06/12 - Briones

 

After no walk last week because of temperatures in the upper 90's, 8 of us took advantage of cooler weather and walked from the Alhambra Valley Rd entrance up Toyon Canyon and back. It included more up than we remembered. At least there was shade and an occasional breeze. Things are drying fast, tho there was still a bit of water in the creek. Returning to the cars we found that the bridge over the creek has finally (I found pictures from 2019 with a "closed" sign) been repaired. Under 2.5 miles.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/jPBL5KngGB

06/05 - No hike, temperatures in the high 90's

05/29 - Redwood RP

It was a large group (15) today. We started together from the Fish Ladder but soon separated into smaller groups, botonizers, bird watchers and just plain walkers. We walked west on Bridle Tr and joined Stream Tr at Chown, going further up the canyon to the picnic tables by the Fern Tr junction for snacks and more birthday time for Ulla. Return was via Stream Tr. Just under 3 miles (but see below).

https://www.flickr.com/gp/momcat_ksw/wmfc8B4hks

That only tells part of the story. Splitting into smaller groups is fine as long as everyone knows where we are going and people rejoin the group at trail junctions. Unfortunately, we learned that lesson the hard way today as one hiker turned left when the correct turn was to the right. Each of the other groups thought she was with another group, so it wasn't until we returned to the cars that the truth of the situation sank in. All's well that ends well, the lost one returned on her own and the ones who set out to hunt for her eventually did as well. The whole situation was made worse by a total lack of cell coverage. Mileage for the lost and the seekers was double (or more) that of the main group.