After sheltering in place since early March, we decided it was finally time to venture up to Wrightwood for our first visit there since February. Not that we couldn’t have made the trip sooner, but projects at home and other family priorities – as well as a desire to not adversely affect the very low COVID-19 counts in Wrightwood – conspired to make such travels inopportune until this point. After a half-day’s work from home, we hit the road, intending to stop on the way at the Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area for a repeat of our 2015 visit to The Devil’s Chair, a 7+-mile walk along the northern base of the San Gabriels. The Chair is a small knob at the end of a very narrow rock formation extending out over an extraordinary canyon full of folded and twisted layers of stone – eons of tectonic forces along the adjacent San Andreas fault have produced these formations, once buried deeply but since heaved upward and exposed by erosion. We had called earlier in the day and were told that, although the visitor center was still closed to the public, the trails were open – public use was welcomed, so long as face coverings were worn in the parking area and on the trails when encountering other hikers. So, we arrived at said parking area and immediately headed out, first ascending moderately but continually southwest for almost a mile up to the foot of the mountains and the treeline. Here, we turned east, recalling that the hike is basically flat for the next two miles as the trail traverses into and out of several drainages carved into the north flank of Mt. Williamson to the south. Our memories, though generally accurate, failed to account for the multiple drops and climbs that truly characterize this section of the walk – one loses and regains the same 50′ of elevation several times through this level-ish portion of the trail, although we made decent time through it. After 3-1/4 miles total miles, we began the sharp descent toward The Chair, shortly reaching the junction with its spur trail and doubling back to the west. We had met a handful of westbound hikers as we made our way east (and most were very cognizant about donning their masks and maintaining distance, as did we), but here, where the railings start that keep visitors away from the steep cliffs, we found several groups ahead of us, each waiting their turn to step out to the pulpit (perhaps not the most appropriate description, but that’s what it feels like when you stand there) and take in the scene. We waited a few minutes and took our place out at the end – a breezy day, the wind whipped up a bit as we climbed up the last tall step, and Chris, for one, was glad for the railings given the exposure. We stayed only briefly, as a glance southward revealed two more groups behind us patiently waiting. Without much discussion, we began to retrace our steps, climbing first back up to the traverse, and then following the trail back westward. Our return was uneventful, slightly slower in pace than the outbound passage, and we made it back to the car without issue. Nothing to report in the way of wildlife – the usual collection of lizards and birds was about it (one westbound hiker reported seeing a king snake some distance east, but he was long gone by the time we got there). Today’s hike was remarkable for two reasons. One, the scenery was wonderful, ranging from scrub to pinyon to Jeffrey pine forests, and two, rest breaks were largely absent – out of 3-1/2 hours of walking, we spent less than six minutes at rest, and most of that was Chris fussing with an uncomfortable boot lacing on the way back. It felt good to be back out there.