I just got back from doing this hike with my dogs, and I enjoyed it a bunch. The weather today was bang-on; a tad bit crisp, but you don’t feel it when you’re hiking, so it was grand. I would add a few considerations, some of them are pretty obvious, I guess, and maybe not specific to this trail, but…

+ It does take longer to get up there to the ’starting gate’ than you would think. My dogs were still in bed with my wife this morning and I realized I had better get them moving rather than wait for them all to stir or I’d actually run out of daylight. I’m actually in San Pedro, so that adds to the commute. I didn’t get started on the trail until around 2PM, by the time i had stopped for gas and gotten a wee bit turned around trying to get on 2 north. I had to hustle back for fear of running out of daylight. Of course, I didn’t have a watch on either, which was obvioulsy stupid, so I was paranoid.
+ People hiking around here should also be mindful of hunting season; when I pulled up at the gate there were already 3 other trucks parked at the entrance, and I chatted with some guys who were packing up for the day. They told me that there were more hunters up ahead, but said it shouldn’t be a problem. They also mentioned that we could see bears. I don’t really know jack about hunting, but I assume calling for your dogs isn’t popular when guys are skulking around trying to catch things unaware. Maybe they care, maybe not. No one said anything to me about it, and I saw a few groupd by the end of the day, all pretty close to the gate. I’d say that they stay within about a mile of the end of the road? Anyway, just be aware that hunting is legal there, so you may want to check with someone who understands it about the etiquette - I assume they wander far enough from the trail that I don’t need to worry about them shooting me, and I assume they don’t really have a problem with us being there. Dunno.
+ As a result of being warned about bears, I kept the dogs close with me on the trail (of course technically one ought to have them on a leash, but that’s why I drove out to the middle of nowhere, so they could romp), and made a point of yelling to them a lot loudly, even when they were right with me to give animals a warning that we were coming. I’m no park ranger, but whenever I’m that far away from human contact I try to give wildlife plenty good warning we’re around so we don’t sneek up on anything. Don’t really know if that’s best advice for bears or not. Right about then I wished I’d done a bit of reading up on what strategies could be handy. My dogs are extremely well behaved and stay ight with me, or I wouldn’t have felt safe after that warning.
+ Random: a bunch of fighter jets, presumably from the nearby Vandenberg AFB soared overhead repeatedly. Loud, but impressive. If you’re a plane-spotter that might be a boon for this park.
+ The tree that had been down across the trail has been cleared off to the side. Really nice vista spot right there.
+ Like a true bonehead, I forgot about the register, and decided not to finish the very peak since I had grown paranoid about time. I hiked a couple of minutes more after the trail ended, and decided I’d better start back. Ugh.
+ I would reiterate the warning about the climb on the way back; I knew about it, but I underestimated it as well. I had very loose fitting boots on, and as a result I wound up with some serious blisters on both feet. Another mistake on my part. I had to man up and push through the blistering pain on the way back, because I didn’t know what time it was and I was pretty freaked about something going wrong and being way out there after dark. It’s a rather leisurely clim all in all, but it was daunting when I was a bit stressed about the time and in searing pain.
+ I wouldn’t take a passenger car of MINE down that road. My mother in law’s, maybe. I was glad I was in my 4X4, truthfully.
+ I popped in my Circle Jerks CD right before pulling away from the trailhead on the way out, and heard it 1 1/3 times, so I make it very close to 40 minutes from the trailhead to the intersection of Mount Gleason Road at Angeles Forest Highway.
+ As I descended back down into the valley,the sunset absolutely kicked my ass. I had to stop and take photos mutliple times, even though I really didn’t feel like it. Amazing. Surely one of the best places to watch the sun go down.

It struck me as I was out there just how freakin far I had come to get here, and how far away from ‘civilization,’ I was at that moment, and how amazing it is that we can share this information so easily and precisely these days. There I was in the middle of bloody nowhere, completely alone (outside of a mile from the gate), and I was at precisely the spot on this gi-nomous Earth of ours that I had read about and seen pictures of from my couch days before. Incredible.

Thanks so much for all your work in posting this info; it utterly made my weekend (and my week, looking forward to this hike), and armed with all that detailed information a person can feel so much more confidentt plodding around in areas they’ve never seen before. It’s just brilliant.

- Tom

the directions are posted above.

From downtown LA, you’ll want to head north (or east, technically) on the 2. That will take you right into the Angeles National Forest.

There’s an intersection right next to Red Box Station (where you should pick up an Adventure Pass), where you should turn onto the Angeles Forest Highway. Mill Creek Summit is on this road, marked with a picnic area. It’s pretty easy to spot.

Thanks,

- Tom