I was very happy to be invited to join in on this hike. After hiking like a madman in this area the past week, I was hoping I still had enough energy to do this. Turns out I did, but was SO HAPPY Nick didn't want to do the bushwhack up McCleary! We started out early enough to escape the heat on the way up, and it actually was quite pleasant on our long roundabout to Wrightson. After an extended stay on the peak, we descended to the heat waiting below. I much prefer the monsoon thunderstorms to be doing their thing on the return down to the cars, but it wasn't in the cards today, as the sun was relentless.

I'm glad some of you were able to join me at my old reliable restaurant, La Casita de Molina on west Valencia Road after this epic hike. After 30 years of going there, the place still delivers the goods! Glad you liked it.

I finally got to meet Joe! How cool. It was a pleasure to hike with Allen, Nick, Bruce, Denny, Wally, and Liz. Looks like the curse of rain has been removed from the stormychaos mix.

On a personal note, I drank from Bellows Spring today, making it 5 springs in 5 days! Crazy? Probably (but it tasted so good)!
This was a long tough day. We were up for the challenge! I had a great time.