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| The Bear Valley Trail head, where our journey began. |
The Route (see the blue trail):
Car>Bear Valley
Trail>Left onto Coast Trail>Right onto Stewart Trail>Wildcat Camp
We started our hike
at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, taking the Bear Valley Trail to Arch Rock (4.2 mi.).
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| Clockwise from top left: Bear Valley Visitor Center, us on Bear Valley Trail, blackberries picked along the trail, and a random banana slug. (photos taken by my brother) |
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| Bathroom stop in Divide Meadow |
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| Images from Bear Valley Trail. It was a beautiful hike, easily done in one day. There is also biking and horse riding allowed on this trail. |
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| Arch Rock |
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| One of our group playing with fate. (Taken by my brother) |
We rested at Arch Rock, which was at the end of the Bear Valley Trail and explored before taking the Coast and Stewart Trails to Wildcat Camp (3.6 mi.).
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| Arch Rock. This view was only accessible after a really steep climb down. Obviously, one of the boys took this picture. (taken by my brother) |
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| Also down at the bottom of Arch Rock (taken by my brother) |
After Arch Rock, we followed the Coast Trail and Stewart Trail to our campsite.
The Coast Trail actually was torture for the first 2 miles. Imagine straight uphill. I was not aware of that, though, so uphill we went. After an arduous climb, we were greeted by these ominous woods.
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| Ominous looking woods on the Coast Trail. |
We arrived at our campsite at around 6:30 pm. It was a much welcome sight. Our spirits were almost broken by then by the enormous climb, the threat of darkness, and the arriving fog...but we made it!
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| Our beautiful campsite (middle pic). About time, too, because the fog was definitely settling in as the day progressed. |
Once we arrived at the campsite, we immediately got to work setting up camp. Despite our aching backs, grumbling stomachs, and overall bad mood, we were able to set up an awesome camp as I started preparing the food. Afterwards, we celebrated my brother's and hubby's birthdays with some cupcakes (yes, cupcakes) and went to bed to rest before another grueling journey. Stay tuned for my plan for the food!
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| Good night! |
Ahhhh love backpacking! Looks like you had fun, too!
ReplyDeleteooh blackberries, how were you so sure they're safe? Who had that middle tent? It looks cozy.
ReplyDeleteLesley: Yups! We had a lot of fun! Ngoc: I didn't know that they were safe, but Casey had a blackberry bush in his backyard growing up. Plus, we had Tyson, the plant guy.
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