The Sawmill Situation

This is it!  This is my final 6^th peak on the challenge!  I am stoked and I am ready for this hike!  We chose to summit Pinos and Sawmill and skip on Grouse because of the travel time.  There was no real gain from Grouse as per the reviews and we just wanted to finish this challenge.  This has been a nail biter finish because of weather, fires, schedules, snow and travel times to trailheads.  To complete this challenge, is a real accomplishment in my book!  Another long day but at least not a long hike.  We got to the trailhead around 8 and we made Sawmill summit by 11am.  We were tired from having completed Cucamonga’s 13.3  miles the week before so we took our time.  It really is a very beautiful hike and I will definitely be coming back for this one.  It’s an easy elevation incine.  The section between Pinos and Sawmill is filled with switchbacks that go down and then back up.  Rinse and repeat this for the way back – lol.  But it is the middle section so the remaining return was a cake walk.  It’s a very easy and well marked trail.  The switchbacks have some rocky sections but overall nothing technical.  Once you reach the false summit – there’s a pile of unmarked rocks – there’s still about .5 miles to go but pretty easy.  The views are spectacular and I saw a couple condors soaring in the distance.  We were ecstatic and celebrated with a champagne toast!  2024 SoCal 6 Pack of Peaks done!