Hiked eastern half of this loop on 12/28/22 from Hwy 2 PCT junction closest to tunnels. Put on micro spikes for some of the steeper sloped, snow covered parts of the trail going up to the southeast summit of Mt Williamson. Some parts of the trail in the burn area were washed out by debris flows and then recently covered in snow. Once on Pleasant View Ridge, we had great packed powder snow conditions for the whole hike on a day of very clear but windy weather. We followed the ridgeline to the northeast summit of Mt. Williamson (official HPS peak) and then to the Pleasant View Ridge Summit east high point (8248 ft). Had to put on crampons to descend to the saddle before Peak 8160 and then continue climbing straight up the ridgeline up to its summit. Next was the steepest part of the hike, the straight line backbone descent of Peak 8160 towards Box Car Ridge where the snow held crampon points well, decreasing the chances of a long slide for life ride down either the partly iced NW face or the shaded NE chute. From here up to the summit of Pallet Mountain was back to boots only, very scenic hiking with spectacular views of the desert from the summit. Returned to the trailhead the same way at sunset with good snow, stopping at several great vista points. A great ridgeline hike with a little work required - tracked just under 11 miles and 3800 ft. Definitely want to come back for the western peaks on this trail before spring!
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Great consistent gain from the creek wall the way to the saddle and then up to the peak
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