Until I started hiking, I never thought I’d get to see snow here in Southern California. After spending 27 years of my life in Pennsylvania, you’d think I’d be over it. I guess I’m not. This past weekend we drove up through Angeles Forest with the intent to enjoy some snow. The plan was to do a short hike along the PCT from Islip Saddle to the beautiful Little Jimmy Campground. My husband had been feeling under the weather all week, so it wasn’t a good idea to do anything strenuous. When we got to Islip Saddle, however, the wind chill was so cold, we opted out. We got back in the car and headed over to the Blue Ridge Trail. This was one of the first trails we ever hiked in Wrightwood. It’s a great go-to trail when you just want to hike along a mellow trail through a pretty section of forest that will lead you to a nice vista on top. While I wasn’t expecting to be knee deep in snow, I was happy to at least get to see a little bit on some sections of the trail. They want another storm this week, so fingers crossed, Southern California will get to see a little bit more winter!
This weekend our plan was to hike a section of the PCT/Silver Moccasin Trail starting from Three Points and continue to the higher elevation of Cloudburst Summit. This section of trail sticks pretty close to the Angeles Crest Highway and crosses it several times, so you do hear a good deal of traffic noise when cars and motorcycles are traveling through. The scenery, however, makes up for the fact that you’re so close to the highway. The trail takes you along Waterman Mountain and into the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness. It’s a beautiful trail with no lack pine trees and tons of fallen pine cones along the path. As we reached the higher altitude, we started to see some patches of snow along the trail Finally arriving at Cloudburst Summit, we were so close to Winston Peak that we decided to climb up and check out the views. Looking off in the distance we could see the snowy north face of Mount Baldy. It was about 1:30 pm when we started to head back and the winds were kicking up. We ended up doing about 12 miles out and back today according to my GPS stats. On the way home we stopped off at Charlton Flats to grill up some food. It was definitely feeling chilly by this time, but a warm bite to eat hit the spot.
Just like every other Southern California hiker, I decided after having my first taste of what it feels like to summit a mountain, that Mount Whitney should be on my “to do” list. If you’re not familiar with Mount Whitney, it’s the highest peak in the lower 48 standing at 14,505’ and the highest peak in California. On February 1st the lottery opened to apply for a permit to hike the Mount Whitney Zone so I applied. I won’t know until March 24 when they post the results whether or not I’ll actually get a permit, but I thought -- why not try. The hike can be done as a 22 mile round trip day hike, but I’d want to break it up over a day or two which would require overnight camping. Camping is a whole other challenge I’ll have to tackle! Taking a day or two would allow my body to acclimatize to the altitude and although I’ve never experienced any symptoms of AMS, I’ve also never been up 14,000+’. While the chances of getting a permit are actually pretty slim, there’s always that “just maybe”. So we’ll see what happens. It would be a great challenge for me and it looks like it’s an incredibly beautiful hike. Summit or not, I know hiking the Mount Whitney Trail would be a beautiful experience and one of my goals before I turn 50 which will be in September of 2019.
Vetter Mountain was one of the first places we hiked to last year when we started our adventures. We didn’t really know much about hiking at that time, and I think between the two of us we carried only one bottle of water. I didn’t even own a pair of hiking boots! We’ve come a long way since that day, and knowing what I know now I can’t believe I had been missing out on these incredible places! That day kick-started our discovery of all that the great mountains surrounding Los Angeles and beyond have to offer.
After our 15 mile trek to Mount Wilson on Friday, we both wanted to do something easy on the legs. I’d heard the Vetter Mountain Trail (closed the last time we were here due to damage from the 2009 Station Fire) had been cleaned up and re-opened. I wanted to check it out. We drove to the beautiful Charlton Flat picnic area then hiked the Vetter Mountain Trail up to the stone foundation of the fire lookout (also burned in the Station Fire). The area is still recovering, but taking the Vetter Mountain Trail was a nice alternative to the service road which we hiked up the first time. When we reached the top, there was no one there so we had the views to ourselves and spent some time enjoying the scenery and each other’s company. On the way down, we took part of the service road and then hopped on the Silver Moccasin trail to return to Charlton Flat. It was the perfect day!
This hike is another one that had been on my bucket list. I can see Mount Wilson from my back porch, and we’d only ever visited it once in 2011 when we drove there. I was very excited to try and hike it! We did a loop trail starting from Chantry Flat then up over Sturtevant Falls on the Lower Gabrielino Trail passing through Sturtevant Camp and then finally the Sturtevant Trail to Mount Wilson. The Observatory itself is worth spending a whole day exploring if you have the time. On the way down we took the Mount Wilson Trail to Mount Wilson Toll Road, back onto Mount Wilson Trail to Winter Creek Trail to Lower Winter Creek Trail and back to Chantry Flat. I really enjoyed this hike and although it’s a long one, I didn’t find it particularly difficult. Most of the time you’re hiking through shaded forest, and the Lower Winter Creek Trail is exceptionally pretty. My legs were tired at the end of the hike, but the scenery was worth the effort. We’ll have to do this one again sometime when the Cosmic Cafe is open so we can get ice cream cones at the top!
I’ve had this trail on my list for a while since the trailhead is right next to Descanso Gardens. It starts off on the appropriately named Descanso Trail which follows the fence that runs along the edge of the gardens. I parked my car just before sunrise and started heading up. The trail makes a pretty immediate ascent through some oaks and a series of switchbacks. Once you’re up high enough, you can actually look down into Descanso Gardens. There’s some nice views of the San Gabriels and the Verdugo mountains from the trail. The Santa Ana winds were pretty intense this morning and made walking interesting. As I was hiking four coyotes crossed over the trail ahead of me and headed down the hill. They seemed preoccupied with whatever they were tracking and not so much interested in what I was doing. At an intersection called Five Points, I headed east on the Cerro Negro Trail and then finally up to the lookout to check out the Chrysler-Bell Victory air raid siren. It was even more windy up at the summit. I found the summit marker, took some pictures and then headed back down. This is a nice short hike if you just want to stay close to the city. Not much shade at all on this hike, so definitely not one to do when it’s hot outside.
The trek to Mount Hillyer in the central San Gabriels is a meandering hike through impressive boulder formations and flat sections of beautiful pine meadows. This land was once used by horse thieves, the most notorious was Tiburcio Vasquez. This area was the perfect hideout for bandits to escape from the law and pasture stolen horses. The trail starts off at Chilao just past the visitors’ center on the Silver Moccasin Trail. The first section is a series of switchbacks through rocky terrain. After about a mile, it smooths out and you’ll reach Horse Flats Campground. It’s a beautiful camp equipt with corrals and hitching posts for equestions who ride in and want to stay the night with their horses. From here you pick up the Mount HIllyer trial and this is where you’ll start a steady ascent through the ginormous boulders. We took our time on this hike and had a lot of fun climbing around the various rock formations. As for the summit, there are actually two. The unofficial summit stands at 6,215’ and the second official summit is 6,162’. You’ll come upon the unofficial first. Once you’re done enjoying the views from there, you can hike just a little further up the trail and find a short use trail off to your right that goes to the official summit. We stopped there and had some breakfast. There was absolutely no one on the trail today. After we were done enjoying the peace and quiet of the forest, we headed back down towards Santa Clara Divide Road. We followed the road back to Horse Flats and then back to the Silver Moccasin Trail and Chilao. Loved this hike today. Short on the mileage, but very big on the scenery!
Of all the times I’ve been to Joshua Tree, this was the first time we drove south through the Pinto Basin all the way to Cottonwood Spring to see the transition from the Mojave to the Colorado Desert. You won’t find Joshua Trees at elevations lower then 3,000 feet, but the Colorado Desert has its own unique beauty. Here’s where you’ll find the spindly ocotillo plant. I’ve always seen them in photos, but never made it down that far to see them in person. Our hike today was a 7.5 mile out and back to Lost Palms Oasis. Lost Palms Oasis has the largest concentration of Fan Palms in the park. Let me tell you this was a BEAUTIFUL hike! Undulating hills, lots of ups and downs on the trail, sandy washes, rocky canyons, plenty of cacti and views of the Salton Sea. We even saw a rainbow along the way. Once you arrive at the oasis, you can either scramble all the way down into the canyon under the palms, or you can enjoy the views from the overlook. If you don’t want to hike in that far, there’s a beautiful oasis right at the trailhead at Cottonwood Spring. This is a hike to do ONLY in the cooler months. They actually remove the trail from the park map in the summer to discourage people from doing it because some have died on this trail. While this was a much more populated trail then the CRH, it was still incredibly enjoyable. If you want to extend your trip, when you pass the junction to the Mastodon Peak loop, it’s about 2 extra miles to the top. We’ll save that one for another day. Before we headed out, we stopped off at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. It just so happened one of the rangers was giving a talk about rattlesnakes. I think I learned more about them today then I ever knew! It’s wonderful that these programs exist to educate people and get them outdoors to enjoy this beautiful world we live in and enjoy it wisely.
I've also included in this post some photos of our visit to the Cholla Cactus Garden. It's on the way to Cottonwood. If you're passing through the Pinto Basin on the way to the southern end of the park, I highly recommend taking a walk through the Cholla Cactus garden. You can't miss it. All of a sudden you'll see a patch of cute fuzzy looking cacti. But don't be fooled. These suckers will bite! Just a light brush against them and the spikes will penetrate your skin. They even have a first aid kit at the trail head with antiseptic and bandaids. LOL These little guys are known as the Bigelow Cholla, Jumping Cholla and also Teddybear Cholla. Unless you're a cactus wren or a desert woodrat, enjoy the view from a distance.
We were on part of this trail in November, and I wanted to go back and do more of it. I like this trail because it takes you into the backcountry and away from the more popular attractions in the park. You can really cover a lot of mileage in a short amount of time on this section because it’s mostly flat with only a 594’ gain/loss if you’re doing it as an out and back. Overnight backpackers will do the whole 35 mile trail in about 2 or 3 days. For this section, we parked at Juniper Flats, crossed Keys View Road and starting hiking. We past Ryan Campground and between Ryan and Lost Horse mountains. The trail leads up up from Lost Horse Valley to a pass and down the other side where it becomes more rocky and rugged. We passed the remains of an old prospector camp. There are actually quite a number of these located in the park and not just the ones noted on the map. The trail then took us down the other side of the pass into Queen Valley. We continued across the vast Queen Valley enjoying the immense open space. We’d gotten a late start today, so we gave ourselves a turnaround time since we didn’t have a car shuttle on the other end and would have to hike back the same amount of miles that we hiked in. We were just 1.7 miles short of Geology Tour Road when we had to head back. We still logged in a good 10 mile hike.
Today was our second time up Cucamonga Peak. The first time was on Thanksgiving day of last year and I was tired and sore for 2 days afterwards. It was tough on my body and I wasn’t even sure if I’d want to do it today, but we decided to hike to Icehouse Saddle and then decide where to go from there since there are other peaks that branch off from that junction. Once we arrived at the saddle, it was confirmed we were going to climb Cucamonga again.
We skirted around the mountain through the rugged, narrow section of trail that leads from Icehouse Saddle to the saddle between Big Horn and Cucamonga. Easy enough. Then onto the rocky, relentless switchbacks. The nice part about this section is that you have amazing views down into the canyon and there is nothing but wilderness. It’s incredibly beautiful and it is completely silent, especially on a day like today when we had no winds. I’ve only ever experienced that type of silence in the desert. Up we went until we finally arrived at the marker leading to the peak. It was actually a lot better this time then the last. At no point did I feel like quitting. It was a challenging hike, but well worth the effort. We spent some time at the summit hanging out with the chipmunks who were bumming our pizza, and chatting with other hikers. After about a 45 minute break, we began our descent. One thing to remember when hiking any trails that lead back through Icehouse Canyon are the rocks. There will be plenty of them to negotiate on the way down and your knees and ankles will be feeling it. On the plus side, the scenery is some of the most beautiful in the area, so you’ll have something to keep your mind off your tired legs.
Celebrated New Year’s Day by hiking to the top of Waterman Mountain. The Waterman Trail takes you along the edge of the San Gabriel Wilderness and has beautiful views of Bear Creek Canyon and the surrounding mountains. It's a very pretty trail with lots of pine trees and interesting rock formations. Around 8:15 am we heard the roar of the Stealth Bomber and its escorts. They flew right over Angeles National Forest which was really cool to see. At the summit, we had a champagne toast and took a little nap on the boulders in the warm sunshine before taking our time going back. It was nice, relaxing hike and a great start to 2018.
A hike to Mount Baldy on a perfect day was a great way to wrap up the year 2017! I’d been wanting to hike this mountain again ever since our first summit in November when strong winds prevented me from being able to take as many photos as I would have liked. This time we could not have asked for more perfect weather! We did the same route as last time; up the Ski Hut/Baldy Bowl Trail and down the Devil’s Backbone. We took our time at the summit and savored the views from the Devil’s Backbone. It’s a challenging hike, but definitely one of the best! Here are some photos from our journey.
Our Christmas Day was spent hiking a section of the Pacific Crest Trail from Inspiration Point to Vincent Gap. The air was calm but crisp and scented with my favorite vanilla Jeffery Pines. The trek along this stretch of the PCT is mostly evenly graded and under the shade of pine trees until you drop down into Vincent Gap where you’ll lose about 1,000’ of elevation in less then a mile. If you do this trail, just remember to leave some extra gas in the tank for the climb back up later. Beautiful pine needles cover much of the path along the way and just before Vincent Gap you’ll pass through a flat section where there’s a pine grove. As the trail begins to descend the scenery then changes into a scene from Snow White’s forest and you’re suddenly in a fairytale forest of oak trees. We hiked almost 10 miles round trip stopping at Jackson Flat campground to have lunch. I can’t think of a better way to have spent our Christmas this year then on the trail in these beautiful mountains!
The plan for today was to hike about 9.7 miles from Inspiration Point to Vincent Gap along the PCT. The temperature was 25 degrees according to the temp gauge on my car when we arrived, and the winds were blowing at about 30 mph. This was going to be a good test to see how well we'd fare on the trail during the colder months and see what else we were going to need as far as layers, gear, etc. When we got out of the car, there was one obvious thing that my husband realized he didn't have... gloves! I knew he wasn't going to be able to do the hike with those winds whipping around the mountain on his bare hands. But rather then abort the mission, we drove over to Grassy Hollow where it's a little less exposed. I gave him my gloves since my fleece has sleeves that cover up most of your hands, and we got on the trail. I really enjoyed hiking in the crisp mountain air. My layering system seemed to work pretty good. The only thing I need to add as far as I can tell right now is a good pair of base layer tights under my hiking pants and a balaclava to cover my face when the wind is kicking up. After about a mile in, we decided to turn around and save the trail for another day when we were more prepared for the weather. Besides, I'd been thinking about a nice cup of hot chocolate covered in sprinkles and whipped cream from the Grizzly Cafe. On the way there, we saw Mountain High Ski Resort was blowing snow. We stopped to check it out. Even though this was a short day, we had a lot of fun getting our first taste of winter in our local mountains.
Another hike through the past up to Echo Mountain and Inspiration Point. Echo Mountain was once home to the Echo Mountain House, a grand resort in its day. Sadly it was burned to the ground along with many of the other structures constructed by Thaddeus Lowe, but you can still hike to the top and see the ruins including parts of the funicular that once brought guests up from Rubio Canyon to the resort. There are interpretive signs that will help you imagine how magnificent this place once was. From Echo Mountain we hiked up the Castle Canyon trail to Inspiration Point. There are viewing tubes here that are strategically placed to view local points of interest looking down on the sprawling city below. From there we also visited the site of Ye Alpine Tavern, another endeavor of Mr. Lowe which is also long gone, but not forgotten. The sites are loving taken care of by volunteers. It was a fun day exploring the mountainside and learning more about its extravagant history. You can learn more about the history here: http://www.mtlowe.net/
With the cooler weather, it was a good day to explore the front range. We drove up to Eaton Saddle and started the hike up a fireroad and through the Mueller Tunnel. We took the trail to summit Mount Lowe first. There’s a lot of fire damage in this area from the 2009 station fire, but it looks like things are coming back nicely. I’d seen so many photos and read about the history up in this part of the San Gabriels, so it was exciting to finally check it out. In 1893 there used to be an electric powered railway here that was constructed by the ambitious Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. The Mount Lowe Railway would take guests back and forth from the Echo Mountain House (also constructed by Lowe), and today you can still hike to the ruins on Echo Mountain. We are saving that hike for another day. In addition, Lowe also constructed a tavern, an observatory and the world's largest search light. Lowe planned to extend his railway up to the summit of Mount Lowe, but sadly many of his endeavors were lost due to fires or natural disasters. Eventually, he ran out of money. Today you can look through the viewing tubes on the summit that are strategically placed at points of interest such as Mount Baldy and Mount Wilson. You’ll also see hitching rails where horses were once tied and there’s a sign with more information for anyone who cares to learn about the history of the mountain on which they are standing. After spending some time reflecting on the summit of Mount Lowe, we hiked back down and took the trail leading to Mount Disappointment and San Gabriel Peak. Interesting story about Mount Disappointment in case you don’t already know: In 1894, USGS surveyors climbed to the top of Mount Disappointment after viewing it from the San Fernando Valley. They thought it was the highest peak in the region only to be “disappointed” when they looked over at San Gabriel peak and discover that the mountain they’d climbed was shorter! So there you go. Another point of interest along the route is that you’ll pass by what’s left of a Nike Missile Defense System from LA’s cold war-era. We took the route up to Mount Disappointment first. The route travels up a fire road which, as much as I hate hiking fire roads, wasn’t too bad. The summit has some radio towers, a helipad and great views, so I feel like this peak deserves a better name. Anywho, after exploring Mt. Disappointment, we headed up to San Gabriel Peak. The trail is quite steep, but it’s a nice climb to work for your reward of even more great views from the top. I should also mention from these peaks we could see the billowing smoke plumes off in the distance from the Thomas Fire which as of this writing is still, unfortunately, burning. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this hike. We’ll soon be hiking Echo Mountain to Inspiration Point so we can take in even more history about our nearby mountain range.
My alarm went off at 4 am, but both of us were tired and needed more sleep. I got up, fed the cat, gave him some playtime and then went back to bed. About 6 am I woke up and knew if we didn’t hike we’d spend the day regretting it. We suited up, grabbed the packs and headed out. By 10:30 we were at the trailhead for Dawson Saddle, 7,901’. This was the latest we’d ever started a hike, but at the higher elevation the air was chilly and the winds were about 30 to 35 mph. I was glad we were starting off in the mid-morning sun. Dawson Saddle is an absolutely beautiful trail. It was built by the Boy Scouts in 1982. My favorite section of this trail is going up over the ridge where the views are incredible on either side. It’s also nicely graded so even though you’re climbing, you don’t really notice it much. Soon we arrived at the junction for the PCT where you can take a left to Mount Burnham and Mount Baden-Powell, or you can follow it to the right and summit Throop Peak and Mount Hawkins. We’d already done Throop over the summer, so our plan was to skip Throop and just stay on the PCT heading over to Mount Hawkins. As the trail skirted around Throop, you could notice some fire damage. It was still a very pretty trail and the views continued throughout the trek. Eventually, we reached the fork where the PCT heads down or you can veer left to reach the rocky summit of Mount Hawkins. Once at the summit we had nice 360 views all around. We took a break to enjoy the solitude and crisp mountain air before heading back. On the return, we passed by the use trail that heads up to Throop . We decided since we were already here, why not check it out. The trail was steep and faded in and out in spots, but it was just a short distance to the summit. Right before the peak, the trail became well defined again and the plaque dedicated to Amos G. Throop became visible. I think it may have been around 1:30 by this time, so we didn’t hang around for too long before heading back down. We got back on the Dawson Saddle trail and continued another 1.9 miles before reaching our car. After bagging two peaks in one day, sushi and sake seemed like a good idea. It was a perfect ending to a lovely day.
Today was an epic day full of history! We arrived at the locked gate at Chantry Flat Road about 10 minutes ‘til 6 just before the sheriff arrived to open it. We then drove up the windy road to the parking area at Chantry Flats, displayed our Adventure Pass and off we went into the Big Santa Anita Canyon. This place was beautiful! I immediately forgot I was only 25 minutes from our house in the city; towering oaks, a village of rustic cabins along a creek and lush, green ivy cascading the canyon walls. We trekked creekside along the Gabrielino Trail enjoying the scenery before we reached Fiddler’s Crossing where we followed a short spur trail to Sturtevant Falls. We then backtracked to the Lower Gabrielino trail and traveled onward and upward towards Sturtevant Camp. The Lower Gabrielino trail took us up above the falls which was pretty cool since I’d never actually been on top of a waterfall before. But be warned, the trail here is mostly jagged rock cut into the canyon wall, and there was one section in particular where it got a little sketchy due to erosion from the rains. Besides that section, the rest of the trip is on a lovely, well maintained path. Next, we headed up towards Spruce Grove camp and picked up the Sturtevant Trail to the historic Sturtevant Camp, established in 1893. When we arrived, Brad, the host, greeted us welcomingly. We chatted with him for quite a while and he showed us around the buildings which date back to “The Great Hiking Era”. He also gave us a little history about the place and showed us inside the Sturtevant Lodge which has a kitchen, a dining hall and a fireplace room with an old piano. On the walls, you can see photos of Mr. Wilbur Sturtevent himself. At the turn of the century there were five resorts built here. Sturtevant Camp is the only one that remains, and it’s still functioning! You can rent the cabins, but there is no wifi, cell phone service, computers or TV, and your things will have to be brought up by mules from Adam’s Pack Station. How cool is that! For more information, you can check out this link: http://sturtevantcamp.com/ After leaving camp, we got back on the Sturtevant Trail to the Upper Zion trail which took us to the spur for Mount Zion. In just a short climb we were at the summit looking back at Mount Wilson. After enjoying the view, we headed down and continued on the Upper Zion trail. This section didn’t have much shade and the switchbacks were steep. I was glad we were going down and not up! Eventually, the trail dropped us back into the cool, shady canyon passing through Hoegee’s camp and onto the Winter Creek Trail before reaching our car parked at Chantry Flats. We ended our adventure with ice cream from Adam’s Pack Station General store. I would have loved to have seen the mules, but they were busy working today and making a delivery to Sturtevant Camp. This was a really great hike with a little bit of everything; beautiful scenery, a waterfall, unique history and even a peak. We will definitely take this route again through Sturtevant Camp when we hike to Mount Wilson!
This past Sunday we drove 90 minutes outside of LA to the Western Mojave desert to Saddleback Butte State Park. Our destination was a short climb up the 3,651’ Saddleback Butte Peak. This butte dates back to the Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago. The hike was a short but sweet 3.7 miles round trip with an elevation +/- of 1,020’. I think the hardest part of this hike was walking through the desert sand. Once you start climbing up the butte, the trail fades in and out a bit. There are also some rock scrambles, but they’re pretty easy making the hike a lot of fun. In the spring, this area will be covered in wildflowers. It was a nice relaxing day. I’m looking forward to seeing this area again in the spring.
Hit the trail early Thanksgiving morning to hike Cucamonga Peak. We started up Icehouse Canyon at 5:30 am. This was our third time up this trail to Icehouse Saddle which is a gateway to other trails including Cucamonga Peak. It used to be a challenge, but it’s getting easier every time. We entered the Cucamonga Wilderness just before the sun came up, and by 8 am we were at Icehouse Saddle. We stopped for a snack, and it wasn’t long before other hikers arrived. One of them was heading to the same destination as we were. He was using the trail to train for other peaks. After the break, we hopped on the next segment to Cucamonga Peak. This is where the real hike began. From here on out we were on much more rugged terrain with narrow sections, steep cliffs and rock scrambles. It was one of those hikes where you really had to watch your footing. Next came the switchbacks. Some sections were all scree and talus. It was a hard climb and my fear of heights being on a narrow ledge with loose rock and steep drops was starting to kick in. I had to stop and take breaks to keep my zen. I could see the peak, but it seemed a million miles away. Up and up we went moving slowly, but making progress with each careful step. We were less then half a mile away from the peak when we saw the young hiker we’d met at Icehouse Saddle coming down. “Almost there.” he said. “Take short steps and use your poles.” After a few more switchbacks I spotted the marker for the spur trail leading up to the peak just ahead. What a relief! We made our final ascent up a steep but well buffed out section of trail. Finally I saw the wooden sign, “Cucamonga Peak 8,859’”. Whew! That was rough! The views from the peak were vast and sprawling overlooking the city and all the way out to the San Jacinto and Santa Ana mountain ranges. We took a long break to rest our tired legs and celebrate Thanksgiving morning with yesterday’s leftover pizza! On the way down my overactive mind calmed down. Although I still had to be careful with my footing, I was in a much better headspace. The hard part was over. I was able to soak in the incredible views of the remote wilderness and enjoy the trek down this beautiful mountain. The switchbacks seemed to go a lot faster on the way down, but we still had to negotiate our way through rugged trail back to Icehouse Saddle. Once at the saddle, we still had about 3 miles to go to get back to the trailhead. Luckily, the canyon is so pretty, it makes those last miles go quick. We finished the hike (including our breaks and all my picture taking) in about 8 hours and 50 minutes. We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving day on Friday knowing we earned those extra slices of pumpkin pie!
