As the clocked ticked past 6am. sitting outside the gates to Chantry Flats we realized with a quick internet search that due to the government shut down, Mount Wilson would not be our first peak of the year.  A quick car conference and we decided to head to Strawberry Peak as it was the closest of the other peaks in the challenge.  As we worked our way up highway 2 it got more and more windy.  When we stepped out of the car at Redbox Canyon it was like being in a wind tunnel, a really cold wind tunnel-the car said it was 31 degrees, with windchill it felt like it was in the teens. We looked at each other waiting for someone to tap out so we could just go to breakfast…nobody did(I know I didn’t want to feel that I had gotten up at 2:30 and driven all this way for nothing!). So we got on the trail.   What a beautiful and unique hike! The first couple of miles you kinda just cruise. Bonus for us we got to see a couple of stealth bombers fly over several times because of the Rose Parade.  The last mile and a half is more challenging but I am not really sure if I would attribute that to the terrain or the crazy wind. Would love to do it again when I am not worrying about getting blown off the mountain and falling to my death.  We didn’t stay at the peak too long due to the weather/cold but the view was honestly one of the best I have seen.