Agua Tibia Wilderness 2/16
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:21 pmOn Tuesday, Ellen (who, in a voicemail to me last week, identified herself as the "Skyline Seductress") and I discussed the feasability of doing Skyline on Wednesday. After agreeing that it wasn't such a great idea with weather coming in, I went to plan B and packed my bag for a solo trek into the Agua Tibia Wilderness.
When my alarm went off at 6:00 the next morning I could hear the rain dripping from the eaves and said "screw it" and went back to sleep. When I got up a while later I fixed a cup of coffee and checked the weather for the Agua Tibia Wilderness for the umpteenth time. The hourly forecast ranged from 30% to 60% chance of showers through the day. Hmmmm... Just when I was on my 2nd cup a beam of sunlight came through, and encouraged by the caffein buzz, put my boots on, threw my stuff in the car and was on my way to the trailhead.
The trailhead parking is just outside the pretty little Dripping Springs Campground, about 10 minutes out of Temecula. I walked through the campground, noting there was just one tent in the whole place, and forded the Arroyo Seco Creek on logs and rocks. At the fork I took the Dripping Springs Trail. The clouds were spritzing me intermittantly with showers. and occaisionally the sun broke through. The hills were dotted with large shrubs with oak-like leaves and covered in tiny white flowers. Soon Vail Lake came into view, as did one of the last large citrus orchards in the area. As I went up it got damper and cloudier.
You may be wondering why I was out there in the rain, but this particuler mountain can be at its best in this kind of weather. A foggy mist gets swept by the wind through the canyons at the higher elevations and this is what makes going out on a day like this special. When I got near 4,000 ft I was in the cloud and now it wasn't so much about the distant view but more about being envelopped in mist. At 4,170 ft I made it to the first pine trees on the trail and stopped for lunch. It was cold, windy and there was a light rain falling and there was no visibility. I know that sounds miserable, but actually it was beautiful.
After lunch I headed back down. By now it was raining steadily. I had Goretex pants and jacket, but I left my Gortex boots at home in favor of my lighter Merrells. I was toasty dry all over except for my feet. When I made it back to the campground I was greeted by the campers. It was hard convincing them that I had a great time, rain and all! I idid 12 1/2 miles total and gained about 2,700 ft.
Stay tuned for some pics and hopefully a couple of movies!
When my alarm went off at 6:00 the next morning I could hear the rain dripping from the eaves and said "screw it" and went back to sleep. When I got up a while later I fixed a cup of coffee and checked the weather for the Agua Tibia Wilderness for the umpteenth time. The hourly forecast ranged from 30% to 60% chance of showers through the day. Hmmmm... Just when I was on my 2nd cup a beam of sunlight came through, and encouraged by the caffein buzz, put my boots on, threw my stuff in the car and was on my way to the trailhead.
The trailhead parking is just outside the pretty little Dripping Springs Campground, about 10 minutes out of Temecula. I walked through the campground, noting there was just one tent in the whole place, and forded the Arroyo Seco Creek on logs and rocks. At the fork I took the Dripping Springs Trail. The clouds were spritzing me intermittantly with showers. and occaisionally the sun broke through. The hills were dotted with large shrubs with oak-like leaves and covered in tiny white flowers. Soon Vail Lake came into view, as did one of the last large citrus orchards in the area. As I went up it got damper and cloudier.
You may be wondering why I was out there in the rain, but this particuler mountain can be at its best in this kind of weather. A foggy mist gets swept by the wind through the canyons at the higher elevations and this is what makes going out on a day like this special. When I got near 4,000 ft I was in the cloud and now it wasn't so much about the distant view but more about being envelopped in mist. At 4,170 ft I made it to the first pine trees on the trail and stopped for lunch. It was cold, windy and there was a light rain falling and there was no visibility. I know that sounds miserable, but actually it was beautiful.
After lunch I headed back down. By now it was raining steadily. I had Goretex pants and jacket, but I left my Gortex boots at home in favor of my lighter Merrells. I was toasty dry all over except for my feet. When I made it back to the campground I was greeted by the campers. It was hard convincing them that I had a great time, rain and all! I idid 12 1/2 miles total and gained about 2,700 ft.
Stay tuned for some pics and hopefully a couple of movies!
