WRIGHT MOUTAIN & FROST PEAK

Taking a break from Whitney training. Sean invited me to go camping for a couple of days at higher elevation with cooler temps.

We left around 630 am on Monday and headed for Wrightwood. We drove up to Guffy campground. We had the campsite all to ourselves until lMonday evening. 

Before that we hiked along the PCT to Wright Mountain. We both had been there before.  

At the summit we ate lunch and took a nap under the shaded trees. We had nice cool breezes and enjoyed the scenery. We were the only ones there which made it very pleasant.

We decided to do a loop and go off trail for a bit and reconnect with the PCT from above the road.

Sean poiinted out the cool ridge route up to Pine mountain that has been on my list to do. We didn't have time since we started our hike late and decided to save it for another time 

After returning to our campsite we relaxed some more, set up camp and had dinner. By this time the wind had picked up but it was a nice breeze that was tolerable and didn't disturb our picnic table loaded with food and drinks.

The evening was cool. We didn't really need blankets and we both slept comfortably under the stars.

The next morning we didn't have any real plans but to sleep in and take advantage of the beautiful views surrounding us.

We dud a short hike to a spring off the main trail and re-filled our water bottles.

We decided to leave later that afternoon and checked out Frost peak before heading back to Wrightwood for a delicious Mexican dinner.

Overall, it was a great way to escape the dreaded heat wave we've been having these past few weeks.

ETIWANDA & CUCAMONGA PEAKS

Keeping up with my training for Whitney this year I hiked to Etiwanda and Cucamonga peaks via Ice House canyon.

I started at 7am it was pretty nice but the bugs were out in full force. I had to don my big net.

The water still flowing nicely and so was the waterfall. 

I made good timing up to the Saddle and took a break. 

As always the scenery along the decent was nice.

I took a break at the second saddle under my favorite tree and enjoyed the cool breezes.

Along the route there were some new rock slides probably from the last storm. It has been a year since I last hiked this trail.

Anyways, I decided to take another break at the split before heading over to Etiwanda peak.

This side of the mountain was just as pretty and really opens up to some fantastic views.

I decided to continue on to check out Alta Loma peak because I was contemplating adding a 3rd peak to my planned route. However, once I started to descend I decided against it because that would mean another 1000ft of climbing back up.

I turned around and hiked to Etiwanda peak. The views were awesome. On the way, I found two huge mushrooms. 

At the summit, I noticed someone altered the peak sign( Stupid Miranda).

Anyways, no register or benchmark. I took my obligatory summit selfie and continued on to Cucamonga.

I arrived at Cucamonga peak and had the summit all to myself. I ate my lunch and just soaked in the views. This was probably my 6th time there.

Overall, not a bad day for 16 miles and 4800+ ft of gain.

TIMBER MOUNTAIN

 Another training hike for me. I'm going to climb Whitney on September 1st and 3rd.

This year training is harder for me being without transportation and hiking more than I would like to.

Anyways, I've hiked to Timber mountain before but from Market Flats when I did the Three T's years ago.

The trail starting from Ice House saddle is very beautiful. It reminded me of San Bernardino peak trail.

I finally arrived at the summit but walked beyond it to sit under a nice shady tree with views of Baldy & Telegraph.

There was a really cool tree trunk nearby. It was hollow and big enough to fit into.

After lunch and summit photos I called it a day descending back the way I came.

Stats 9 miles, 3800 ft of gain