About to turn onto the Mt Wilson Road off the Angels Crest Highway.

Today going to hike to the summit of Mount Lowe in the San Gabriel Mountains. The hike will be about three mile round trip with a 500 foot gain.

The start of the Mt Wilson Road at Red Box. It's about a two and a half mile drive up this road to Eaton Saddle.

The parking area at Eaton Saddle, elevation of about 5,100 feet.

The first section of the hike will be on the Mount Lowe fire road. This road if followed all the way down becomes Chaney Trail ending in Altadena.

Sign at the gate explaining a little bit about the Mount Lowe Railway.

Marked the route I hiked on a blown up section of the map.

The north face of Mount Markham from the start of the hike.

Another photo from the road shows how steep the terrain is in this area.

Approaching the Mueller Tunnel.

Closer view of the tunnel entrance.

Just past the tunnel.

At Markham Saddle. The trails for two peaks cross here.

To the right (west) is the trail to San Gabriel Peak.

To the left is the Mount Lowe East Trail which is the one to the peak.

Closer view of the sign at the start of the trail.

Looking down on the fire road which parallels the trail along Mount Lowe's west slope.

The trail turns east at this point.

A sign marks the switch back that leads to the peak.

Approaching the summit.

Mount Lowe summit at 5,603 '.

Last time I was here almost twenty years ago, the bench was falling apart. Nice to see someone replaced it.

View to the east. There was a heavy marine layer in that direction.

Zoomed in on San Gorgonio Mountain at 11,499' poking up through the haze about 75 miles away.

San Jacinto Peak at 10,804' about 85 miles away.

Sighting tubes on the peak.

This one is marked Mt Wilson. They are just empty tubes used to locate points of interest.

Looking through the Mt Wilson tube.

Looking to the north. On the left in the distance is Strawberry Peak 6,164'. The one with the towers is Mount Disappointment 5,963'.

To the northeast, the higher one is San Gabriel Peak 6,161, and Mount Markham 5,742'. In the distance is Twin Peaks at 7,596' and 7,761'.

To the east, on the left is Occidental Peak 5,732', Mount Wilson 5,710' with the antenna farm and Mount Harvard 5,441'

To the south on the saddle is Inspiration Point 1,100 feet below. The peak to the right is Muir Peak 4,714'. The area with the large buildings is downtown Pasadena.

Zoomed in on Inspiration Point. The structure is a reproduction of the original that burned down a long time ago.

To the southwest is NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

On the hike back to the trailhead.

Below you can see the trail I'm hiking on and below it the Mount Lowe fire road.

Looking down Little Bear Canyon with Mount Lukens 5,074' in the distance.

Looking towards Eaton Saddle from the fire road.

Local wildlife.

Approaching the tunnel.

Another view of the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel it's about 200 feet long.

View of the fire road as I approach the saddle. The hike is almost over.

Driving down the Angels Crest Highway. This was a fun short hike with great views.

THE END