First Day of open trails in the Angeles National Forest post COVID-19.  I consider myself pretty healthy and active but because COVID shut down gyms for the past 3 months, its definitely killed my endurance factor.  Might have bit off more than I wanted to chew to do a near 16 mile hike.  It took me almost 9 hours but I dot it done and it turned me into a human vegetable the following day.

I got to the trailhead at 7:15 and the parking lot was totally full.  Ended up parking almost a 1/2 mile down the road.  Lesson learned, get to trailhead MUCH earlier.  Nothing sucks at the end of a 15.5 mile hike than to still walk another 1/2 mile down the busy road to the car.  The day was beautiful though, nice and cool from start to finish and once I turned off the trail to the falls and up towards the actual peak, the foot traffic died down considerably.

The hike up until Sturtevant Camp was pretty easy really.  You're in the canopy of trees and along a creek most of the way.  The sounds of nature are amazing.  Sturtevant Camp looked like a cool place to take a break.  I enjoyed the huge tree swing and even saw a nice doe grazing.  From Sturtevant Camp its only about 3 miles to the summit and boy does it make you earn it!  It was a tough one and the words “I cant turn back now, just keep going” passes through my brain frequently.  But once you get to the the observatory, the reward of victory is pretty sweet.  I do wish the observatory was open but I enjoyed my lunch on one of the many picnic tables under a tall pine tree.  There is a SLOW gravity fed drinking fountain to refill your pack.

The hike down was a little challenging and I ended up on a fire road and had to back track about 1/4 mile.  Pretty easy hike down but just felt like it took forever.  All I know is that this hike made me appreciate all the hours I'd do cardio on the stairmaster.   Turns out, its also great training for hiking up the SoCal 6-pack!  Lots of wildflowers.

All in all, it was a great day.  I'd definitely do it again!