Mt Wilson loop-Chantry, Newcomb Pass, Winter Creek Trail

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Mon May 26, 2008 4:10 pm

My son Eric and I did Mt. Wilson today via the Sturtevant Trail out of Chantry Flat, returning via the Upper Winter Creek Trial. We included one intentional detour to Newcomb Pass in order to make the loop a bit longer. Temperatures were in the mid 40s to low 50s -- cold for shorts and T-shirts, but dammit it's May 26! Trailing Eric all the way insured a good pace. We started at 9:24 and hit the Gazebo at 11:07, ate lunch before frostbite set in and were down by 2:19, for about 15 miles in just under 5 hours. I think Eric was ready for another loop, but I was heading for the nearest coffee emporium. (It's ok, FIGHT ON -- caffeine after the hike. And hot coffee at that!

) I forgot my camera but have Eric's pictures.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Mon May 26, 2008 5:56 pm

YOU FORGOT YOUR CAMERA AGAIN!?!!! ALZHEIMERS

(or you pretended to forget it so Eric could carry the extra weight)

YOU HEAR THAT ERIC? YOUR DAD IS MAKING YOU CARRY ALL THE STUFF TO SLOW YOU DOWN. Hey I checked out the section of the Silver Moccasin Trail between Shortcut and Cloud Burst Summit. ITS FLAT. (compared to the others) all I have to do is from Islip Saddle to Cloud Burst Summit and I will KNOW the trail. THE SILVER MOCCASIN TRAIL is the hardest day hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. LET'S DO IT!

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Mon May 26, 2008 6:17 pm

FIGHT ON wrote:YOU FORGOT YOUR CAMERA AGAIN!?!!! ALZHEIMERS (or you pretended to forget it so Eric could carry the extra weight) YOU HEAR THAT ERIC? YOUR DAD IS MAKING YOU CARRY ALL THE STUFF TO SLOW YOU DOWN.

He knows.

That ounce saved me.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:11 pm

FIGHT ON wrote:Hey I checked out the section of the Silver Moccasin Trail between Shortcut and Cloud Burst Summit. ITS FLAT. (compared to the others) all I have to do is from Islip Saddle to Cloud Burst Summit and I will KNOW the trail. THE SILVER MOCCASIN TRAIL is the hardest day hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. LET'S DO IT!

I have gotten the SM trail (and I think I'll stick to calling it that) into my head, but we'll have to see how it fits into plans. I manage to hog out the time to do only a few hikes that take many hours. Besides having quite a backlog of my own, I have an 18-year old with a long list of his own. For example, we've never even done the 3 Saints. So many mountains, so little time.

P.S. I didn't know to look behind the tree by the Newcomb Pass sign. On the other hand, no snakes today.

Post by **HikeUp** » Thu May 29, 2008 8:35 am

Nice loop hike. How would you describe the condition of the Rim Trail (from Newcomb up to Mt. Wilson)? Last time I was on it the lower portion was a bit overgrown and the upper portion had a couple of washouts.

Was there a lot of skeeters?

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Thu May 29, 2008 8:58 am

HikeUp wrote:Nice loop hike. How would you describe the condition of the Rim Trail (from Newcomb up to Mt. Wilson)? Last time I was on it the lower portion was a bit overgrown and the upper portion had a couple of washouts.

Was there a lot of skeeters?

There were some overgrown portions and a couple of washouts, but they were not too bad. We did not encounter any bugs. Of course it was in the high 40s most of the time.