Mt Laguna to Sunrise Trailhead – 18 miles (28 km) 59 miles total
It was wonderful to wake up in a warm bed this morning and after hearing from others that camping had been windy, I knew I had made a wise decision to stay in Mt Laguna.
We were out and hiking by just before 7am. After about an hours walk through pine forest, the track came out to an expansive view of what is to come. Cottonwood valley below and the mountain range in the distance, with some of the peaks snow capped. These views remained for most of the day as the trail followed a ridge line on the side of a mountain above the valley.
By mid morning I had made it 10 miles to a picnic area and with only 8 more miles to go for the day, had a wonderful time relaxing for morning tea.
The next 8 miles were easily done by mid afternoon. However, as I arrived at the trail head which is the last water source until scissors crossing in 18 miles. It started to rain. I was going to fill up with as much water as possible and hike a bit further to a campsite, but as the thunder started to roll in the distance and the rain came down. We all decided to take shelter in the pit toilets and so it was that I spent an afternoon socialising in a pit toilet.
By the time the rain cleared it was close to 5 and I had already decided I wasn’t going any further for the day. Particularly when we were at a water source and near toilets. It sounded like the perfect campsite to me.
As we set up camp the sun came out and then a sun shower, producing a wonderful double rainbow (what does it mean!).
Today I am thankful for pit toilets to shelter in.
That view from the Ridge line is fantastic 🙂 What a beautiful hike and yes thank God for pit toilets, I guess you never thought that will be a perfect place to socialize (“lime”, as we Trinidadians say). Lovely post, awesome pics.
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