Start point

Unnamed tentsite at mile 361.7

End point

Wrightwood, via Highway 2 at mile 369.3

Miles hiked

7.6 on trail, about 1.5 on road

Wilderness area

Angeles National Forest

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument

The day on trail

Town day! Time to get lots of food!

We started off with a beautiful sunrise, which I didn’t manage to capture because I was frantically packing up, eating breakfast, and taking care of morning things. But it was a great night to cowboy camp, we had no frost on the bags.

It’s a relatively short hike out of the site to get picked up. We’ve heard Wrightwood is great with hitches, and we have an AirBnB booked so we’re not too worried. The snow situation shouldn’t be too bad, but it’s always informed by people and reports that aren’t us. So it might be totally unexpected how it turns out.

Piñacolada and Sinead took off a bit before me, mostly because I’m slow in the mornings.

It was a beautiful hike. Sera, Sheriff, Hugh, and Michelle took off before me, too. I caught up to them later though.

There was a point where you could take the official trail up and over a super steep snow bank or follow a snow covered dirt road which would eventually intersect with the trail. I opted for the steep snow bank up the hill because it crossed over Guffy Campground, where we almost stayed last night. I’m really glad I took it because the grounds were beautiful and I was excited to see them!

There was so, so much snow.

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I ran into Sera, Sheriff, Hugh, and Michelle right after the campgrounds. The road popped them out right there, and we hiked together for a bit referencing Canadian bands (everyone I was hiking with, except Sheriff, is Canadian).

There were a bunch of ski lifts. One was over an empty pond we figured was used for snow manufacturing.

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One of the ski lift attendants came out and chatted with me for a bit. It’s always fun to talk with seasonal workers who engineer their lives to chase sporting seasons. I often wish I had the moxie and exposure to do that in my 20s. To discover a life like what I’m doing now so early would be such an amazing opportunity. I wish I had an extra decade of thru hiking.

There was an interesting, tractor plowed and compacted, road walk.

The views today were just sublime though.

Everyone got to the town before I did. I stopped by the pit toilets at the highway. I ran into a few other hikers, then it was time to get road walking and grab a hitch.

It was an easy hitch. I got to the parking area where the highway was closed to traffic and Canary came up in a trail angel’s car. The driver offered me a ride as long as I was willing to wait while she got Lee, another hiker.

She couldn’t find where Lee was. It ended up he was at the ticket booth for the ski resort. Instead of hiking down like, you know, literally everyone else, he got a ride down a ski lift.

From there it was to the brewery where I ran into everyone. Hugh and Michelle, Marion, Alpha, Sheriff, Sera, Rafael, and of course Piñacolada and Sinead. I also got to meet Georgia and another guy there, but I can’t remember his name.

After the Brewery it was chores: post office and shopping. We got dinner and breakfast supplies, resupply for hiking, and then went to the Air BNB. Rafael and Piñacolada walked while Sinead and I got a ride from a nice couple we met at the grocery store.

Dinner was amazing. High quality protein, vegetables, and carbohydrates. Grilled steaks, roasted potatoes, and a beautiful Caesar salad.

Tomorrow it’s a much needed zero day to recover.