Mt. Wilson Loop From Chantry Flats, 17-May-2008

TRs for the San Gabriel Mountains.
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Tim
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Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:55 pm

Post by Tim »

The "your favorite hikes" thread got me thinking that I really should be exploring some new areas. I normally only hike in the high country, pine forest type places but today I went up to Mt. Wilson from Chantry Flats via the Sturtevant Trail and then looped back via the Winter Creek Trail. I was really surprised by how lush Santa Anita Canyon is. It's like a jungle down there. The entire loop was 90% heavily forested and shaded so that was nice to beat the heat. But the stretch above Sturtevant Falls to Halfway Rest is totally infested with flies and mosquitoes. I keep forgetting to bring bug spray or a headnet.

Saw lots of people in the falls area, but only a very small handful afterwards. Above Halfway Rest I met a very nice Asian couple who, to my surprise, instantly recognized me as the solo hiker on Iron Mtn last week. Apparently they were part of the Sierra Club group that was also on Iron last week. What a small world.

Funny thing: whenever I meet people on the trail they always express concern that I'm solo. I think maybe this is because I don't look like a big, burly outdoorsman :lol:

I also saw the area on the north side of Wilson where the fatality in February might have happened. There is definitely a couple of gnarly areas you wouldn't want to fall down, even in dry conditions. It's really sad what happened to the girl who fell.

Overall, I liked this hike and had a good time.

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Sturtevant Falls:
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Pine trees again! I feel at home now:
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Surprisingly clear for such a hot day:
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I was so disappointed when I found out that the LIVE MEGA DOPPLER 7000 HD is not on Mt. Wilson! Turns out it's on Oat Mountain in San Fernando.
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Almost stepped on this guy on the Winter Creek Trail. He was really lethargic. Just sat there perfectly still, all stretched out across the trail:
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Saw lots of Mike P's favorite plant:
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Taco
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Post by Taco »

NOW BROADCASTING IN LIVE MEGA EXTREME ELITE EXTREME EXTREME DOPPLAR FIFTY HUNDRED BILLION.

Nice pics. High viz today, could see San J no problem from anywhere.
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Funyan005
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Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 11:17 pm

Post by Funyan005 »

Best visiblities are almost always when its extremely hot, or just after it rains.
Top of mt. wilson is always depressing, so many antenna's.
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HikeUp
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Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm

Post by HikeUp »

I did this same hike in July of '07 and even then the skeeters (gdmf skeeters!) were thick starting at Sturtevant Camp up to about Halfway Rest. Good motivation to keep moving during the steepest part of the route.
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Mike P
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Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:48 pm

Post by Mike P »

Hey Tim! Don't make fun of my plant!! :)

Saw lots of that stuff on the Idlehour trail yesterday and today. TR to follow later.

Beautiful pics, BTW.
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