At 8,505′, the highest point on Blue Ridge is Wright Mountain, named for the original developer of the Wrightwood community. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) runs the length of Blue Ridge, and we had hiked a short segment of the PCT on our way to Frost Peak a few weeks earlier. Today’s agenda called for us to drive east along the Blue Ridge Truck Road to Guffy Campground, then hike eastward down the PCT, departing from the trail to ascend Wright Mountain via its western slope – we expected the hike to be about 3-1/2 miles total with some 600′ of gain, an easy day before tackling some longer efforts later in the week. We drove the familiar route up Hwy 2 to Inspiration Point, the overlook where the highway crosses Blue Ridge and the western terminus of the truck road, turning east through the open gate and following it up through the Mountain High ski area and eastward down the ridge. We had heard the road described as “good,” and, for the most part, that adjective is accurate – however, the track is very rocky in places and required some care to minimize the bumps and jolts, although we never encountered anything that wasn’t passable by most passenger cars. It took about 30 minutes to cover the five miles to Guffy CG, where we were amused to see a lone Ford Focus there ahead of us, obviously able to navigate the roughest portions of the road (the Blue Ridge road extends another couple of miles past the campground, but the gate was closed to further travel at the campground entrance). We got organized and hit the trail about 12:40pm, finding the PCT running along the northern edge of the campground. We dropped sharply at first eastward off the campground knoll before leveling out as the PCT crossed and re-crossed the Blue Ridge Road several times. The forest here alternates between open brushy meadows and deeper cover of mixed conifers and a few mountain oaks, and the trail is mostly level as it meanders along the ridge top. After about a mile, we passed the junction with the Acorn Trail, a maintained route that climbs some 1,700′ up the ridge from Wrightwood, and another 1/4-mile east we came upon the active landslide area at the head of Heath Canyon, just west of the Wright Mountain summit. From what we understand, the landslide began in 1941 when 60′(!) of snow accumulation atop the ridge melted suddenly one warm May day, triggering a massive mudslide that swept away several homes in the valley below and traveled some 15 miles out to the desert floor (the dark grey alluvial fan seen on satellite photos today is the result of such slides) – the various flood control projects in Wrightwood since that time are all efforts to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. A short distance further, we found the use trail which would take us to the top of Wright Mountain, a very brushy and narrow single track that climbed eastward along the landslide escarpment. Jane, leading as usual, took to beating the brush with her trekking poles to ward off snakes as we ascended. As we neared the crest of the slope, Chris paused to take some photos westward – when he turned around, he nearly stepped on the charcoal gray backside of an adult Southern Pacific rattlesnake that was slithering across the trail. Luckily, the snake never turned about, preferring to go deeper northward into the brush before Chris sufficiently recovered from his shock to take its picture. Jane was maybe ten yards upslope at this time, so perhaps her brush beating worked to keep the snake off the trail until she had passed (of course, it’s also possible that she disturbed it to the point of crossing the trail in the first place, to Chris’ ultimate surprise!). At any rate, the encounter spooked both of us enough to look for a less brushy route to the summit – first, however, we did stop momentarily at the top of the landslide area to venture close enough to the edge for a photo north down Heath Canyon. The ground here, though perfectly dry, was very spongy and loose, and it probably wasn’t very smart to even tread on it at all, so Chris scampered back to more solid ground after two photos. We did find an old service road a few dozen yards south that ran through more open forest, and it wasn’t long before we found the summit cairn in a small clearing surrounded by trees that blocked any views. We didn’t stay long after signing the register, deciding to forego a return down the brushy use trail in favor of a cross-country jaunt back to the PCT that crosses Wright Mountain’s south slope – we found the trail after about 10 minutes and followed it back westward. The walk back to Guffy CG was uneventful, except for frequent stops to admire the grand views west and southwest over the San Gabriel range – if not for the haze (smog) over the LA basin, we most certainly could have seen the ocean from here. We arrived back at the campground about 2:30pm, finding there a young woman setting up her solo campsite after riding her Vespa(!) up the Blue Ridge road. Forty minutes later, we luxuriated with hot showers at the Wrightwood cabin, having thoroughly enjoyed our short but exciting hike – next time, we’ll try ascending Wright Mountain via the Acorn Trail.