First peak in the bag (one of those fancy hiking bags made of lightweight space-age materials that has compartments for tasty snacks and not the $7 one I may or may not have picked up from Amazon that feels like it was made of tissue paper and will probably disintegrate if it touches water).

Mt. Wilson Trail is one I do often so it had to be my first before I begin venturing into uncharted territory. I started my hike just before 1pm (thanks, procrastination skills!) so I had to park two blocks away and hike up to First Water in full sun. At least I'm not deficient in vitamin D.

Some notes:

• a small fallen tree blocks the trail about halfway between Orchard Camp and Manzanita Ridge; it's easy to climb over it
• there's actually water in the streams!
• there's a bit of snow and mud past Manzanita Ridge but nothing too harrowing if you're careful; I didn't bring hiking poles and didn't feel they were necessary

I've done this hike dozens of times over the years and have never seen a sign or survey marker — where the heck are they?

Hiking Time:

• 2 hr 42min – trailhead to peak (12:47pm – 3:29pm)
• 42min – wandering the Observatory (3:29pm – 4:11pm)
• 2hr 5min – peak to trailhead (4:11pm – 6:16pm)