Of course, we had to do a hike after a spring rain! Chad and I left the car at Chantry Flat at 7:20 a.m. We headed down the asphalt to the Sturtevant Trail on our way to Mt. Wilson. The sky was clear and the views were amazing. The mountains were verdant in post-rain splendor!
The trail was in good shape all the way up to the telescopes. We were hoping for snow, but instead were rewarded with a dust- and bug-free trail. The 7 mile trip to the top was finished in about 2:40. The 60 inch telescope:
The temps on Mt. Wilson were in the high 30s and ice was still to be found in the drinking fountains. Icicles were also found hanging on the oaks by our lunch bench.
The Rim Trail was about a quarter mile to the west. The first mile or so of the trail was in great shape and passable with a few instances of having to play poodle dog twister.
The Rim Trail offers amazing views to the northeast:
and to the east:
The middle section of the 3.6 mile Rim Trail was in good shape without PDB or poison oak. The final ~1.5 miles into Newcomb Pass had moderate amounts of poison oak which required the p.o dance to avoid it:
Overall, the trip measured out to 17 miles and we were finished by 3:00 pm. Ideally, this trip should be done in cool weather. We can see this trip being 'buggy', too, in warmer weather. I'll post a map when I finish it.
Sturtevant Trail to Mt.Wilson to RimTrail: 26 April 2014
- Uncle Rico
- Posts: 1439
- Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:48 pm
I did that some of that same route just a few weeks ago although in reverse--started at Wilson, down Sturtevant, up Gabrieleno, and back along Rim. What's with all the poison oak near Newcomb Pass? Not really where I'd ordinarily expect to find it.