The Trail I’ve Waited to Conquer for 8 Years (Mount Wilson Trail)

Long and short of it: the hike was amazing.

I wanted to tackle Mount Wilson while the weather was good. The weather was perfect, slightly overcast and cool. I wanted to jump on it since the trail just recently opened all the way to the summit. This was the first time I had ever hiked on the Mount Wilson Trail, as it has been intermittently closed over the past few years for fire closures and I just never got around to it during the short periods that it reopened. I see now what I have been missing out on. The climb is tough, 5000ft of elevation gain, relentlessly going up and up all the way to the top without much to break it up (and then all down on the way down). The grade is steady though, and manageable for most of the hike with a couple steep spots as the exception.

The lower section of the trail is incredibly well maintained with recent fortifications put in place by volunteers, of which who were out that morning working on the trail. Huge shout out to them, thank you all so much for all your hard work! The middle section of the hike in and around Orchard Camp is beautiful, with lots of greenery and wildflowers that are starting to come in. I took a well-earned break at Orchard camp and met a group of friendly folks. Above Orchard camp is less maintained and there are some spots that are washed out from the recent rain. Around 3rd/4th Water there are some really soft sections of the trail. Not too bad, just be mindful. This now also enters the burn scar from the Eaton Fire. There is minimal shade now (luckily it was overcast) due to the fire. BEWARE: there is Poodledog Bush everywhere on the last mile or so up to the summit and it is right on the edge of the trail! I included a photo of it so you can know how to identify it. The toll road is a nice area to cover some ground quickly without having to worry about the Poodledog Bush. I had also read that there were sightings of a tree with an active bee hive in it near the trail somewhere near the top, but I never noticed any bees. I’m not sure if they are still there or if the cold weather made them less active.

The summit was much cooler and very windy. Clouds were rushing up the mountain which was fun to watch. The Cosmic Cafe was closed but will re-open in April from what I’ve heard. I used the benches at the cafe to eat a quick lunch while being shielded from the wind. The bathrooms are open at the top and were heated, with hot water to boot. I headed back down the same way I came up without incident (slipped in a couple spots but luckily was able to catch myself). My Garmin clocked the hike at 15 miles and just shy of 5000 ft of elevation gain…. not too shabby for the first hike of the challenge. Looking forward to the rest of the peaks to come!

Some more story:

I first participated in the 6-Packs Challenge in 2018. I saw that the official route to summit Mount Wilson for the challenge was via the Mount Wilson Trail, but then I saw the stats. I was just getting into serious hiking and was looking for the challenge, but it would have been the furthest hike I had ever done in a single day to that point along with the most elevation gain in a single day. I opted instead to start from Chantry Flats instead and take the Sturtevant Trail, which I was more familiar with. I eventually moved on to bigger hikes that rivaled the original stats of the Mount Wilson Trail and was always curious about it. Then came COVID, some fires, life, and me getting busy with grad school. Hiking took a bit of a backseat for a while. Last year, I decided to get back into hiking seriously again and have been slowly getting my sea legs back. I had always regretted not hiking this trail sooner, and being able to see it before the fires. But I don’t regret having the experiences I have now that I’ve done it (it was still amazing) and will definitely be back to do this trail again soon!