We picked up the PCT and headed westward. Initially the tree cover was sparse to non-existent. But the views were great and being above 6,000 feet the temperature was mild in the morning.
Maybe a mile and a half up the trail we found Camp Hachey 2, a decent spot for PCTers to set up their tents.
The trail slowly climbed up the ridge. Occasionally a gust of wind tried to steal our hats and bandanas, but we managed to hold on to them.
At about the halfway point we started finding more trees and shade.
The trail mostly skirts the ridge on one side or the other, but there are a few spots where it crosses a saddle. Here you can look one way and see the desert or look the other way and see the high peaks around Baldy.
About 4.5 miles up the trail we hit the junction with the end of the Blue Ridge Road. This is the east flank of Wright Mountain. From here we continued west on the PCT only a short distance to an old firebreak/road that goes to the right and runs atop the east ridge.
I happened to be looking around in one spot and noticed a cross some distance off the trail. It was a marker for Sarah Hathaway, who apparently died at 16 years of age in 1997. Anyone know the story behind this marker?
After a pretty casual ascent, we made it to the summit around noon. The old road passes about fifty feet south of the summit, and there are lots of trees obscuring the highpoint in a flat area. But the top is marked with a cairn partially visible from the road.
It was very nice up there in the shade of the forest. We ate our Subway sandwiches and chips. Cecelia explored the area and played on her phone, no doubt uploading photos to Facebook or something. I looked at the ground and noticed the different pine needles. There appeared to be several years worth of dead needles, varying in their levels of deterioration. I lay down on my back and gazed at the trees. Some of the lower branches were dead, and I wondered how long it usually takes for them to snap off the tree trunk. I closed my eyes and tried to take a nap, but I wasn't that tired. The wave-like sound of wind blowing through trees, and the feeling of hot air mixed with cool air, made me think of lying on the beach. There is cell reception on Wright, so I heard my phone receiving messages, but I successfully ignored them until after the hike.
We thought the hike down would be hotter since it was later in the day. But the wind kept the ridge fairly cool. Cecelia spotted a small snake during the descent but it quickly moved into the brush.
She also spotted a triangular sign on one of the bumps above the trail. She scrambled up to it while I waited in the shade.
By the time we reached the car, I was super thirsty, having finished my water plus some of Cecelia's. On the way to the freeway we stopped at a gas station for desperately needed cold drinks. At times like this I treat myself to a Cactus Cooler, and this time I also got a Peace Tea and a Powerade. Boy, those sure hit the spot!
