loud, a few WTF’s and did ask my dog Chance, where the heck the summit is? I did not like that there are no markers and while the trail is shaded, protecting you from the sun, there is no scenery, besides trees, for quiet a while and a few quick, short glimpses of blue sky and city in the distant. Aside from that, there is the parking and crowds issues, which is no fault of this absolutely beautiful, gorgeous Mountain, but it does toss some negative cast on my view of this hike. Mt. Wilson outside of the crowds and parking is gorgeous!!!! Water runs through along the trial from Chantry Flat for a good 3 plus miles, which is awesome, my dog loved that! There is so much charm and character here with all old cabins and the huge trees and different types of greenery and foliage. I thought Sturtevant Camp is super cool. The peak has the towers and white domes you can see from the freeway and is oddly cool but it is kinda strange to summit a mountain like WIlson and watch families getting out of their car.

It took me 6 hours and 6 minutes to complete Wilson @ 14.35 miles, which included a lot of mingling with other hikers I met along the way, a tour of Sturtevant Camp site by the camp host, as well as a dip in the water on a couple of occasions and about 20 minutes at the top. I never stopped my Garmin Vivoactive so those stops are included in the 6-hours. Should add that I did this last weekend and accidentally took the Mt. Zion Trail, so I have also summit-ed Zion, Wilson is much better and I did it out and back to avoid taking the wrong trail, again, and getting lost as there are A LOT of trails here.

All in all, great hike, great day! I felt amazing when I was done.