Chilly Surprise

My daughter was able to come home from college for the entire week of Thanksgiving.  She loved that and so did we.  Even though she had lots of school work and music to work on, we made sure to get out and have some family fun.  One of the things we did was to go for a hike up in the San Jacinto Mountains above Idyllwild.

We started out early and stopped for a delicious and hearty breakfast at the Mountain Center Cafe.  Then, we were off to the ranger station for a trail permit and parking pass.  While we were there we looked at all the fun stuff in their little shopping corner.  We ended up buying some little trail buddies.  I got a little Smokey Bear that I clipped onto my pack.  Isn't he cute?  I love his little hat and jeans!

My daughter got an adorable little owl that got to peek out of her pack for the day.

Hubby got a cute little raccoon but somehow I missed on getting a photo of it.  It was perfect for him as he's always had a 'coon tail on the back of his bike helmet.  In fact, that's how he's recognized at mountain bike races and by other riders because he's had that for so long.  He likes raccoons.

We were amazed at how many cones there are on the Sugar Pines this year!  They're loaded!  There were thousands of them on the ground too.  They're such pretty cones!

It was a beautiful day!  A little chilly but sunny and the trails weren't crowded.

Then...we came along something we didn't expect to see...snow!  We hadn't had much precipitation before that and what we did have was from a warm storm.  So, we didn't think they'd gotten any snow up there.  Hmmm?!

The higher we got, the more there was.  Some sections were a little slick but we could still hike through with caution.  

However, the trail at the top had a lot more snow and lots of ice that made it just too slick and dangerous.  There were tracks from people who'd hiked when it was slushy but it had frozen over into solid ice.  That's just not fun or safe....especially when the trail runs along a drop off!

It sure was pretty!  It was also very cold!  The temperature dropped from about 50 when we started to just above freezing with cold wind.

We were really looking forward to the views up on Tahquitz Peak.  Since we weren't able to get that far, we took advantage of a big flat area with a view and hiked out to see it.  We thought we might be able to warm up a bit in the sun but that wind was just so icy!  

Our daughter hasn't hiked to Tahquitz Peak yet and was so excited to get there.  But, she was impressed with the view from this spot.  On a clear day the Pacific ocean can be seen in the distance.

Looks like we won't be hiking this trail again until next spring.

Mountain Fire

No matter where you are in the US, if you've seen the national news, you may have heard about the "Mountain Fire".  The news said last night that it has become the number one priority fire in the country.  Why am I blogging about it?  Because the mountain that this fire is burning is one of my favorite places on earth.

Our beloved Mount San Jacinto has been burning...raging out of control...since Monday.  It started near the small mountain community of Mountain Center and quickly spread to hundreds of acres. Then, over night, it doubled to over 800 acres.  The next day it was over 1,400.  Now, it's over 22,000 acres!  The terrain is steep and wooded and that makes it hard to fight.  The brush up there is dry and many of the trees have been killed by beetles, leaving a lot of dry, dead fuel.  On top of that, we've had triple digit temps.  I heard on the news that at times the fire fighters have had to deal with 130f degree heat because of the temps and the fire.  Horrible!

Up until yesterday they could only manage to get 10% control of this fire.  We got the tiny bit of good news yesterday that management has grown to 15%.  That's good but not nearly enough.  The wonderful community of Idyllwild has been under mandatory evacuation for a few days and will remain so today, maybe longer.  The fire is also heading down the backside of the mountain toward the Palm Springs area.  I heard this morning that it has burned at least three of the Mount San Jacinto peaks.

I've been glued to my cell phone and computer all week trying to keep up on the latest news about this fire. I recently signed up on Twitter and have found it very useful in this situation.  I've also found some websites that have been very helpful.  I refresh them throughout the day to get the latest info.  If you're interested, here are some of them...the maps on THIS one show the area that has burned...looks like almost half the mountain at this point.  THIS one offers helpful information regarding the Idyllwild community.  THIS one has maps, weather info, numbers of aircraft and personnel fighting the fire, etc.

I've been enjoying this beautiful mountain since I was a child when my parents took my brother and I up there to camp.  As an adult, I've been enjoying going up there to camp, hike, mountain bike, dine, escape the heat, relax, have coffee, stay at a bed and breakfast, shop and just escape the hustle and bustle of everyday.  It's takes less than an hour to drive up there and we can see it from our home town.  In fact, we were up there just a week before the fire.  We packed a picnic lunch and headed up there with our dog, Salsa, to escape the heat and relax at Hurkey Creek.  We had a wonderful day!

Over the years, I've blogged about many of our adventures on Mount San Jacinto and the Idyllwild area.  If you're interested in seeing some of the beauty and fun that can be had up there, you can click over to visit my post about our hike on the Devil's Slide trail about a year ago.  Or, our hike up to Tahquitz Peak and the fire lookout station.  What a hike that was!  I've been wanting to go back up there again.  I sure hope it's still there after the fire.  And, I hope the trails will still be open and not all burned up.  Oh, how I wish there wasn't a fire on our mountain!  I'd love to be standing here again right now...

HERE'S a post I did about a wonderfully relaxing day spent in a grassy meadow under some trees.  Ahhhh!  We've spent a lot of time camping up there.  Even Salsa likes going up there, as you can see in THIS post.  And, I can't leave out winter...  We love driving up there to see the snow, enjoy a hot cup of coffee or cocoa and marvel at the beauty.  I'll never forget the time we drove up and saw all of these beautiful red meadows on a chilly, snowy, rainy, winter day....HERE'S that post.

There's a chance of rain in the forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  We could sure use it! But, the forecast is for thunderstorms and lightening is something we definitely can do without!  I hope they'll be able to start making bigger progress in stopping this fire over the next few days.  And, most importantly, that they'll be able to save the community of Idyllwild.  It breaks my heart that this is happening and I've shed tears over it.  We always know that fire is possible anywhere but we sure never would have imagined one fire taking so much of this mountain that we love.  I can't wait for it to be out so we can go up and see what has been spared.  I hope that much less has burned than it seems!

If you're anywhere within driving distance of the San Jacinto Mountains and Idyllwild, please consider going up and supporting the community when this is all over.  Not only have the businesses lost out on a lot of business this week (especially since the evacuation) but I bet restaurants and the grocery store will have to throw away a lot of food.  That will hurt them too.  You won't regret taking a trip up there.  It's a beautiful and wonderful area.  There are miles and miles of hiking and biking trails, lots of wonderful bed and breakfasts, restaurants, shopping, and more.  Oh...and, they've had the best mayor anywhere....Mayor Max...he's a dog!  You can read the heart warming story HERE.

Please keep the residents, the fire fighters, the wildlife and our mountain in your thoughts and prayers.