I took a detour on my way back to LA from visiting friends in Los Alamos, and decided to try to hike this one on the way. I honestly wasn't sure if I could, because I'm a bit wary of my fitness levels and I had had some issues with elevation earlier this year — I live at sea level in LA so I'm not naturally acclimating to, well, anything. I did a “test hike” to the summit of Figueroa on Thursday just to build confidence.

As it turns out, Sawmill was the perfect hike to kick off the Six Pack! The hike up to Mt. Pinos is gentle, shaded by pine forests for most of the way, and only gains about 500 feet of elevation over 2 miles. Then it descends into the saddle, first on gentle switchbacks and then there's like one pretty steep stretch for about a tenth of a mile before it flattens out. The ascent of Sawmill wasn't anywhere near as strenuous as I thought it would be, and the altitude wasn't hitting me as hard as it has in the past few months. The trail was pretty popular but not uncomfortably packed, with probably just around as many overnight backpackers as day hikers. There were some mountain bikers on the way up to Pinos as well. And the weather was gorgeous! Low 60s, sunny, amazing visibility. The views from Pinos are really spectacular, and they can catch you by surprise because the trail itself is so gentle and forested.

This was the longest hike I'd done in a while — I tried a 9-mile hike in Arizona in February and my feet were just not having it. And, yeah, I was definitely tired at the end. But it was absolutely manageable and I feel awesome having done it.

Now on to the next 5! I'm going to try to do two next weekend 🙂