John Robinson Mount Wilson Hike a Great Success!  by William E. White, M.D.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Photos from event

Last Saturday, June 11, was the 2005 “Hike into History” with John Robinson, and what an adventure.  For ten years John Robinson has been leading historic mountain hikes on Mount Wilson once a year in Sierra Madre called “Hike Into History.” This hiking event is open to the general public to promote the fun of hiking and to share the stories of  the mountain tourist camps and  trails  that were once so popular,.about 100 years ago. .”The Hike Into History” also promotes the volunteer Lizzie’s Trail Inn Mountain Museum located “at the foot of the trail” in Sierra Madre. These special hikes  have been scheduled to a different location and camp site every year. Last Saturday was a special  hike down the entire Mt. Wilson Trail with a stop at the old  Orchard Camp site for refreshments.  This year it was a Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce event featuring a special party at Orchard Camp with ice cream sundaes for all, a horse shoe throwing contest, and a concert by Mike Pauro the mountain fiddler. After all, we should have a party to celebrate 10 years of hiking with John Robinson.  Saturday fifty four hikers  hiked  about 4,500 feet down the mountain  7.5. miles to Sierra Madre. Hikers met at Lizzie’s Trail Inn at 7:15 A.M. to meet pre-scheduled shuttles to be taken to the Mt. Wilson Observatory at the top of the mountain.  Bill White, the hike coordinator, said he knew it was going to be an interesting day when one of the three transport shuttles arrived at Lizzie’s Trail Inn at the scheduled time of 7:15 A.M.and the driver said he had two people in the back of his shuttle going to LA International Airport..  Needless to say all events were delayed at the start  point for 1 hour and 15 minutes while another  shuttle was called into service.   The hike started above the clouds at the sunny Mt. Wilson Observatory about 10 A.M.and after hiking 20 minutes down the trail the hikers encountered cool and foggy weather conditions. It was perfect for hiking.  Everyone was surprised at the poor trail conditions of the upper trail with slides and wash outs. It took considerable time and slow careful hiking to safely navigate the upper trail down to Orchard Camp.  The hikers arrived at Orchard Camp about noon.  As the hikers approached  Orchard Camp, the music of the fiddler could be heard welcoming hikers to the party.  Hiking down and approaching Orchard Camp hikers could soon see the fiddler in concert playing his fiddle by the Old Canyon Oak, that is the identifying mark for  Orchard Camp.  We took another look and saw Scout Troop 110 busy preparing ice cream sundaes.  The scouts hiked the ice cream and supplies down as a special treat.  Upon arrival all hikers were ready to take a rest and enjoy the ambiance. A special event this time was an old time game of  horse shoe throwing perhaps like a game that would have been played long ago at Orchard Camp. The winner was the person who could toss the horse shoe closest to a designated stake.  To the winner went a  John Robinson’s book Sierra Madre’s Old Mount Wilson Trail signed by John Robinson.  After an hour's rest and all the ice cream one could consume, and after listening to enjoyable fiddling music, and after participating in the horse shoe throwing contest, hikers started heading down the trail.  Hikers soon passed Decker Springs, a good spot to load up with fresh water. The trail was in great shape as the hikers passed the Helispot and then headed down the steep trail to the area called “the ropes”.  The hikers took a turn to the left and up and over a slide area and then about another ½ mile and then arrived at  First Water Junction.   From First Water Junction it was about a 40 minute hike to the foot of the trail to Lizzie’s Trail Inn.  The upper trail from the top to Orchard Camp was in much need of repair.  While the trail was in poor shape due to the heavy rain storms, perhaps it was this same rain that produced the outstanding wild flower show all along the trail.  The hike was difficult in some areas and it took time and patience to prevent injury.  At times one hiker at a time was assisted across a hazard area.  Most of the hikers arrived at the foot of the trail  about 3:30 very tired  but with memories of an outstanding day of mountain hiking.  It was 6 P.M. before the last of the group came off the mountain.  The volunteer Search and Rescue team stayed with hikers until all were safely back to Sierra Madre. The Sierra Madre Chamber of Commerce and hike coordinator Bill White would like to thank Mike Pauro “the fiddler,” Scout Troop 110, John Robinson and the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team for making this another successful “Hike into History.”   And we hope the 2 passengers going to the airport in our Mt Wilson shuttle got to the airport on time. 

Photos by Bill White and Jeff Lapides.  Click to enlarge.

Horseshoe toss