Howdy All
No worries Jim, I look forward to meeting/hiking with you in the future.
Hiking with Cy sure makes the time pass pleasantly. He set a perfect pace going up through the first section with the manzanita and buckthorn. Thank God we did the car shuttle so we could come down Devil's backbone.
As Cy noted, Laura, GigaMike, and a fellow Riversider (can't remember his name -- brain cramp) also went up Bear Canyon. I hiked with them for a while, whcih was very pleasant. I felt much better about the trail kicking my butt when Laura said she also couldn't believe how hard Bear Canyon felt.She had just come back from a HUGE solo Sierra trek (High Sierra Trail and JMT).
I found out that Laura has a fabulous sense of humor and look forward to hiking with her in the future. Their group did the three T's and and descended via Icehouse. Glad I had no intentions in that direction -- I would have truly been a "Dead Blond Hiking"
Don't know what I'll be doing next weekend. After how hot Bear Canyon was (even with a 5:40 start) and how wasted I felt, Skyline would be a brutal way to "celebrate" my birthday next Saturday.
OK HikeUp -- now I'm really curious about the lavender bird nickname

What's the story behind it?
Miles of smiles,
Ellen