EISPIRATEN

We might have jumped the gun on the opening of Mt. Wilson. Headed up Bailey Canyon from Bailey Wilderness Park. There is a field of Matilija Poppies right at the parking lot.From there climbed steeply towards Jones Peak. Noble Penstemon flowers on the wayNice views of the city from Jones Peak

From there we hiked the Ridgeline to Hastings Peak. The trail was overgrown but not hard to follow

Survey marker on Hastings Peak

From Hastings Peak the trail leads along the ridge then sharply down and nearly straight up 200'. It was not bad, plenty of reasonable foot placements.
From there along the Mt. Wilson Toll Road to the summit. There is still a lot of poodle dog on the last leg of the hike. We had the summit all to ourselves for a change

The descent was down the Mt. Wilson Trail to the Jones Peak cut-off, up over Jones Peak and back down Bailey Canyon.
16.3 miles 5,500' of gain. This may become my favorite Mt. Wilson route.

Thank you for the TR!

That's a good walk, you still had nice weather for it. In the summer it would be brutal, from the Jones Peak saddle to Hastings is all in the sun. I did that route a couple times this winter, stopping once to clear some brush on the lower part of the trail. I haven't gone up to Wilson from there, while standing on Hastings it didn't seem right that the 'trail' was that steep wall so I went down via the main Wilson trail.

Thanks for the report. I have never gone beyond Hastings Peak to Mt. Wilson. I've hiked to Wilson a few different routes but not this way. Love the Matilija poppies.

The trail from Hastings Peak up to the Mt. Wilson Toll road used to have a nice switch-backed trail built by Hiker Bob. This was back before the Station Fire. Even before the fire, a bunch of asshole switchback cutters had destroyed Bob's excellent trail. Then during the Station Fire the bull dozers completely obliterated it.

Before: ridge trail can be seen climbing up to the obvious toll road cut left of center...


After: bulldozed. they ran the dozer all the way from the toll road to Hastings, to Jones Peak and down bastard ridge to the mt. wilson trail...

Hikeup, wow thats sucks! The trail Bob made was Beautiful and I'm sure easier to get to Wilsom. Those damn bulldozers! People like me who have never tried this route could have benefited from it.

Thanks HikeUp - I had to go back to my pictures from new years day this year to see. I was looking for trail but now I can tell this fire break cut is the route. I didn't know how much downhill was involved in going over that way so I retreated and went down the main Wilson trail and road walked back to Bailey Canyon parking.
(photo from top of Hastings)

While it is quite steep, it is a totally doable climb. It is not nearly as exposed as it looks.

I like going up the main Wilson trail but then cutting up the south-east side of Jones Peak (not the connector, but the route that starts below the dam). There used to be only a minor use trail there, but Charlie Bell has made a little side loop that goes half-way up Jones. Then you can continue up the original use trail to the top of Jones.

Usually wouldn't visit this area at this time of year, though. Too hot.

JerryN wrote: ↑ There is still a lot of poodle dog on the last leg of the hike. We had the summit all to ourselves for a change

This last winter it was possible to get through there without touching it. Is that still possible, or is it crowding the trail so much that you can't avoid it? I'm super sensitive to that stuff.

A couple of other unusual routes up WIlson: (1) The ridge east of Little Santa Anita Canyon. I parked on Camillo Rd, and then I think I had to walk between a couple of houses to access the ridge. (2) The ridge behind the monastery. This has one spot where you have to pass through a steep notch with exposure on both sides. Routefinding is confusing if you come down, better to go up and then come down some other route.

Bailey Canyon is also a super fun and safe canyoneering route, with excellent bolted anchors. Just make sure not to get caught in a rainstorm, because it has flash floods.

There are places where the dog makes you walk through sideways and might touch some clothing, But, still possible to avoid arms, hands and face touching. Wear long pants though. I always wonder how many people don't know it and then wonder sometime later where this terrible terrible skin irritation came from.

@JerryN: Good to know, thanks. I'm usually going up there as a run, so I'm in shorts. I guess I'll just have to hope that the trail maintenance volunteers get up there between now and next winter and hit that evil weed with round-up, flamethrowers, plutonium, howitzers, or whatever it takes.

Ben, if you stay on the road (1/2 mile longer) you avoid all of the dog. I think there is another year or two before it is crowded out be the returning chaparral plants, but some has already been crowded out by mountain white buckthorn

It seems unpredictable how long the poodle dog will last after a fire. After the station fire it was extremely thick (and beautiful) along ACH over on the north-facing slopes of the Wilson ridge, and then that went away fairly fast. But over on Strawberry Peak, it really seemed to linger for year after year.

Strawberry Peak was where I learned about poodle dog the hard way.

Does the firebreak still have a cable assist below the road? It's doable without but was nice to have the cable years ago.

Sean wrote: ↑Does the firebreak still have a cable assist below the road? It's doable without but was nice to have the cable years ago.

I noticed it in the brush after I completed the ascent. I'm not sure about the condition of the cable or the anchor

It's a lovely hike despite the slight overgrowth. I did this from Lizzie's via Bastard Ridge last December when there was snow from the toll road and up. The last bit before the roll road looks steep from afar but like you said there's definitely decent footing for it.

@ReFreshing : Which ridge do you refer to as Bastard Ridge?

bcrowell wrote: ↑@ReFreshing : Which ridge do you refer to as Bastard Ridge?

It's basically the south east side of Jones peak. It branches off the Mt Wilson trail as a straight shot north-westward up to Jones.