Hiked to First Water on Mount Wilson
The gate to the Mount Wilson Trail reopened a few months ago after an extended closure following the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. We tried to hike it for a couple hours... and I discovered that I'm in a lot worse shape than I expected!!
Mount Wilson Trail is pretty dang long - I think 14 miles? - and we did not expect to do the whole thing. Our main goal was to get to First Water, which is only 1.5 miles along the trail and pretty much the first feature of any interest. It is considered very easy to reach.
It was not super easy for us to reach it! We are pretty out of shape!!
Living away from our usual home, it's been nearly half a year since I was able to bike as often as I've wanted. Living in our family member's house has strongly affected the way we spend our time, where we spend our time, how often we use our car, and what we're eating. It has left me much less fit than I was before! I was extremely grateful to have a place to stay, but I am also very eager to return to my house and to the routines that work for me. I'll have to get back to biking before I try this trail again.
At any rate, we made it to First Water and had a good time. We ascended quickly, but got tired very quickly, too. My legs hurt day-of, but not the day after, which is I guess a good sign - I'm not totally out of shape. Here are some pictures I took:
For some reason, it is wildly funny to me that the trail gate has a full sentence on it:
MOUNT WILSON TRAIL.
I assume there's some cute reason for this, but I haven't tried to find it.
The view from near First Water:
The riverbed at First Water:
A squirrel taking a drink!!!
Fundamentally this is a hike that most people who want to hike could do. We were just slow and aching because we did it fast while out of shape. We'll have to come back!