Mt Wilson super fun awesome time

Peak	Mt Wilson
Group	N/A
Trailhead	Chantry Flat

This was one of the harder hikes I’ve been on and I’d say the total effort was right up there with a 1/2 to full marathon. However this was probably because I was really pushing it due to some time constraints I had that day. I arrived at the trailhead at 10:30AM, a little later than I was planning however since this was in the middle of the week parking at Chantry Flat was not an issue. Some highlights from the hike up:

– I was surprised at how much elevation was lost at the beginning of the hike as you descend into the canyon and I was able to basically do the first 1/2 mile or so as a run.
– I loved how green everything was and the bridge, falls, and control dams were lovely
– With all that green there was a good amount of poison oak. Protect your legs.
– There also was lots of boulder hopping which was fun at first.
– If you take the upper falls trail (Not the pack trail) beware its super easy to lose the trail when it gets close to the water. When in doubt just follow the river upstream and you’ll find the trail again
– Yes, with the green and water also came the bugs. I didn’t mind the gnats but the ones that really got to me where the ladybugs. Up by Sturtevant there were swarms of thousands of them.
– After Sturtevant you gain a lot of elevation, at first with no switchbacks. Its just a grueling incline up through the forest. The last 1/2 mile from the top is also hard as you go in and out of the sun while you can’t quite see the peak yet.

I made it to the summit by 1:40PM. It was super cool to see all of the telescope domes and if I had more time I would have explored the museum. I took about at 20 minute break to eat some food and refill my water bottle. I headed back down at 2:00PM

– The Mt Wilson trail was easy to hike down, but its really easy to miss fork for the winter creek trail.
– In my hurry to get down I almost stepped on a rattlesnake! Pay attention to the path.
– I took the lower winter creek trail which was really pretty but monotonous
– Because I took the lower winter creek trail I had to go uphill for the last .5 miles to the car. That almost killed me.
– I made it back to the car by 4:30PM.

While a really challenging and pretty hike I don’t think I would do it again outside of this challenge. The summit of Mt Wilson itself, while being a super interesting place to visit, wasn’t quite the payoff I like to get. With that said, I finished the first peak of the 2017 challenge!