The weather was “hike perfect” the day I hiked Mount Baden-Powell, the 5th summit of my challenge. I was a little worried about the unpredictable fall weather, but turns out the day involved mostly temperatures in the 60's and high 50's and almost no wind, which made for perfect hiking weather!

I started my hike a bit late on a Friday at 11:30AM. I let myself sleep in a bit since I knew parking would not be an issue for a Friday, but even without traffic it was nearly a 2 hour drive for me, which is why I ended up starting my hike so late. Even with the late start,, I was still confident I could finish well before sunset.

My pack was heavier than usual since I included a rain shell on top of a puffy jacket. It might have also felt heavier since it's been nearly three months since I did any kind of higher altitude hiking or hiking on a mountain. This combined with Baden-Powell's relentless opening series of switchbacks made for a harsh reality moment only 5 minutes into the hike.

Fhe beautiful surroundings and my mantra of “it's only 8 miles” got me through mile 1 and by that point, my legs and body got warmed up, so things were looking up!

The trails were quite well marked, even if a tad narrow here and there. Once again I used my GAIA GPS to help me get a visual of how far I was along the hike (navigation wasn't really an issue on this one).

My biggest complaint on my summer hikes was the heat and humidity, neither of which were an issue on this hike! I imagine the hike would have been quite brutal in the summer, but it was also quite a lot shorter than all my prior hikes, so I was still feeling pretty good by the time I summited.

Towards the end of the climb, right after you crest the front half of the range, there's a “somewhat flat” stretch that takes you to a little further into the mountains before the final summit push. This part had amazing views there of the surrounding mountains.

I found that I had the summit all to myself (it was around quarter to 3 on a Friday) to enjoy the view and great weather, and even set up a mini tripod for some photos and videos.

Hike back down was easier than coming up, but I almost slipped off the edge of part of the switchbacks down since the trail just crumbled when I stepped too close to the edge, so watch out for that!

Overall it was a lovely hike on the “short” range of the challenge hikes. It was also a short distance from Wrightwood, so I stopped there to buy some soda and snacks for the long drive home.