Too Late & Almost Too Hot

We left for this hike about an hour or later than I’d initially planned. Next time we will do more prep work the night before. It took more than an hour to get to the trailhead, charging on the way. The dirt road turnoff wasn’t too bad for out Tesla (sadly, yes this was a purchase we made before 2025). There were some dips in the road, but the worse of it was when the road continued up past the gate to the trailhead. The parking was already packed and anything available beyond the gate needed a substantial vehicle with substantial drive power, luckily, we were able to wedge ourselves onto the side of the road just proceeding the trailhead.

We also took too long getting started once we arrived because we kept running back to the car for stuff and realized we should have done several things before getting the dogs out. Our official start of hike was 1018. It seems like there are private residents that live along the road just beyond the gated trailhead. The road is private for vehicle access, but pedestrians are allowed to walk around on the left of the fence. The road starting up there is well shaded by tall trees. Beyond the road, where the trail breaks off it’s a bit narrower and intermittently has tall plants surrounding. Beware where you stop because of biting ants! Hopper (one of my dogs) and I discovered this when we tried to stop for water. I think they got two of his feet and one got me on the leg. We continued on until we found a clearing at another road and inspected his paws and my leg. After washing his paws off, putting his boots on, and observing if he was able to walk, we decided we could continue.

Along the way we tried to find some Geocache’s. I’m not totally into Geocache, but wanted to give it a try because it’s Dave’s type of thing. He found one at the stop after our ant bites. It was an ammo can and he put our names on the paper inside. I found the next one under a rock, no ammo can, and it was disintegrating. The rest of the way up was full of great views, plenty of areas to stop, and some sections were tough to traverse.

At the peak, we were posing for pictures when my hat blew off and Dave saved the day by recovering it for me. Dave found one final Geocache next to the sign. We were getting some food out for lunch when Hopper spotted a rodent and attempted to lunge at it, but he was tethered via a bungee leash to his harness and comically came right back to us.

The way down was just as beautiful, at times the sun felt pretty hot, but that was at lower elevation, the breeze as we climbed higher was very welcome. On our way down the path was a little more challenging to read and got us realizing how easily a hike like this could end badly. Lots of lessons learned on this hike in regards to preparedness and survival.