Sunday 12th May 2019 – Day 19 Mile 351.9 to Wrightwood Mile 369.3 (17.4miles/28.2km)
I stayed in bed a little longer this morning and caught up fully on the blog and published it, I was a day behind and I loathe to get any further behind as it’s too much work to catch up on.
The beautiful campsite delivered this morning as well with a light breeze and sun hitting it early to dry out the mild condensation. I was impressed that the interstate far below had actually eased off on the flow volumes since it was a Sunday morning.
Once Evan and I were fed and all packed up we began the slow meandering uphill section once more. The climb continued for approximately another 10 miles from the campsite and I was sick of climbing and welcomed a change. It wasn’t overly steep though, but the sad part is it worked so hard to get right near the top of Wright Mountain (2587m) and then the trail skirts around the back side and you don’t even get the views for your effort or the satisfaction of the summit.
There was a great picnic area on a saddle near the top and the steep Acorn Trail descends straight down to Wrightwood from there. We had lunch here, but continued on past a rather large ski field complex until we hit the major road at Inspiration Point. There is a large parking bay here and views down the valley. Once again we got the first hitch that we tried for down into the Wrightwood township in the valley.
Evan had arranged to stay at Kurt’s place for the night as he lives in town here. Kurt had punched on ahead from Big Bear in front of Evan to get home and meet his parents Bob and Laura that were flying in from Ohio. Bob is going to walk some sections with his son on the PCT.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and having a shower and washing the clothes and talking. I was graciously offered the couch for the night and was very thankful for the hospitality. We went out to dinner at a bar type establishment and I had a burger of sorts and some chips. After this we went onto a local brewery and called it a a night after that.
Wrightwood is a pretty laid back town that really swells up in the winter snow skiing months with people traveling into town to ski for the day. It was hard to believe that up to five miles of traffic can jam the road into and through town at its worst.
Nigel Christmas - Hiking Blog 