10am at the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site and there was no need for a jacket – February and it feels like spring!
We descended to the Avenida de Suzenu Trailhead via the Molino Basin Trail, Bellota Trail and La Milagrosa Trail – sun, blue sky and water in all the canyons. 10.6 miles, +1100’/-3100′ of elevation gain/loss.
Climbing up the Bellota Trail out of Molino Basin a Gopher Snake and then a Tarantula stop my progress – not what I was expecting on a December afternoon – but always beautiful to see, I watch them move slowly away from the trail. There is water and mud at West Spring Tank – and in Milagrosa Canyon as I turn south.
I don’t see anyone on the Milagrosa Trail and the ridge between the canyons feels wonderfully far from the city. Trail 46A down into Agua Caliente Canyon – along the bottom – and then the climb to join the Agua Caliente Hill Trail.
A pause at the summit and we start down – the sun, grass and views are stunning! The day fades – we watch the lights come on in the city and finish our in the Agua Caliente Hill South Trailhead just before the moon rises. 13.7 miles, +3200’/-4500′ elevation gain/loss.
We started at the Molino Canyon Overlook and took the un-official climber’s trail (to the Ruins) out of Molino Canyon and up to the ridge. Earlier in the year we turned to the south and visited the Weathertop area – today we turned north and hiked in the sea of grass and shindaggers along the ridge while the sun disappeared in the west.
We reached Point 5166 in the dark – the rocky high point is south of the Bellota Trail – we watched lights on the highway and Redington Road, City Lights, Clouds and the stars.
On the Bellota Trail we sat and pulled the painful grass seeds out of our shoes while a Mantis used us and our lights to hunt. With the finish on the highway back to the car – 4.5 miles, +/-1250′ of elevation gain/loss.
