Pacific Crest Trail

Sunday, we drove east for two hours to the remote area of  Warner Springs.  Nearby, we parked and set out on a leg of the Pacific Crest Trail for a 10 mile hike.

 Near the trail head was a massive live oak that looked like it had exploded.  Notice Gail scale.

 Even though the elevation here is only 3,000 feet, there were a lot of snow patches still left from the cold storm of several days earlier.

 Cactus and snow meet in San Diego County!

 I know, another selfie, but that is snow!

The trail followed Agua Caliente Creek much of the time.  It was exciting to see an actual running stream!

 I fished out our nemesis, a Mylar balloon, from the creek.

 We passed through tranquil mixed groves of sycamore, Coulter pine, willow, live oak, and black oak.

 There was a hollow, but standing dead oak with a hole in its side.  I stuck the camera in and aimed down, and then up, hoping to see if it contained critters.

 There were no critters, but the flash pictures did make for some artsy patterns.

 Gail took this picture of a big snag over our heads where a raptor had devoured a bird, judging by all the feathers on top.  We kept setting off big flocks of band-tailed pigeons as we made our way up the trail.

 There were numerous large manzanita "trees" with their lovely bark.

Scat moment!  Right on the trail was a very large scat composed almost totally of fur.  No doubt in our minds that it was mountain lion.

Eventually we ended up on a ridge and turned back.  It was an amazing day of hiking.  We did not see one other person, the air warmed up to T-shirt temperatures, and yet there were still patches of snow.  We saw a kestrel and a Swainson's hawk as we neared the trail head.  The only downside was the long drive home at twilight on mountain roads with crazy SoCal drivers passing over double lines, tailgating, speeding, and generally driving like immortal A-holes.