Southern California
Starting: Section D5 - Wrightwood
Ending:  Section D5 - Mt. Williamson Summit Trail

Today was not only the best day of the trip, but also one of the best of my life. It is days like today that show you how woefully inadequate the English language is.

The day started off with Pete & I getting a serendipitous hitch out of Wrightwood. The woman who picked us up was both the wife of the owner of Mountain Hardware AND a park ranger. Gave me a chance to say thanks for all their help & find out the latest snow conditions on Mt. Baden-Powell.

Many of the hikers in town chose to do a long road walk to avoid the significant snow on Mt. Baden-Powell, but Pete & I were determined to summit.

We lost the trail under snow somewhere around Lamel Spring & decided to go straight up to the summit. Neither of us had ice axes or crampons, but it was easy to kick steps in the sun softened snow (there were, however, several scary moments- lacking the equipment to self arrest really made me focus on the snow underfoot.)

We met Jason, also a thru-hiker, at the 9,339 foot summit. We all sat down for lunch in the brilliant sunshine. The descent follows a steep, rocky, snow covered ridge that FINALLY fit the mental image I had of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Pete & I are now camped in a small saddle near the 7,900 foot Mt. Williamson Summit Trail, with a view of the nearby ridges.

A perfect day...