Well, it’s taken the better part of two years, but we finally purchased a cabin in Wrightwood. Stormy weather last weekend had made it difficult to even get up here, much less hike, but make it we did in spite of very heavy rain in the desert and about 3″ of wet and slushy snow at the cabin. The weather for our second weekend was much better – temps in the 60s, bright sunshine, and a Friday off had us packing the U-Haul to get some furniture in the place. Chelsea, Pedro, and the boys joined us for the trip, and we got the truck unloaded in plenty of time to do a hike Saturday afternoon – while Chelsea rested at the cabin with Jude and Ollie, Pedro came along with us. Circle Mountain, elev. 6,875′, lies immediately east of Wrightwood and is accessed via a short but steep use trail – the trailhead is a couple of hundred yards east of Lone Pine Canyon Road at the end of a gated dirt road. This gate has been closed the past couple of times we had driven by, so it was no surprise that it was still closed when we arrived about 2:30pm. We set out east past the gate and within 50 yards encountered a large oak tree that had fallen across the road – after bushwhacking around it to the north, we came across another fallen tree not much further along. Eventually, we came to a large clearing at the end of the road, the parking area we would have otherwise been able to drive through. Below to the east lay a shallow saddle, after which we began the steep ascent up Circle Mountain’s western shoulder. There were multiple faint paths leading up the hill, none any more gentle than the others, so we picked our way up the slope, eventually topping out on a ridge than ran more level and over a second hill for the next 1/4 mile. After that, however, the trail steepened considerably as it climbed straight up the fall line of the mountain’s upper slope. Frequent breathers in this section allowed us to take in the ever-improving scenery – north to the desert, south to the snowcapped peaks around Mt. Baldy, and west to Wrightwood and beyond (these westward views in particular gave us new perspective on the steepness of Swarthout Valley, the slope of which is barely perceptible as one drives through on Hwy 2). Finally, we crested the hilltop and discovered we were at a high but false summit, the true summit lying a few feet of elevation higher about 100 yards further east. Despite some brush and a grove of ponderosa pines to the northwest, the views were amazing, and we spent the next 30 minutes wandering all over the broad hilltop taking in the various vistas. In the extreme distance, we could just make out Olancha Peak in the Sierras and Telescope Peak near Death Valley to the north, while eastward we could clearly see both Mts. San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. South were the highest peaks of the San Gabriels – Baldy, Mt. Harwood, and the Devil’s Backbone seemed close enough to touch, while Pine and Wright Mountains dominated the skyline to the southwest. Eventually, we headed back down, overshooting the network of use trails in the lowest section and making our own cross-country routes instead. Two hours for the under-three-mile roundtrip, but the effort felt good nonetheless despite the slow pace – this was the highest elevation we had walked since Reyes Peak in early November, but we’ll have many chances to acclimatize now that we have a permanent base camp in the area (truly, that was the most awesome thing: a hot shower 5 minutes from the trailhead…).