June 5

I hiked in early Sunday on the Bradford Ridge Trail. I arrived at the bridge on Hwy 173 a little after 6:00 am, and there were already 4 cars parked in the area….probably campers at the creek from the day before. It was a little chilly but not bad and I free hiked in and met no people or snakes on the trail.

It took me a little under and hour to reach the springs going down Family Canyon. There were a lot of campers at the springs. There were at least two tents under the trees just down stream from the Crab Cooker, a tent across the creek on the beach where we cross from the Bowen Ranch Trail, a tent under the trees near the Anniversary Pool, a tent on the beach above the Arizona Pool and at least two tents, maybe more upstream.

It was pretty quite when I arrived and I startled at least one person just below the PCT. There was a group of 4 or 5 (both clothed and not) in the Anniversary Pool, but the lower pools were empty so I soaked in the womb for about 30 minutes until one of two nice couples from the tent across the creek came over and joined. A few minutes later another couple got in the Serenity Pool and seemed to enjoy each other.

As the morning progressed, campers roused and hikers came down from Bowen, but it was a very nice group with a lot of talking in the womb, jumping in the still cold creek and sunning on the beach and rocks. I’d estimate about 25 folks camped and at least another 15 to 20 hiked in while I was there. Perhaps ½ were nude early in the AM dropping to maybe a third later, but there was a good mix of men and women all enjoying the beautiful day.

I free hiked out around 11:00 passing a single hiker on the PCT (before climbing up Bradford Ridge) and another couple groups just before reaching HWY 173, in all at least another 10 folks heading for a nice Sunday afternoon at the springs.

I am not typically a fan of weekends at DCHS, but this Sunday morning at least was nice with great weather and a cool crowd. So, my weekend tip: get there early and leave before noon.

See you on the trail!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 06:55AM by hiker.