I definitely don't remember this hike being as long or challenging as before! Luckily the trail was 80% shaded or it would have been way worse, given the recent heatwave we've been dealing with here in Socal! Great to see and hear all water flowing in these local mountains, that was a great treat but I think it's what attracted so many pesky little bugs. Missed the ‘trail' about a mile from the peak and ended up taking the service road on the left. Made for an extra mile as it wandered a bit around the mountain, but luckily I just kept following the radio towers. Eventually made it up to the top, waited for some friends, had a nice sandwich at the cafe and made our way back down the mountain. Best part on the way down is we ran into a baby bear cub and momma bear right before Orchard Camp. What I thought was someone's dog laying in the middle of the trail turned out to be a baby bear cub relaxing in the middle of the trail! Didn't take too long before momma bear came by to check up on who was watching her cub, my friend and I decided today wasn't the day we wanted to wrestle bears so we made our way back up the trail a few hundred feet before we heard momma bear and baby cub scuffle into the brush down the mountain side. What a crazy adrenaline rush! Overall great trail to kick off the 6peak challenge!
AZ Winter 20% off early-bird rate ends in
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