Started out at 8:30 and it was cool and the morning fog was burning off. I opted for a short sleeve even though I usually wear long sleeve because I don't want to limit my sun exposure.  I stuffed the long sleeve in my pack just in case I had made a bad choice with the s.s. I was not familiar with this trail and looked around to see what kind of canopy I would be in. I saw a lot of redwoods in the distance so I thought I would have a lot of shade. I opted for a baseball hat and left the booney behind. That ended up not being the right choice. Thirty minutes into the hike and I am warming up and the short sleeve T was fine. The trail was mostly exposed with the occasional grouping of trees.

I was able to find my way to Black Mountain using a screenshot of the OSP map I took before I left for the hike. It was a good thing I did that because there were no papers maps available at the parking lot and as usual, the large map there had a plastic cover that was warped and dirty from the years of exposure. I had not seen a single person on my way up the trail. When I got to the top, I saw a guy meditating at the overlook area. I sat a good distance away so as to not interrupt him. I had my own mediation, ate a banana, and changed into my long sleeve as it was pretty warm by this time. While sitting on a rock at the peak, I heard an Elk not too far away but could not see it because of the brush around me. I got up and tried to get some cool pics and vids and slowly started down the trail. I spotted the Elk just down a side trail. As I tried to get the camera app open on my cell, it ran off. UGH! That was my first Elk sighting. Oh well!

I took a different route back so that I could see and experience new things. About half way down, I got into some real nice canopy cover and it was cooler. This probably kept me from a sun burn on my ears and neck. As I came upon each trail-head, I would take the one that was just a little further so I could get more mileage in as long as it was going to get me back to my truck and not to another Preserve.

I ended up with 8 miles over 3 1/2 hours and it was a great hike.