u/Leading-Tomato-7381

Rewarding hike with constant gorgeous views so no hard feelings for the 20+ mile ass kicking. The John's meadow part was very slow and almost impossible to stay on "trail" - only 4 miles after 3 hours with almost no elevation gain. Bad day to wear shorts and also no gaiters- constant scaping of grass seeds, stinging nettle, and mostly I think ceanothus thorns.. The gullies on both lower sections were more intense than the peaks, some really sketchy exposures with no footing, I was treating it like winter. Farther up there doesn't seem to be a trial up Anderson ridge on either side but much easier to deal with than down below.

Worth mentioning I could have been screwed on water but came up super lucky - I drank almost all my water before even getting to the top, but somehow this glorious spring running strong at 9500 feet and filled up with enough for the rest of the day - thankfully since there was A LOT left and no other water.

One of the coolest things was seeing peaks in all directions I've either been to or have on radar - could even see surprisingly clear Cuyamaca which set me off on hiking in the mountains of Southern California a year ago

I passed by here on an Ontario hike and it seemed strange to have a campsite in the middle of a bunch of dayhikes, but now I'm thinking about it. How far would you have to go to get water right now? Do you need anything beyond self-assigned Cucamonga permit? Is it worth camping here?

First time ever doing a sunrise hike - I can say with certainty that without this sub I would not have found myself leaving the house at midnight instead of getting some sleep - and despite thinking myself crazy for it, it was a really a worthwhile experience, especially the hour after sunset was just awesome. It was really cool getting to Thunder and seeing all the headlamps twinkling on the Baldy trails, but my camera couldn't get it.

Thanks to u/snorkelzorkel for the suggestion to go CCW up the road and down icehouse. The road was easy enough to walk without a headlight which was really cool, and even with a 5% moon the lights of the city (sadly?) were plenty enough most of the time (though I got mixed up in the dark at the notch and took a rough ski trail up Thunder). And coming down icehouse seems way nicer than that long road. Only complaint is coming down icehouse mid-day is a nightmare, so many people coming up, particularly a very large group / family that had absolutely no share-the-trail etiquette (it's ok I can drop etiquette too) - but as you said and won me over with, the stream was a godsend for my sore feet and ankle.

Thanks also to the Fool's Traverse folks for picking me up off the road at 2AM and giving me a ride in a disco bus to Mankers, which is the only way I was able to see sunrise from Thunder. That said this group was making a bunch of noise with cowbells and yelling all day which is really lame for everyone trying to enjoy a more zen experience - you guys gotta clean that up.

Some insta360 clips from my hike on Wright Mountain and Pine Mountain Sunday morning

Rolled the dice on the weather and scored big getting one for the memory banks. Soft snow on gravel was easy to climb and so fun to descend, was wishing I had a split board. Most peaks were out of sight but no complaints on this view! Was planning Dawson but it was very slow moving and sketchy in a few spots so called it a win with Pine