The ridge is brutal--harder than Bastard Ridge to Jones Peak. There is quite a bit of class 2 clawing at loose dirt and pushing branches out of the way. The ridge offers a network of often faint and overgrown deer trails. The trip from Bailey Canyon Park and up the ridge to Hastings Peak is about 2.1 miles with 3000' of gain.
I couldn't keep up with the speed demons, who topped out in two hours, but Willie kept me company as night fell before we reached the peak a half hour later.
And today I continued efforts to kick my own ass by letting Henry take me up Lower Santa Anita Ridge, from the Arcadia Highlands to the Communication Site atop the San Olene Fire Road. This route climbs 2350' in about 1.4 miles. We started from Camillo Street, and maybe we trespassed a bit to reach the ridge. Maybe we didn't. Our route was moderately brushy much of the way. Initially very steep, it mellowed out a little higher up, where the brush also gave way to clearer deer trails.
As a reward for making it up the ridge, I was granted the priviledge of watching Henry get attacked by bees.
