I had my doubts when leaving home, the sky was overcast and gloomy - I could barely see two block, much less the usual view of Turtleback from my backyard. Nevertheless, Sean had already texted me saying he was enroute so I left the house as planned at 7:15. Things were a little clearer when I got to the Hwy 138 turnoff, and life was good as I reached Wrightwood. I had to stop at Inspiration Point because the view was, well, inspiring. The parking lot at Vincent Gap was about 50 percent full when I passed by, and I reached Dawson Saddle at the prescribed time of 8:30. I heeded the warning sight of broken glass and hid anything that looked valuable in the Ranger, and we stepped off toward the trail.
Never having been up here, it was all new to me which of course was rather exciting. The trail is in great shape, and going with Sean is great since he seems to know every shortcut, use trail or even animal path in existence. We had some discussion about the kinds of trees surrounding us, and as we passed some of the downed and cut remnants speculated on their age and lifetimes. A short break atop Throop allowed me some time to rummage through my pack, which hadn't been used in a while - however I came up with some red licorice which was still tasty although difficult to chew. This summit began a trend of aimlessly wandering around looking for benchmarks, but we were defeated on all five peaks this day. After a bit of cross country we located the PCT and took that to the Hawkins Ridge junction where some water was stashed. While sitting on Middle Hawkins we had a nice view of the area around Crystal Lake, or should we say Crystal Mudhole since there does not appear to be any water inside. The parking lot at the Mt Islip trail seemed pretty full although I did not spot any hikers moving about on the hillsides. Another tiny bit of cross country brought us to the top of Sadie Hawkins, where we signed the only register we found for the day. Reaching South Hawkins was at just the right time, since it proved to be a great spot for a lunch break. We luxuriated in mixed shade and sun while I munched on the meager ration that I brought along.
Sean mentioned the exploration to see the mysterious solar panel, which looked like a signpost from up on the road. All it really did was create more uphill for us on the return trip, which was a nice gentle grade for a couple of hours. Fortunately there are enough large rocks and felled trees to provide some comfort during the rest breaks and a discussion about MMA helped to speed the miles along. During this time we also determined that more food was in order so after reaching our unharmed vehicles we cruised into Wrightwood and had some grub along with orange wheat beers.
It was a great day for me, all of it on new trails and much better than sitting at home complaining about the weather and cleaning up after the rainstorm the previous day.
Pics....
Inspiration point view
Parking in the high country
No need to adjust your monitor, the sign is placed crooked
Looking at the sea of clouds from Throop summit
Almost literally bushwhacking
Representing on Sadie Hawkins
Heading toward South Hawkins
When you see a fork in the road, take it - we went up the trail and down the road
Clouds are breaking up as we relaxed for a while on South Hawkins
"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
Donald Shimoda
