Noble Canyon

Well this was our first of many trips. We had done a small practice run a couple weeks ago locally at the trails out in San Elijo. We felt a bit silly with full packs on what is considered a “family” day hiking spot. It was a good starting point. J had about 30 pounds in his pack and me only about 10, but in the end we both felt good and it was a great starting point for learning each other’s trekking styles.

So onto the Noble Canyon trip….We headed out early Saturday morning with another couple to do the Noble Canyon trail on Mount Laguna. Stopped at the Visitor Center to get our overnight parking pass and pick up another map. It seems to be hard to get a map to cover the whole trail as it goes through about 3 different parks. I had printed one off the internet that said it was from nation geographic and it even highlighted the trail, but we soon had issues with the lat and longs not matching up with what the gps was reading. Jeff is really into maps and terrain nav and I am a totally gadget chick so this was proving to be a minor issue. Fortunately the trail was well marked and we could do it with out any maps. This was a very good learning moment for us. Although we thought we were well prepared as far as navigation was concerned we realized that before our next trip we will ensure the maps we are using are good. I am thinking now that some of my printed map had gotten cut off (kinda sad when you think that graphics and printing is my career lol)

Ok so we are off…We started at the top and trekked down probably about 8 of the 10 miles to where it became more of desert climate. It was good fun on the way down. A few bits were a bit annoying as it was all loose rocks but for the most part it wasn’t too hot and the views were spectacular. Our friend who was with us “F” I petrified of coming across rattle snacks or mountain lions on the trail so it was good fun toying with her from time to time. When we hit the edge of the more desert region there was a cave, we all wanted to explore it (well except “F”) thinking that maybe it was part of one of abandoned mines, but chose to exhibit better sense and moved on quickly. We went on a bit more and then we decided to turn back a bit to find a spot to camp as we definitely didn’t want to camp in the hot sun.

We found a lovely spot to make camp. It was up above the trail a bit where we had crossed the creek. We quickly assessed that there were remnants of an old cabin that had been burnt down at some point. We used part of it to set up our “cooking” space and found some great rocks to serve as perching spots to enjoy the scenery.

OK maybe camping right off the creek and desert wasn’t such a great idea. There were TONS of flies till nightfall, which at that point the mosquito’s kicked in. But we certainly didn’t let that deter us from having a good time. We collected water from the creek and used a steri pen to purify it. We used “F” as our control group since she had carried in all her drinking water. I was pretty nervous about getting sick but didn’t have much of a choice. I did bring a couple of those cool aid single serving packs to at least mask anything that would make me trip out on the water.

F and S and also brought in a bottle of wine which was really awesome. We sat with our tin camping cups full of red wine eating summer sausage and aged gouda with Dijon mustard and French baguette. At this point it became a joke of mine that we are the bijoux campers but to be honest, I am ok with that because it was very very good.

Jeff was breaking in a new pair of boots and had developed serious blisters. I too was breaking in a pair of keen boots that I had picked up at the REI used gear sale (they had been worn once). I wore mine with wicking sock liners and hiking socks. Although my feet were very tiered and ache I didn’t have any hot spots or blister. We are planning on getting J some whacking sock liners before our next trip. I LOVE MY KEEN BOOTS

We made dehydrated chili mac for dinner. It was good but I think next time we will use less water; it came out more like chili mac soup. We made a pathetic attempt at making brownies from one of the packs sold at REI since it was “S” birthday didn’t work out so well on a backpacking stove (I think our Coleman car camping stove would have baked it ok) but we still stuck candles in it for him to blow out. We are hoping that it didn’t ruin our new cook kit pot (titanium) I have it soaking now and plan to take an SOS pad to the scolded on bits tonight.
After the sunset both “F” and I started to get a bit scared lol after a short while “F” headed to bed. Jeff and I stayed and chilled on the rocks a little while longer then I asked to go to the tent too. Funny not really like it would offer much protection but I felt a bit safer.

We had left our packs unzipped, per the books I had reads recommendation and it proved to be wise choice. We heard some little creatures rummaging about in the night and come morning discovered in “S” pack they had chewed up a roll of his TP and a bit of his cell phone. Better the TP then the pack in my opinion right.

Well we got a good start the next day. Packed up c amp and headed out. I have a problem breathing when it is hot and dry so we had to take several pauses on the way up so I could prevent having an asthma attack. It was a nice hike and “F” and I decided to run the last 50 yards to look like studs. It totally worked there was a group of men they’re hooting and hollering for us. They told the guys when they walked by that they had been “chicked” that will be a term we shall all use for a long time to come LMAO.

We hit up the shack in Pine valley for some well-deserved root beer float and hamburgers, very expensive for a shack but man was it good.

So the morning after….my lower calves were killing me! I could barley walk, nothing else was sore. We deduced it was from the downhill portion; there really isn’t anyway train for that except just doing downhill trekking. It is now Thursday and I can finally wear heels again (I know I know I am such a chick).

Overall it was just an amazing weekend and I am really looking forward to our next trip.



TIPS | LEARNING

• Wicking socks good idea for breaking in new boots
• Test all gear before heading out
• Steri Pens work really well
• Brownie Mix doesn’t work on backpacking stove
• Check your maps as best you can before hitting the mountain.
• Be flexible

here we go:background

Hello and thank you for stopping by, I am Wendy a graphic Designer and my partner in crime is Jeff and he is in the US Navy and we live in San Diego.

We both grew up car camping and such, and have done it together a few times. Most of it up till now revolving around off roading in the Jeep 4x4 and really having allot of fun. We talked last summer about starting to do backpacking and when J got back from deployment we used all of our tax return and then some to get the gear.

This last weekend we did our first hike. (See Noble Canyon entry)

We have several trips planned for this summer and my personal goal is to segment hike the PCT over the coming years (I am trying to not be overly ambitious). I was really hoping to do the first southern segment for my birthday but I just found out June is to late to do it as the temperatures are in the 100s and water is scarce.

Short term goal for "J" is that he will be hiking Mt. Whitney in July with a group of our male friends. So allot of our hikes early in the summer will be geared toward getting him ready for that trip. I am very jealous I wont be going (definitely not ready for that) and I am really looking forward to doing it together next year.

We don't have extensive knowledge or experience backpacking. I read a book, lol a good book in my opinion and I am always doing research online and everyday I am learning more and reading more books. I started this blog to share all our experiences both the successes and failures as well as to just encourage others to get out and do it as well as to entertain myself.
I hope you enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you.