Bluff Spring trail

Well, part of it at least. The weather on Sunday was a lot like the previous Sunday; sunny and beautiful. There was one key difference, though. It was about 30 degrees warmer this Sunday. The parking lot at the Peralta trailhead was full last weekend. There were 4 cars in it yesterday. Since it was such a pretty day, and since I had been wanting to check out the Bluff Spring trail, I headed out there.

Trails that have steps built into them are steep. This one is no exception.

It turns out that the Bluff Spring trail climbs about 400 feet in the first half mile. That's kind of steep. The sun is shining on that part of the trail at 3 in the afternoon, too. There was a nice breeze for a while, but I was sweating by the time I had climbed 200 feet.

The Dutchman's trail is on the left and the empty parking lot is below.

I moved slowly on this hike and made lots of stops. It places the breeze was blocked by the terrain, and in those places I thought seriously about turning back. I first took up hiking in the summer. I felt like the desert was somehow leaving when fall arrived. That made me sad. I've always felt like it should be hot when I'm out hiking since then and when it isn't, it just doesn't seem quite right. I don't think I was ready for it to be so hot yesterday, though. I was uncomfortable.

Along the trail. It doesn't look as hot as it felt.

There's some very nice scenery along that trail. I turned back just short of a mile into it, though. I drank as much water in that distance as I had in 3.5 miles the previous weekend. I had enough water to go another half mile before turning back but I didn't want to push it. I need to ease into this hot weather hiking.

I had never seen this sight before.

I don't know if I'll try that trail again before it cools off. I want to go at least 3 miles into it and it might be difficult to carry enough water to do that in the heat.

Click below to see almost all of the pictures. I will be putting the large panoramas on my Panoramio page again instead of in the web album.

2012_04_22