Hiked on 1/17/21. 16.9 miles, 5,646 ft. elevation gain. Hike took 8:12. I started this hike after easily finding street parking outside Bailey Canyon Park, where I would end my hike many hours later. To begin, I walked 0.6 miles along Carter Ave. to the trailhead, which then climbed 7 miles from Sierra Madre all the way up to Mount Wilson. On the way back down (at the junction that you reach about 2.7 miles in), I finished the hike with a loop to Jones Peak, and back down to the street using the Bailey Canyon Loop. This was a butt-kicker, and a crazy hot day in the 80s despite it being mid-January! As you might be able to tell from the mileage vs. elevation gain, the hike is pretty much straight up from Sierra Madre to Mount Wilson, and if you decide to add in the Jones Peak/Bailey Canyon Loop, adds another 700 ft. of straight-up elevation gain once you’ve already logged 12.5 miles. I will note that the Mt. Wilson Toll Road stretch, for a half-mile about 6.4 miles in, was a nice breather. This hike remains, to this day, the most elevation I’ve done in a single day hike (other than Mt. Whitney), even despite the <17-mile distance. So definitely take some food and plenty of water on this one! Cosmic Cafe at the top of the mountain was closed, but I did walk around a very empty area (during COVID-19) to explore the summit and all of the huge telescopes. Most people choose to summit Mt. Wilson via Chantry Flat (though I’m not sure if that trail is still closed?) and because of that, it was nice that this trail wasn’t too busy, and it definitely thins out once you get past Orchard Camp. If your feet can handle it after all of the miles, I would definitely recommend checking out Jones Peak. It’s quiet, has great views of Sierra Madre and the LA basin, and feels as if you’re sitting on a ledge right above it (and there’s even a bench to sit on!). All in all, I would call this a great prep hike for some serious elevation/distance hikes in the Sierras, without having to deal with any affects of altitude.