Before we started living in our motorhome Sandy and I would often talk about going on hikes. In my mind’s eye I took this hike a couple of hundred times. The trail would be wooded and not too steep, but challenging enough to provide some good exercise. And this imaginary hike always took place alongside of a rushing stream complete with a waterfall.
Fast forward to May , 2010.
Each time we drove to the Yosemite south gate we would pass a turn out on Route 41 that was at a trail head. Sandy and I decided we would hike the trail on a nice day. Today was the day we hiked the Lewis Creek Trail. It is maintained by the Forest Service, and considering all the budget cuts in the past few years, the trail was a dream come true.
We could hear rushing water, the trail was not too steep and at times we walked on a carpet of pine needles. We saw lots of first-time spring flowers. And we saw a really pretty waterfall. I promise pictures later. I did not bring my camera this time. Just wanted to hike.
And hike we did. Somehow we missed the return loop of the trail and ended on a lightly traveled county road. We were pretty sure we were headed in the right direction. We flagged down a motorist who confirmed that we had about another ¾ mile to get back to the main highway. But once we got to the main highway, we had no idea of how far it was back to the trailhead. After about 30 to 40 minutes of the steep uphill climb we were running out of energy. At this point we had hiked pretty close to five miles and both of us had sore feet.
Then we got lucky and saw a California Highway Patrol cruiser go by. We signaled to him. He did not stop but signaled that he would turn around and come back. He was nice enough to give us a ride for the remaining ½ mile back to our car. Whew. Now I really wish I had my camera as I could have taken a photo of Sandy getting into the police car’s back seat.
We will go back and do this hike again and I will take some photos. This is, after all, a near perfect trail and we almost had the perfect hike.
Stay tuned
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I love this one. But I do wish you had a picture of Sandy getting in the police car.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! I remember getting lost on a never ending trail in the Redwoods many years ago. Makes you wonder if you'll ever see your car again. Glad it turned out well.
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