August 4 - Augeries of the Future

Out with John to Augie's for coffee, then, after a



petrol stop, across the Valleys to the



Verdugos



and



San Fernando, again



up



and



down Gavin, to Santa Clarita,



sinuous



Violin



Canyon,



Canton,



Paradise,



the



Ridge



Route



highlands,



Hungry



Valley,



Yucca



Canyon,



Gorman,



Tejon Pass,



Frazier



Park,



Castac,



Tejon Ranch,



Fort, and the



ever-



popular



Grapevine



descent.



99 for variety,



with continued scrimmy views of the



Sierra,



more fuelishness (the last $2.94/gal?),



adventures, and home to produce two more videos for Animal Farm, being



II. Flies and



III. Spiders.

August 3 - To the Heights

Glorious yet suspect day,



up and out fairly early towards



Beaumont



and



Banning,



up



the



Idyllwild



Grade



with views to



San Gorgonio Mountain and



Pass towards



San Jacinto for a walk to the



Summit Junction via



Idyllwild's Humber Park,



starting below the elliptical skies of Lily Rock,



initially up the Devil's



Slide Trail,



with views of



Suicide Rock,



to



Saddle



Junction.



From here,



contour around San Jacinto Ridge



on the actual Pacific Crest Trail (surprise!),



with glimpses back to Tahquitz Peak and



Lily, to the



Strawberry



turnoff,



then



Wellman



Cienega's



verdure



and



springs to the



suspicious Divide.



The last pull hairpins



near Miller Peak,



past a descending posse of LDS students and their counsellors (a veritable Mormon Batallion),



gains access to the



Summit Plateau.



With this have connected to



last year's hike,



where a contingent of Asian hikers linger ("Asians and Mormons and I, oh my!"), and



descend, re-encountering LDS folks,



including the friendly rear-guard councellor, chatting until they depart at Wellman Divide for the Aerial Tram.



Our route is otherwise (though a cross-range option is tempting),



and



Heraclitus proves



correct again,



with views the same



yet different.



The sun sets at 7:30pm in Southern California's early August, the last light fading on Lily Rock, and retreat is made back to the Browning's, whereupon we set out again to a local Redlands nightspot to reconnect with friendly folks.