Distance: 4.7 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 7008' (Winston Ridge)
Elevation Gain: 1150'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.9
Round trip time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Cloudburst Summit turnout on ACH
Difficulty: Easy
Another day hitting easy HPS peaks along the ACH. First up was Winston Ridge (HPS #117). I had climbed Winston Peak years ago so I didn't go over it. Instead, I took the dirt road that runs south of Winston Peak toward Cooper Canyon trail camp. The road is above the PCT and parallels it for about a mile where they intersect. Then, I took the PCT north to the saddle between Winston Peak and Peak 6903. There was a defined use trail to Winston Peak and a faint one to P6903. I went directly up the ridge to 6903, which had a small group of boulders on the summit, no register, no marks. I continued over 6903 to another saddle where a nice trail led the rest of the way to the Winston Ridge summit. This was fine country with sparse, tall pines and a lot of open space. The summit was Winston Ridge was within a small circle of stones. A green can held the register, but there were no marks. I could not sign in because there were no pencils or pens in the can. I usually carry a pencil, but could not find it. I was able to donate a Ziploc baggy for the register. I continued to the end of the ridge for the views west. On the way back, I followed a use trail around the east side of P6903. I came up behind a deer hunter there and yelled out from 100' to not startle him. He had no luck finding deer, though there were plenty of tracks around. He was also worried that I was out in the wilderness without a firearm and that animals might get me. I assured him I had met the animals of the forest and we were at peace. I was more concerned that my khaki pants and light gray puffy made me look like a deer. I followed the PCT/road back and drove to my next goal: Mt. Hillyer.
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