Anticipating our 40th wedding anniversary and needing to escape the oppressive Vegas heat, we looked to the nearest cute mountain town where we knew we could 20 to 30 degrees even at mid-day. We found the right combination in Wrightwood California, a cozy cabin to ourselves without contact thanks to AirBnB, with all the normal amenities of a mountain cabin. And a bonus – the PCT runs nearby!
Wrightwood is a really cute town, and if not for the Rona, would be fun to explore all the shops and
eateries. Right in front of our cabin is the Wrightwood Village Trail, a 2 ½ mile groomed and maintained trail that lead through the main street of town, which we walked with the pooch every morning. Here’s Kona checking out the signature Wrightwood decorated “W” at the entrance to the business district.
Being in the heart of the Angeles National Forest, we were surprised to learn that this is a big ski area, with lots of lifts running during ski season. We visited Mountain High Ski Resort (just for hiking and views) as well as Snow Valley Ski Resort. However, it looks to us more like Vegas style skiing – we pretty much only saw black diamond runs, never saw a green run, and only saw two intermediate blue runs on one slope. Still, being on foot, the views were awesome!
The Woman did some Google searches to see what else was in the vicinity that
might be worth a look. She found the Devils Punchbowl, a deep canyon in a “V” shape due to a folding of the earth’s surface caused by compression. The peaks that surround the Devil’s Punchbowl are over 8,000 feet tall, while the base of the valley is just a bit above 4,000 feet above sea level. Sadly, the county park didn’t open until 10 and we arrived there at 8:30, so we may have to visit it another time.
It is not surprising given the formations caused by folding of the earth’s surface that another famous geologic feature runs through this section of the San Gabriel Mountains. As we made our way back from visiting Devil’s Punchbowl, it turned out that we were driving right along the San Andreas Fault. It was actually pretty easy to pick out the formation, even without the plentiful signage.
Since Nick was only 3 ½ hours away we made plans to meet up at
Fairmount Park in Riverside. The Park was really busy, but we managed to find a picnic table away from the crowds. Nick was nice enough to bring a shade awning that helped with the sun, and, of course, his Corn Hole game so we could play a bit. We brought some snacks and some drinks so we could sit around and chat. This was definitely the highlight of the trip to Wrightwood, especially for the pooch who spent all his time in Nick’s lap.
Later we managed to find a section of the historic Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trails, used by pioneers in 1849 and later years to reach California. While it was used by pioneers in general, it was especially heavily used by Mormons moving West to protect themselves from the religious persecution they experienced back east.
Not far from the Santa Fe and Salt Lake Trails monument we found Mormon
Rocks Station, preserved by the National Forest Service. These white sandstone formations are named for the folks who swarmed through this pass in the 1800’s, not because of any particular event ownership. While they are right next to the I-15 corridor, we’ve never seen them before until we actually drove back here. Well worth the side trip.
Our anniversary on Sunday was quiet and nice. We spent lots of time on the decks, a few walks with the pooch, did some geocaching, and watched the NetFlix presentation of the Last Dance, the story of the Chicago Bulls record 6 national championships in 10 years while Michael Jordan was with the team. All it all, it was a great way to spend the day.
On our way home, we stopped again at the Liberty
Sculpture Park in 
Yermo, because I had seen something new there from the
freeway since our last visit. It turns out the sculptor Chen Weiming was
inspired by the protestors in Hong Kong trying to preserve their freedoms after
the crack down by the Chinese government. His sculpture depicts multiple scenes
from those protests, including the iconic use of umbrellas by the protestors to
protect themselves from the tear gas as well as the clubs of the Chinese
military. I am really happy I spotted it.
We hope to be talking to you soon.
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