Specifically she wanted to hike the Crystal Lake Trail, an unassuming "moderate" 2.8-mile excursion through what promised to be some spectacular scenery.
This trail was near what locals call Mt. Baldy, around 6000+ foot elevation.
So we packed up some water bottles, extra (warm) clothing, loaded up Mr. Darcy, and off we went.
Foolishly, we didn't leave until after noon, and we way way underestimated how long it would take to get to the trailhead. Following the map, we left pavement and embarked on a steep (though well-maintained) logging road through desolate logged BLM land.
We followed this road for mile after bone-crunching mile -- eleven miles, in fact.
Older Daughter said if we'd brought her car, she would have turned around after 100 feet (she has a low-slung two-wheel-drive city car). Our vehicle has high clearance and four-wheel-drive, and is designed for off-road conditions. Even so, I kept a sharp eye on the temperature gauge.
As we climbed, we started seeing scree slopes and realized just why Mt. Baldy was bald.
It certainly felt very ends-of-the-earthish.
But the views down to the valley floor were spectacular.
At one point, the engine started to overheat, so we turned the car off for a bit and let Mr. Darcy out to sniff and explore.
After ten minutes or so, we resumed our travels and soon found ourselves at the trailhead. It was a very wild and remote spot.
The trail was very rocky in parts, and one of those cling-to-the-hillside trails with a sharp drop-off to one side. But wow, the views were spectacular.
We kept Mr. Darcy strictly on his leash. We didn't want to risk him falling down a slope while chasing a chipmunk.
I was astounded to see some summer wildflowers still in bloom, despite it being early September. The season at this elevation is so much shorter that flowers were blooming even as fall colors crept over the landscape.
We saw mountain ash trees everywhere. Believe it or not, I've only ever seen these as handsome landscape trees, never in the wild. They have bright orange berries and scarlet foliage in the fall.
But the trail was rough -- steep in some parts, very rocky in others (you can see Older Daughter's boots and Mr. Darcy's feet at top). We went slowly and carefully, knowing we were far from help if anything were to happen to us.
Here, a previous hiker piled some stones into a formation.
Lots of red willow-like shrubs, but they didn't seem like willows. Anyone know what they are?
And huckleberries! Lots of ripe delicious huckleberries. We snacked all along the trail.
We stopped to rest at one point and admire the scenery.
But then we consulted the map and realized we'd only covered about one mile in one hour. And -- it was by then four o'clock in the afternoon. Reluctantly we realized we weren't going to make it to Crystal Lake before dark fell, so we made the difficult decision to turn back.
It was while hiking back that we became aware the "birds" we heard were, in fact, mammals. We were hearing pikas -- another animal I'd never seen in the wild.
They were very hard to spot. Pikas live in rocks, and there were a lot of rocks.
By the time I zoomed in my camera lens, they were already in another location.
Can you spot the pika?
Here it is, near the top-center, over that large rock.
Here's another photo -- the pika is almost dead-center.
We left the pikas behind and continued to admire the scenery as we made our way back to the trailhead.
Once back in the car, we decided on a more direct route down to the valley floor -- which turned out to be a mistake. The road was a lot rougher, though it was certainly more picturesque. All I can say is, it's a good thing our car is designed for rough off-road conditions.
Definitely nice views, though.
This is what we could see waaaaay below us.
I saw a species of grass I'm unfamiliar with. Anyone know?
How about this? If I didn't know better, I'd say it's the remains of a black-eyed Susan, but I'm not sure.
Steep scree slope, distant valley floor.
We returned to pavement exhausted all out of proportion to the relatively little bit of hiking we did. Even Mr. Darcy spent the whole following day flat on his side, sleeping.
We never made it to Crystal Lake, but we had An Adventure. Yeah, that's it. An Adventure.
