Foggy Hiking Trip... Whoo Hoo!!!

For the first time in what seems like at least a year, my girlfriend and i got together with a group of friends and went on a hike. Originally the plan was to hike to the peak of Mount Wilson via the trail head by Mountain Street in Sierra Madre, but when a few people in the group found out that it was 13 or so miles with an elevation gain of abut 6000 feet they weren't having that. So eventually we figured out a new "warmup" hike to go on to see where everyone was at physically and set out on an early morning adventure. The trail we decided on was the "Big Santa Anita Loop" up at Chantry Flats, which can be taken up to the peak of Mt. Wilson if you so desire (and its a much easier trek). This trail goes somewhere between 7 and 9 miles and takes about 5 to 6 hours to complete. I have to say it sure felt good to be out in nature this morning after another long week of sitting at my desk at work. We all met up at the trail head around 7:30am and took off on our hike at 8:15am sharp. I was expecting it to be a fairly sunny day, but from the second we got there it was nothing but fog. It was so foggy it seemed like we were just walking around inside a cloud for the most part. Here and there the air would clear up but 95% of the hike was through the fog, making for an interesting time. Along the way there were numerous waterfalls both natural and man made, and primarily you walk over rocky trails through the forest next to stream beds and sheer drops. We also saw some mountain bikers out there taking advantage of the sick single track trails (which reminds me... I need to take my bike into the shop to get new tires, tubes, and a tune up this weekend!!!) Anyways, the hike was a ton of fun and a good workout, so when we got back, we celebrated by scarfing down some burgers and beer at this little shop at the trail head. All in all I had a great time. Here are some pics we took along the way. Hikers at mysterious waterfall.Look at that fog!