A Nice Weekend - Piru and Cedar Creeks

Hi. I hope your well and happy; certainly I am. Why?
Take a *wild* guess!

This past weekend Java and I spent more time in new to
us, section of the Sespe Wilderness - if you don't
already have a sense for the size of the wilderness
area, its pretty big.

On Saturday we departed from the Grade valley and
followed the Piru Creek West, then South along one of
its main tributaries, until arriving at the Fishbowls
campsite. The spot is named for some freakishly deep
pools found along the creek in the bottom of canyon
just south of the campsite.

The hike into camp was incredibly tranquil, scenic,
and deeply peaceful. The creek meandered here and
there, making alternatively sharp then gently bends as
it widen and then narrowed over shallow sandstone
beds. Like with the Piedra Blanca (Gene Marshall)
trail we found numerous large clusters of Ladybugs in
the heavy foliage of the creek.

After exploring the campsites namesake, the fishbowls,
we setup camp, fixed dinner, read from by book and
then settled in for a slow freeze. Immediately after
sunset the temperature dropped, and they dipped
further throughout the night to below freezing.

Waking up at first light revealed what the Moonset had
concealed - A white blanket of frost and ice that
covered the forest floor and the mountain sides. Java
too was deeply affected by the frost - when he woke up
and stretched he looked like a puffy pin-cushion, with
most of his hair frozen stiff. I myself struggled to
stay warm, and my thin gloves retained too little
warmth, and it wasn't until several hours later that
my hands (painfully) thawed out.

it's no secret that I love the challenge of conquering
high peaks, and I had my sight set on the pass between
my overnight camp and the Cedar Creek Trail and
Campsite. As it turns out I accomplished that feat,
but not before getting off-trail and scaling a
completely different ridge and peak to the West of my
destination.

For reasons understandable only to me, I was stuck on
a stubborn streak that caused me to bushwhack my way
up 1500 vertical ft. of steep canyon walls and ridge
lines, only to turn around and descended to the base
of the mountain. I had convinced myself that I could
create a route that would connect the peak I was on to
the pass leading to the Cedar Creek Trail - I was
wrong.

When I did find our way back to the trail and crested
the pass between the Piru Creek valley to the Cedar
Creek valley we enjoyed some outstanding sights of the
Eastern Sespe Wilderness including Thorn Peak to the
South - In fact, the visibility was good enough to
clearly see the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains far
in the distance to the south-east.

Trip Summary: 2 Days, 1 night. ~ 16.5 mile Hike.
Total ascent 3400 ft.. Max elevation 6241 ft.

If you have not been out for a long walk - What are
you waiting for? Do it! You'll be glad you did.

I'm loving life, and I hope you are too.

-Manny