Hiking/Geocache in Big Bear

The high in Big Bear was forecast to be only 78 degrees, so of course we had to head up there and get some hiking done! I rushed around the house trying to get some things done before we left. Study, dishes, laundry, showers, pack a lunch, start dinner in the crock pot...in other words, I started to get stressed out and irritable rushing around like that. The boys called me on it, so I slowed down. Who cares what time we get there, darn it?!

Our first stop was the Discovery Center in Fawnskin to get a new Adventure Pass for the San Bernardino Forest. I get an annual pass every year, because many of the picnic areas and places to play in the snow require one and it's kind of a pain in the butt to find one the day we plan on doing something up there. Sometimes the place we want to stop is only half way up the mountain, so we'd have to drive all the way up, get a pass, then drive back. So I got one today because we were just planning a picnic and hike to an area right near the Discovery Center. It took thirty minutes with two people in line ahead of me. :/ And then they tried to convince me three different times why I didn't want to get one. Seriously.

On to the fun! We went to the Cougar Crest Trail because it has a bunch of geocaches on it AND it has a nice picnic area. The trail is five miles total, but we only made it half way. Next time we'll get an earlier start!

My geocache app wasn't working when we got up there but we brought our stuff just in case it fixed itself when we got up the trail.

We saw this through the trees and were compelled to leave the trail and find out what was up there!

Tom tried to convince Jake that it wasn't safe to explore these concrete slabs, but it looked fine to Jake. After Jake jumped around on it for a bit, Tom figured it was good for him too, although he would not walk out to the edges.

Many Spider Man poses had to be photographed!

Thanks to Tom's awesome foresight, we had plenty of water and a backpack to carry it in this time! There were also lots of shady places to rest. We met lots of people with dogs, explored off the trail a bit (thanks to a new app that showed us where the trail was, no one was worried about getting too lost), and found some pretty neat looking trees.

The app finally started to work! I really love doing this. I'm planning on buying a few "trackables" so that we can watch where they go online. AND there is an awesome pack I need to get that has a scan-able tracker on it so other geocachers can log YOU as a find!

There wasn't much in these finds, so we left some extra things for others to find.

Tom noticed that this lichen on the trees was "blooming". It looked like something out of Labyrinth, like they were eyes that might follow us as we walked by!

I love these old twisted trees. There aren't a lot of large or tall trees up here. We think it's because of the lack of rain in this area and rocks just under the surface here.

Jake pretended to get lost while Tom and I looked for a cache. He hid and played "Marco Polo" with us. Sometimes you find very strange things in caches. Like this bottle of eye drops. Really?

This was at a 1.5 miles and things started to get a little silly! We decided we had had enough and headed back down the trail at this point.

We added a rock here for the "Lonesome Gods".

Before hitting the road we took a water break while I mapped where we went on my AllTrails app. Very cool. Tom was examining the two feathers he found while we were walking. I love watching how that boy's brain works.

On the way home we stopped at the summit to find one more cache. It was a hard one and Tom was the winner of this contest!

We also stopped at a monument that we've seen a thousand times but never remembered to stop at. It proved to be pretty cool.

This is why they call it "Old Woman Springs Road"!

And we had to wait until Tom read every word of the sign. Jake found an old shoe and decided to bring it home with us.

So we got home around 4pm and the pot roast in the crock pot was just about ready for us to eat. Another perfect day!

Castle Rock - Big Bear

An adventure! Thursday night we (the royal we) decided that we were in need of an adventure. The forecast called for an unseasonal 90 degrees in the desert, which means that the mountains would be at least ten degrees cooler, so I figured we needed to get a hike in ASAP! The boys and I had been working on tearing out our old bathroom for a couple days and we needed a break. The last time we were in Big Bear, we had planned on hiking to Castle Rock, but couldn't find the trail head. It was hot anyway, so we picnicked and messed around on another trail. We did find the trail head for next time though, on the way home.

Friday morning, we headed up the mountain with our Geocache supplies and a few bottles of water. I have yet to figure out a good way to carry enough water on a hike. We all don't like the camel backpack things, and the boys don't like my water bottle carrier. We need to get some manly canteens or something.

Anyway, it was 70 degrees when we arrived...in AUGUST! We stopped for lunch at KFC. The boys love KFC, probably because we don't go there very often. I'm not a fan of the chicken and it's more expensive than El Pollo. They were thrilled to find a new $5 deal and have informed me that since we can now find lunch there for under $20, it needs to become a regular part of the choice list. Seriously, this discussion happened.

The trail head! This place does not have a parking lot. It's a turnout area along the road. So, if it's a busy day, you may have to park up to a mile away and walk to it. The trail head we were at last time goes over to Castle Rock by a longer route, but they have ample parking. I prayed that we would find a spot because I really didn't want THAT long of a walk. There was one last spot!

Geocache! We haven't done this in a while. I really love it. The boys come along for the ride. If you Geocache too, keep an eye out for us. We're BunnyButt! :)) My Dad gave us a bag of great things to leave in caches we find. We only take something out if it really calls to us. We have found some neat stuff that we leave in our bag for other caches. I love it when we find Trackables! Some day, I'm going to start my own!

In this one, we found an invitation with an address on it. Tom was concerned.

This is view about half way up the trail!

Trees and rocks. We had a lot of fun climbing this. It's a very steep trail. Yikes. Luckily, we had a reason to stop every 300 feet. Geocache!

Tom and Jake recreating scenes from "Princess Bride". I gave them lines, but they refused to act it out.

How's this for a good geocache find? I think Tom has found a new personality!

Whenever we get to a high place, both the boys strike this pose and say "Take this one for Grandma Shelly!". I have trained them well.

I love this forest. Lots of different kinds of trees. We had fun ID'ing them. Really. The boys are getting good at it. Tom has been reading a survival guide and was telling us about which plants they could eat.

The views from where we found the caches were spectacular!

Sugar Pine?

We love hiking! It takes us a good bit of initiative to get going. The gravitational pull of the couch is pretty strong for all of us. But once we get out there, we all swear we should do it more often. It's so beautiful in the forest. It's a great chance to talk about things. We have loads of fun and always come away feeling closer somehow.

Did I mention that I love this forest?

Tom has a new friend. Her name is Annie. Annie Oak Leaf. He carried her in his belt and brought her home with us.

This is Tom treating Jake like a dog. And Jake behaving as one. Stay. No. Stay.

The view from Castle Rock! We made it!

 

We need to relax here for a while. That was quite the climb!

Jake fell asleep standing up!

Tom at the top of the rocks. Meditating. We tried to be patient but Jake and I were getting tired and thirsty. He loves to sit on top of things and take it all in.

Jake was lower down the trail, doing an impression of Jean Val Jean. Tom joined in!

We made it down the hill. I only stumbled a few times. My poor legs hate that down hill run. We wrapped up the day with a visit to the music store and ice cream!

Cougar Crest Trail Hike

Another amazing hike! Monday morning I woke up and realized we had no baseball...so we just HAVE to go hiking! It was supposed to be 95, so I asked the boys if they wanted to drive up to Big Bear and they were all for it, if we go to the slides and maybe the arcade and the burger place...Ugg. I said 'HIKE'! I told them I had only $20 for the adventure, so they were going to have choose one thing, or cover the expenses of the other. All agreed. Chores done, snacks and water packed, off we go!

On the way up we talked about a lot of things. How to pass on the highway, why check your speed, how to avoid collisions, why the highway is out there, how great video games are a lot like a great book, what's an 8% grade, why use a lower gear, how gears work, and on and on and on....Travel time is always well spent with us and now that we have a smart phone, some questions are answered right away!

It was 75 when we go up there! Ahh!! The slides were closed since it was Monday and the off season, and so was our favorite burger place. So we stopped for candy and KFC to go. I started to get irritated with them because I kept saying "And then we'll go for a hike...." but they always thought of something else they wanted to do. I reminded them that Mom has needs and she did the driving....We went to a picnic spot. That is where the real fun began. Sitting there in the shade eating lunch with my boys! Pine air, relatively quiet, jays harassing us for snacks, gophers digging up the ground nearby. It was nice. I remembered that I had put a GeoCache app on my phone and we checked it. There was one right on this trail! So we looked for it. Jake found it. Lots of cool stuff in there. Tom took a pen from Edward AFB and we  put in a little magnifying glass. I wanted to leave my legless plastic pig, but Tom said that was good luck, so I had to keep it in my bag.

Where's Jake?

Jake has a new friend!

We headed back down the trail and decided to check in at the Discovery Center. That place is so pretty. There is a spot you stand in that echo's only to you, like you have your head in a box. It's weird, but no one there can explain why it does it. Tom counted the rings on the big tree slice they have. We've seen it before and I still don't understand it. Does a tree grow from the outside in? Because the rings are all labeled latest date first. I'm confused, but no one there had any information about it. Now if you want to know where the recycle trash cans are or how to prevent forest fires, they've got it covered, but science, forget it. Jake found a donate box and put in a couple dollars because he said they do a nice job there.

We headed back to the parking lot. The boys were happy. They loved the walk and the trees smelled so sweet. Don't ask me how we got on the topic but we discussed sin, the bible, jesus, israel, laws, prisons, punishment for crime, whether you would want the death sentence or life in prison, nazi's and russians....ahh the evolution of thought with young boys!

The view from the summit on Highway 18

We headed home. Going back down is always fun. We watch the temperature rise as we drive down the mountain and munch on our candy stash. I love our adventures and I'm so lucky to be able to have so many with my guys. Dad misses out on a lot of the little day ones, like today and he is the sweetest to listen to us without being envious. Poor Dad works so hard! But we will be going on a Grand Canyon Adventure soon and Dad has vacation! Yay!