Interesting day…set out solo to do a long Sunday hike with the intention of making it as far as I could on this 14 mile trail. I started at 9am and about a mile up saw some people coming down Charlie’s New Trail so thought I’d take that route up, maybe it was shorter but said it lead to the same place and I like to explore. However, missing the split in the trail put me in for an unexpected challenge. I made it almost all the way up Jones Peak! Which I later found out you do not want to go that way. But I did unknowingly and had kept going up and up each steep rocky section, waiting to reconnect with Wilson Trail. It was getting blazing hot by this time so I had to take a break now and then and about a mile and a half up it just kept showing me further away on the map so I decided I better call it and begrudgingly go back the way I came up. This trail is steep and insane – I kept thinking Charlie is insane but it was Jones. It was scary but it forced me to work through some challenges both physically and mentally. If you try this way make sure to keep right at the bench and you’ll be led back to the Wilson trail in a mile as I saw on my way back. Once I got down I did get on the main path again and continued further up to First Water but I was exhausted so after chatting with a nice man who informed me about not wanting to go the Jones route (too late), I headed back. All in all I hiked only 4.5 miles but it took 3.5 hours and was more difficult than some 10 and 12 mi hikes I’ve been on. So, although I did not reach the Wilson Peak, I did conquer the challenge this mountain beholds and consider it bagged for 2021. Maybe someday I will give it another shot knowing what I know now but I did learn a valuable lessons from this experience that I will hold on to.
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I went back and did a redo of Mt Wilson on 12/19 and finished the entire Old Wilson Trail (more like 15 miles) and made it all the way to the peak and back. Met some nice people along the way, heard a bear in the woods and got scared, passed a little snow and felt nauseous at the summit due to altitude sickness but I did it! And I am proud I went back and faced this beast after such a challenging day less than a month earlier. Woohoo!