Today, driving along highway 2, the wind started to pick up and upon reaching the parking lot at Redbox canyon, it was very cold with the added wind chill. It was unusual for me to experience this condition as we normally hiked Strawberry peak around February when most of the snow already melted and the temperature I considered perfect. Some snow patches still visible on some nearby mountains this time.

While waiting for my friends, I was glad that I packed a hot soup in my hydroflask, which originally intended for an after hike food. Because it was cold, I consumed majority of it 🙂 and took the remainder and finished it up at the peak.

I didn’t expect a lot of people as this was a Sunday hike, which I considered a birthday hike for my friend Harvey. Parking was half full and the people along the trail was descent enough that we only saw just a handful of hikers already making their way back. Encountering a couple mountain bikers was quite surprising, although we know that some bikers used the trail as well, but along the narrow trail wasn’t very thrilling. We met them about half a mile or so from Mt. Lawlor’s trail, almost literally hugged the side of the mountain to let them pass.

The night before, I was already mapping the trail in my mind, the turns, the ups and the downs. Quite happy that I was very familiar with it, but then upon reaching the bottom of the long steepest trail (so I thought), we were faced by this even steeper mountain that we have to climb. For some odd reasons, I think I blocked my mind about this and was genuinely surprised about it. I think it’s about ¾ mile to the peak and looks like the 1^st false peak.

Majority of the hikers were on their way back about our half mile to the peak and upon reaching the top, it wasn’t crowded. We took our obligatory pictures first before settling to our spot for snacks at the end of the trail over looking LA, Burbank, Catalina etc as the sky was clear enough to see as much as our eyes can see.