A tentative plan to go hiking quickly snowballed into planning this Mount Wilson day-hike and registering for the Six Pack of Peaks challenge. As someone that considers hiking officially on a list of my hobbies, I will often end up at the same couple of Westside trails for a 1-2 hour casual hike. True LA hiking – usually with friends, usually followed up closely with brunch because, well, it's LA. As a preface to this post, I'm definitely not a super experienced or fit hiker – I'm still learning and figuring out what works for me. So while this is the “lowliest” of the OG Six Pack, it was a big challenge for me!

Anyway, I was chatting with my much more accomplished hiker friend about trying to do some longer and more ambitious hikes so to the long and ambitious Mount Wilson trail we went! We probably overpacked in terms of layers, I brought a fleece that I never took out of my pack.

The trail starts on a steep, paved downhill which is an interesting way to start but definitely didn't get me excited about the way back up that same trail (spoiler alert: it was bad). Eventually, we leave the pavement behind and wind through the woods, peeking over at the cabins that line that part of the trail. There's not really distinguishable elevation gain here, so it's more of a stroll and chat. Eventually we turn at a trailhead and start down a much more narrow trail with more incline, sometimes having to hug the side a bit.

There's lots of mini creek crossings at this point, and you continue to wind gently, every few minutes passing a large dam and crossing another bit of the stream. We were feeling good and were passing a lot of the groups we came across that were likely headed to closer destinations or campgrounds. Eventually we reach Sturtevant campgrounds and stop for a quick rest and water top off to read about this old school yet high-end campground and cabins established in 1893. We also met a Burmese Mountain dog with his very own pack that was unfortunately headed to a different trail – he was a very good boy!

From Sturtevant we went deeper into the woods and stopped again briefly for a snack break. From there the path grew noticeably steeper and more difficult. I was pausing for breaks much more frequently, but the hoards of squirrels were enough motivation to keep moving away from. There were a few points in the trail where we weren't entirely sure where it continued due to some big boulders and recently fallen trees – luckily another pair came from behind us and we were able to work together to find where it continued.

And then, the switchbacks. I knew they were coming and they were formidable to say the least. A great part is that nearly all of the trail, switchbacks included, are in the shade, so it's just you and the uphills. I was slllllooooowwwwww. Unfrtounatley this is about the point where my hiking boots (which I have owned for over a year and been on many hikes with) started to betray me with the dreaded rub on the backs of my feet. This might have been my biggest barrier, although I was definitely out of breath and dealing with some tired legs at some points too.

I'm not sure if it was the trail markings or the app we were using to track, but we thought we were “almost there” for a whole lot longer than was mentally healthy. The fun part is that the higher you get, the better the views are of Gorgonio and Baldy, and then eventually the city below. So while you catch your breath you can enjoy the views!

The switchbacks wind and wind until you finally get a glimpse of a white pole and the fencing at the top. We were greeted by fresh-faced families with young children and dogs as one of those funny reminders that you can indeed drive to the top. We were disappointed to learn how far the bathrooms, water, and seating (outside the closed Cosmic Cafe) were from the top, so onward we forged down the wide paved road for lunch.

There wasn't too much time to hang out at the top since we realized we would be cutting it close to sunset on our actual finish time. It's my understanding that this is a loop trail, but we weren't 100% on the other trail so chose the safe bet to go back the way we came. The switchback descents had me wishing for trekking poles to spare my knees (add it to the checklist). We were focused on making good time, so we took very limited breaks on descent.

After many, many hours we finally reached the bottom of the paved trail I had been dreading earlier. I actually took the tiniest baby steps, pausing very frequently, as my poor feet continued to blister. Thanks to the endless patience of my hiking buddy, we finished! And then walked another .5 miles back to the car of course. All-in-all our total trip was over 15 miles and took from 8am to 5:30pm. A full, rewarding, and tiring day! I was super, super sore the following day or two. Main takeaways are needing new shoes most importantly and looking into trekking poles. Happy to have logged peak #1, and ready to start preparing for the next!