Kista and the Twins, Mt. Wilson Twice

Kista and the Twins, up at the Shortcut Canyon trailhead. The Twins are kinda perfect. Kista ain't bad either.
Angeles Forest. The idea was to head down a singletrack that I’ll be following during Mt. D. but Kista & I could’t find access to the trail (and anyhow, it’s all overgrown with poodle dog bush) and took the fireroad down instead. Hot, no shade, amazing smells, 3,000 feet down, and then we reached the San Gabriel River at the bottom, sat on some rocks, stuck our feet in the water and cooled off.
These are the moments that make life exceptional.
Long hot 3,000′ climb back up. At the top of the trail we met the Twins (that’s what the Ranger calls ’em) – an older couple who like to hike in matching outfits. In celebration of the 4th, they were all decked out in stars and stripes.
Chatted a bit with the Twins and the Ranger, and then up to Mt. Wilson for lunch.
Pretty much what I would call a perfect day.
Hot. Long stretches with no shade. We started at about 1,300 feet and went up to 5200. There were a few rollers in there. Let’s guesstimate it at 4500′ feet of ascent or so. It was a good climb.
Lunch at the top and then back down. At the bottom, in a fancy pants part of Alta Dena, is Eaton Canyon, and a small river popular with cholos and their families. Maggie, Bob and I soaked in there for a bit. Cold mountain water on those tired legs felt really, really good. The rest of the gang passed up on this. Seeing the cholo families taking their vacations in the fancy pants part of Altadena is an added bonus.
Two days, two long hot climbs in Angeles Forest, two stream soakings, two lunches at Mt. Wilson – life does not get much better than this.
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