Vivian Creek Trail Hike Redux

Unlike last week, when I snoozed with the cats after breakfast, wimped out and drove to Forest Falls to hike up Vivian Creek Trail, today I saddled up my Litespeed and rode the 17 miles to the trail head. Laden with the customary trunk rack and saddle bags on the bike, along with the Camelback back pack with three liters of water, the ride was really hard, but I made it in under two hours.

I locked the bike to a wooden post behind a sign at the trail head and facetiously asked the Forest Service ranger who was checking for Adventure Passes (the $5 parking permit autos are required to have) if I needed one. He looked at my bike and said, "If you did that after tomorrow, I would cut the lock and impound it. I have to paint those posts tomorrow."

I was nonplussed. I told him the cable was wrapped in plastic and wouldn't damage anything, but he wasn't buying it. "How would you like it if a stranger locked their bike to your front door?" I realized that I was on his turf and did something that he took personally by possibly scratching "his" sign post.

"If you saw my front door, you would realize it wouldn't bother me," I said. He laughed and the ice was broken. He let me slide and said he would look into getting a bike rack. "A lot of people ride up here," he said. "But in my 20 years of working in this area, no one has ever parked their bike and gone into the wilderness." Well, there you go.

Just like last week, the weather was perfect and the hike was beautiful. I hoped to make it to High Creek, but ran out of time and trail -- the snow covered a lot of it at 8,500' and beyond. Maybe next time. The best part was (unlike last week), I didn't have any problems with my shoes. Last week, I got a painful blister about a mile and a half in and it was killer. This week, I opted for my running shoes and they were SO much more more comfortable than the trail running shoes that tore up my heel last week.

I also feel like I got my hiking legs back. I felt so good I ran several portions of the trail. I think next time, I'll cut out the ride, get an early start from Forest Falls and aim for San Gorgonio Summit. I can't wait for June 20 and the Nine-Peaks Challenge. It will be awesome!

Click on the image below to see a few photos from the day:

Vivian Creek Hike Redux