We ended up leaving around 6:30AM (from Santa Monica). We arrived at Mahogany Camp around 12:00; and began hiking by 1:00. The wind was absolutely insane. I'm from Florida and have seen some serious storms and wind. However, this was the strongest wind I've ever encountered. On the ridge before Telescope Pk....it had to have been a constant 70-80 mph.
The distance was 6.2 miles from Mahogany. We were able to do this in about 3.5 hours. Views were amazing.
Camping at Mahogany would have been great; except the wind was just relentless. Anything you sat down, would blow away. It was cold (45 degrees by 8:00pm with a 40 mph wind). You couldn't talk or hear. You couldn't start a fire (even if you could....only a fool would do it in this wind). So....we ended up hitting the tents by 9:30.
......and no, I have no clue how to place pictures in-line in this post. It's a mystery
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