W6/CT-247 Mt Williamson

 Immediately after hiking Mt Islip I hiked up Williamson. Since I was already parked at Islip Saddle, I stayed there. The first part of this hike is up the PCT. There were a number of thru hikers heading up, and I was surprised I was able to catch some. I guess only having a small daypack really makes it easy to hike faster.

Flowers were still blooming.

The PCT section of trail is a few giant switchbacks up to the ridge. This area had also burned in the Bobcat fire, but looked like it was starting to recover. It was around noon, and was getting quite warm. The sections through trees were welcome. On the ridge, the PCT starts down the other side, but I turned right and followed the trail up. From below, it looks like the trail leads to the summit, but it only goes to the southeast peak, which is a bit lower. It may be in the activation zone, though. I tagged it, then headed for the high point.

Excellent views down the canyon.

The trail from the southeast peak was much rougher than the hike up. As I hiked over, a glider started flying back and forth over the ridge. It looked like it was gaining height on each pass. Over on the summit I found the remnants of a register. There was one very green plant amidst the burned trees. My suspicious was confirmed when my phone was able to identify it as Poodle Dog Bush. Scary! I watched my step as I set up. 

Burned zone on the way down.

I didn't have any cell service on top. Twenty and 30m didn't seem to be very good, but I got a nice pileup on 40m. I then tried VHF again, and was rewarded with contacts on both 2m and 70cm, including two summit to summit contacts. It was getting hot in the sun, so I packed up and headed back. There were more thru hikers still heading north, and a few day hikers as well. Back at the car I cranked the A/C for the fun drive back down to the hotel. 

Trailhead: Islip Saddle, Angeles Crest Highway.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the PCT north to the ridge, then take the trail to the summit.
Red Tape: None. 
Video: ham_bitious YouTube