This was my second time going up Mt Wilson and it wasn’t nearly as easy as I remembered it! I had just hiked Big Santa Anita Canyon last month and wanted a slight change of scenery, so I opted to take the Sierra Madre trailhead rather than start at Chantry Flat. The mileage is nearly the same and according to initial research the elevation gain was exactly the same (that I later learned was wrong). Also because parking is an absolute NIGHTMARE up there on the weekends, it seemed like a natural choice.

The weather provided good hiking conditions for the trail. It was overcast and cool (high 60s), but darn was it humid. Partly sunny at the trailhead with bits of sunshine on the trail the first few miles. I started around noon (later than I had hoped) and the summit was completely enveloped by clouds. I was crossing my fingers for a little sunshine at the top because I knew it was going to be cold up there.

I had forgotten how quickly you start gaining elevation on this trail and it has very few breaks of level ground. Pretty much up, up and up for the first 5.25 miles. The trail was very crowded, much more so than my first time a few years back. The first leg of the trail (between the trailhead and First Water) was packed with people. Most of which were Instagram Hikers with absolutely no trail etiquette. I passed at least 20 sets of hikers coming downhill and not one yielded to me coming uphill, and with that climb is was annoying to keep stopping. Once past First Water however, I came across more seasoned hikers who were great to share the trail with.

I stopped for a brief rest and snack at Orchard Camp which is the halfway mark to the summit. From Orachard Camp there is about 3.5 miles to the top, and let me tell you that was the hardest 3.5 miles I’ve hiked in a long time. I had been training for weeks to prep for my Six Pack challenge but it felt like I hadn’t even began to train for the last half of the way up. Albeit most of my training hikes had been 4-7 miles roundtrip, I apparently was barely ready to make a 7 mile ascent. I was tired and hungry, but kept putting one foot in front of the other and continued my way up.

Once you reach the Mt Wilson Toll Road (about 5.25 miles up) it’s a very gradual climb for the last 1.75 miles. As “easy”as this portion is, with the baby steps I was taking it was taking a while. I could see the summit from the road and the tower of the solar telescope from the observatory. With beautiful blue skies and sunshine. I was so happy that is looked like such nice weather up there…until I looked the other direction. I would see a blanket of clouds rolling in. I willed myself to go as fast as I could. I wanted to make it to the sunshine!

On my final approach to the summit, the clouds rolled in and swallowed the radio towers. There was about 15 feet of visibility and the temperature was COLD! None the less, I made it! My climb time was 3 hrs, 56 minutes.

The parking lot was open so there were several people (who had driven) up there. I made my way over to the pavilion to rest and have some lunch. In anticipation of the cold weather and how hungry I knew I would be up top, I packed my backpacking stove and a Mountain House meal so I could have a hot, filling lunch. There is a cafe up there, but it doesn’t open until April and the last time I went up, they weren’t serving hot food that day for health code reasons (nothing scandalous).

After lunch i started getting a big cold. It was 40° at the summit and I was wearing a thermal shirt, down vest and a down jacket and I was still getting chilly. So I took a few photos and started my descent. It was cold (and tired) enough that for about the first 10 minutes going down, it felt like I was stepping on glass with each step. But once my blood got flowing again I started making good time on the way down.

With how late in the day it was I didn’t see many other people on the trail. I was surprised however to pass a couple near Manzanita Ridge who were on their way up after 4pm. Hopefully they had plenty of light on them. The rest of the way down was pretty uneventful. I had to do the last 1/4 mile in the dark but I had my headlamp with me, so it was no biggie.

Finally made it back to the trailhead at 7:44pm. My descent time was 3 hrs 6 min and my total Trip time was 7 hrs 56 min.

Next time I will definitely try the ascent from Chantry Flat. Upon further research it’s about 1100’ less than the Sierra Madre trail. Now, back to training so Cucamonga isn’t so hard.