Acton – Wrightwood – Day 142 – Mon Nov 13th

Day 142 Mon Nov 13th
Tent site on ridge near Mt Baden Powel – Mountain Hideaway cabin – Wrightwood
2276.9 – 2291.8
Approx. 3081 ft ascent 5505 ft descent
16.9 Miles

Things got pretty windy last night up on the ridge and we were both glad we had kept on most of our winter clothes.
Underneath our sleeping bags it was toasty warm and there’s a huge difference in the temperature on the other side of the sleeping bag.

We got up at 06:15 and broke camp at 07:30 opting not to have breakfast.  We packed everything up within the confines of the tent before venturing out.

After a short hike we reached the spur that went up to Mount Baden-Powell.  We figured we spent enough time on this mountain and pushed on down a series of zigzag switchbacks.


Last night I took an Imodium before bed as I didn’t want any nasty accidents and I’m glad to say the coast was clear.  My stomach is still grumbling but starting to feel better.

We stop at Lamar spring to fill up our water bottles. Both underwhelmed by the amount of water that’s coming out of the spring and the method of collection.

As fill up our water bottles and hydrate we watch a variety of different bird species drinking from the spring, as it trickles down the mountain into little pools below. 
We see more bird life here and have the privilege to see some rare mountain birds in more detail.
Mount Baden-Powell was a beautiful mountain and it made for a welcome change to the desert. It almost felt a little like Washington in places

We descended down to Vincent Gap and pass by a number of day hikers.  When we arrived at the parking lot it was incredibly windy with sand blowing in our eyes.

We stop for a quick snack and power up and it wasn’t long before we were joined by one of the locals quizzing us about our hike.  He seemed like a really nice fella, so we were happy to share some tales.

He also told us there was some bad weather coming in from the north. Where there was some weather phenomenon called an “atmospheric river” on route, which is likely to dump a lot of water on us in the coming days.

The next section will involve hiking to Big Bear Lake which is a gain in elevation so all of this rain is most likely to turn to snow.  We just hope it doesn’t reach us and fizzles out further north before it gets to us.

This is the second time we’ve heard about this atmospheric river and when we get to town we’ll need to do some detailed research.

Next up we have around 10 miles before we get to Wrightwood. Theres some punchy uphill before it looks like it flattens out.  We’re hoping the trail is easy on us today.


Next up we reacha Highway 2 and inspiration point. Looking across the interlocking mountain spurs that make up the valley in front of us we both felt it was quite inspirational.

Both of us have been struggling to catch our breath due to the altitude. Last night we slept at just under 10,000 feet.
As we climb away from highway and look back at Mount Baden-Powell, we realise how formidable the mountain looks looming down on us from above.

Sarah had wanted to try and get a hitch from Inspiration point and an early crack at town. There was a good opportunity to do this with two trucks parked up in the parking lot.
I was a little more hesitant and wanted to hike on for a few more miles to get more miles in and take the ‘Acorn Trail’ into Wrightwood.
Our pal Fred stayed at one of the cabins just off the Acorn trail and his feedback was good.
We spent the next couple of hours hiking between ski lifts.  It seemed strange to see grassy meadows sitting underneath the lifts rather then snow.
The Acorn Trail down to Wrightwood had more switchbacks than you could throw a stick at and steeper than we expected.

We were pleasantly surprised when we left the trail and reached the top of Acorn Drive to find a number of cabin options/places to stay close to the trail.

Firstly we checked out the Acorn cabins which were nice although not much bigger than a garden shed.
We opted to stay at the ‘Mountain Hideaway’ cabin, which was a two bedroom open plan arrangement with a deck and garden.
Sarah and I said that we could quite comfortably live here and not only was the interior stylish yet rustic. There were also some cool touches throughout the house.

I really like the way at night when you walk up the stairway, the lights would turn on automatically as well as the TVs being connected in the living room and bedroom.

We did our laundry and jumped in the shower and it was then I found I had a tick attached to my groin. I’m not sure how long it has been there and it was lucky that I even spotted it after washing it off onto the floor of the bath tub
We did some research and found out this is likely to be a Western black-legged Tick and could possibly carry Lymes Disease. 
This could explain the symptoms I have been experiencing over the last week.
Fortunately Sarah had come prepared with a course of antibiotics that she prearranged with a doctor back in the UK.  I will need to take this course for the next 14 days and hopefully this will prevent any possibility of me getting Lyme’s disease, which I really do not want to get.

We then walked down into Wrightward and did some grocery shopping with the aim to get stocked up for an evening meal.
The walk down to Wrightwood from the Mountain Hideaway was a mile downhill, but the walk back up was much more formidable particularly with a loaded pack.
The houses around here are stunning and we lost count of properties that we both would love to live in. Wrightwood seems to be a very nice town indeed.
It felt cold and wintery in town and felt cold enough to snow.
We had wanted to make a home cooked meal, but felt like a rabbits in the headlights in the food market almost forgetting how to shop  and the kind of meals we used to cook back home.
All we knew is we needed vegetables and a decent meal.
We arrived back at the cabin around 7:00pm.
We’d arranged to stay for 2 nights for a knockdown rate of 225 bucks. This was pretty competitive since the small shed cabins across the road were 70 bucks per night,
Despite buying the ingredients to make a delicious pasta dish we opted to order pizza and save our home cooked meal for the 2nd night.

We stretched out in front of the TV watching an old western film and the beginning of Braveheart which I thoroughly enjoyed.
It’s amazing how from being on trail you become so immersed when you are put in front of a TV. I found it very relaxing and therapeutic and Sarah said she really enjoyed both films.