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| Backpack | 14.40 Miles |
2,455 AEG |
| | Backpack | 14.40 Miles | | | |
| 2,455 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Day 1
Woke up around 5:30 am on Saturday morning, rounded everybody up at 7:00 am, and headed for Rogers Trough Trailhead. The group consisted of myself, my friend Alex, my cousin Bradley, and my other cousin Brian. This would be Brian's first time up at the Ranch.
I always hate the drive going up, but love it coming back down. I'm not sure why.
We arrived at the trailhead around 9:00 AM and were greeted by a nice cool breeze. A little chilly at first, but after we hit the trail and warmed up a little bit, I would make the claim that this day was the most ideal conditions I've ever experienced backpacking. Never too hot, never too cold, cloudy with occasional windows of sunlight. Only one other vehicle at the trailhead.
We descended into Rogers Canyon and passed the junction to the Indian ruins. After a little bit of bushwacking around the base of the switchbacks on what we thought looked like trails, we found the cairns leading you to the grave site. This was something I missed doing last time.
After hitting the saddle, we took a break and enjoyed the epic weather and great views, then headed down the nice gentle slope into Reavis Valley.
Brian and Bradley ended up having a bee encounter soon after the saddle. Could have been a hive nearby. Brian got stung a few times but everybody else came out unscathed after we ran 50 yards.
Cumulatively, we ended up seeing 4 tarantula's total on the trail. In both instances it was 2 spiders very close to one another. These guys looked a bit bigger than the 2 me and Alex saw last year along this trail.
Just before hitting the big meadows, we encountered a group of 3 headed out. They informed us that there were no apples this year. 
After reaching the Ranch, we set our bags down where we had last year, near what looks like a pump and 2 old pieces of farming equipment. Does anyone know if these belonged to Reavis and how he got them up there, or are they post Reavis artifacts?
We went over to the apple orchard to confirm that there were no apples, ate some lunch, then set up camp. After sitting around for a little bit, we watched as a stormed made its way into the valley. Once the rain started, we all headed for our tents. The storm didn't last long, maybe 30 minutes, but it was just long enough that by the time it was over nobody wanted to come out of their tent. It was so peaceful to just lay there and doze off to the sound of the crickets, and the wind moving the grasses and leaves around.
After napping, we gathered some firewood and enjoyed the rest of the night. Spotted two deer in the orchard.
After it got dark we could see flashes of lightning back towards the saddle and we were expecting to get hit by another round, but the light show stayed to the south for what seemed to be hours.
Before crawling into my tent, I went down to the creek to fill up and discovered that the creek wasn't flowing this far down.  Last year it was shin deep in this area. Ended up finding a good sized puddle up the creek bed and filled my water bottles.
Just after crawling into my tent, it started to rain lightly, and didn't stop til the morning.
Day 2
Still raining when I woke up. Once a break in the storm came I got out of my tent and started breaking camp. My trail compadres followed suit. After breaking camp, we threw on the rain gear and started the hike out.
We passee one group on the way out, packing their stuff. Soon after passing the Fire Line trail junction, it started to rain and thunder was bouncing off the canyon walls. Nothing too uncomfortable though, in fact it was quite an enjoyable walk through the rain.
By the time we hit the saddle, it had cleared up a little. We took a small breather and headed down. As we headed down, we heard the sound of a dirt bike in the distance, signaling we were approaching the wilderness boundary.
The final climb out of the canyon was a little tough for me last year, and I still think its a little harder than the climb up to the saddle, but I never had to stop this time. What a difference a year can make.
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Overall a great weekend. It felt great to be out in a wilderness area. The peace, the simplicity, and the solitude. The sound of tread meeting dirt, birds singing, and the wind blowing the grasses. Nothing else. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Isolated
Some trees are yellow up there. |
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