The parking lot at Chantry Flats fills up fast, so if you don’t get there early you might be parking down the road. To avoid adding an extra mile or 3 to the hike, I arrived at the locked gate by 5:20 am and found that I was the 1st one waiting to get through. Fortunately, Sierra Madre PD arrived only ten minutes later to open the gate. Ten minutes after that, I was on the trail.
Still dark and a little chilly, I trudged down Heart Attack Hill with the sounds of nature surrounding me as my boots and hiking stick clicked on the asphalt trail. It felt good to be up this early with the trail to myself. However, I was also a bit apprehensive about surprising a black bear out for a morning stroll. I’m not going to lie, they are kind of cute and they’re generally scared of people, but at 5:45 am, I’d prefer not to round the corner to be faced with the glowing eyes belonging to a 300-pound animal. I saw a young one last year north of the ranger station…they are out there.
Shortly before Sturtevant Camp, the first hikers, a father and his teenage son, blew past me. I was making decent time, so they were obviously marathon runners or something. I eventually met them again at the top so I kept up okay and my ego wasn’t bruised to badly.
As I passed through Sturtevant Camp, I shot some video. While shooting the Honeymoon Cottage I was startled by its occupant who suddenly exited just as I was saying for the camera, “What happens in the Honeymoon Cottage, stays in the….” Sorry about that dude! That was a little embarrassing at the time, but it makes me laugh now.
Nothing super eventful the rest of the way to the top, just climbing from then on. The temps were still in the late 60’s or low 70’s so that was nice. And the bugs weren’t bad at all. Having to fight off thousands of gnats from trying to enter every facial orifice can really ruin a hike.
I made it to the top, took my Mt Wilson evidentiary 6POPs photos and headed to the café to rest and eat my small trail lunch. I decided to get a cold can of soda and when I got to the counter, there is was staring back at me…Apple Pie. Seriously, who needs pie after 7 miles of hiking?? I caved. I’m fairly certain it was a Costco pie, but that was the best Costco Apple pie EVER!
Fully rested and filled up, I hiked back to the truck, got home by about 1:30 and still had enough energy to mow the lawn. It was a great day and a great start to an awesome challenge.