Community Trips
I joined up with a group of hikers from meetup.com. I had never met any of the hikers before the day of the hike. I picked up two others on the way to carpool since it was a ways out. We all, there were 10 of us in all, met in the trailhead parking lot and waited for the leader. After we left the parking lot, we headed north on a Forest Service...
Started at the Lyons Valley Rd trailhead, intended to head a lot farther up Secret Canyon. Was turned back by the overgrown trail and poison oak. Went up the other trail to the dirt road and came back. Lots of water in the creek and pool. Could have had a swim today, just waded in up to my shorts to cool off.
This is a short hike, with a good climb to get back to the staging area, but the pool and waterfall at the bottom of the canyon are worth the effort. We saw lots of early Spring wild flowers (and a lot of poison oak so be careful). We met a fellow hiker who claimed to have seen a mountain lion in the canyon just this morning.
A short bike/hiking trip to a rocky rock crop via Las Bancas-Horsethief Road, a dirt service road closed to motorized vehicles but used extensively by the U.S. Border Patrol after sunset. You can ride all the way to the Horsethief Staging area another six miles, mostly downhill. It's an awesome bike ride that begins on Cleveland National Forest property - you might encounter cattle.
A 6.7 mi, 1867 ft elevation gain, 4.5 hr hike to Corte Madera Mountain (4617 ft) located north of Campo, on a sunny day with temperatures in low 70s F. Adventure Pass is required. See photos.
Hiking to Corte Madera Peak via Espinosa Trail. Very relaxed with lots of breaks and stops for photography (actual moving time 3.5 hours).
