This weekend we did a late afternoon/early evening hike up to San Gabriel Peak. It was a full moon and I wanted to watch the sunset from the forest and see the moon come up over the San Gabriels. We started the hike from Eaton Saddle and through the Mueller Tunnel. When we reached Markham Saddle, we took the trail towards San Gabriel Peak. I’d forgotten how steep and rugged it is. The views along the way were wonderful. We took a short break at the top, enjoyed the views and then started back down. The sun was beginning to set and it would soon be dark. When we arrived back at Eaton Saddle, we saw a HUGE harvest moon coming up over Mt. Baldy. It was such a beautiful site! It was a short, but sweet evening.
My husband and I did a sunset hike on Mt. Lowe this past Sunday. We drove up to Eaton Saddle, followed the Mt. Lowe Fire Road through the Mueller Tunnel to Markham Saddle and then picked up the trail to the Mt. Lowe summit. I really like this area a lot. There’s never very many people and you get some great views of the rugged San Gabriels. The hike to the summit is a short one, but it was perfect for a day when we didn’t have time to do a long hike. The views are pretty great too. As the sun began to sink behind the Santa Monica Mountains to the west, we started to make our way back down the mountain. We reached Markham Saddle just 10 minutes before the sunset then stopped to enjoy the show as the light faded from orange, to pink and finally inky black. It was a little spooky coming back through the Mueller Tunnel in the dark, but the city below us lit up in a romantic, sparkling glow of lights. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend!
