This was supposed to be a 2 night backpacking hike into the Las Padres National Forest to a place called Mission Pines. We had picked this time period because it was supposed to be relatively cool. The weatherman musta been wrong. It was HOT, very HOT. The 35 lb. back packs did not help, but it was the heat that simply sucked the energy from your body.
The first day we made it to a camp site called Manzana Narrows. By the time we got there, we were suffering for near heat exhaustion. There is a mountain spring at that camp site, and it turned out to be a life saver on both days. The next morning we headed to a camp site called Big Cone Springs. There we were supposed to take a little used trail to another trail that led to Mission Pines. The problem was, that trail no longer existed. We actually attempted to make a trail ourselves, but a 1,200 feet extremely steep climb up loose shale where it was 2 yards forwards and 1 yard sliding back, did not seem promising. For once we were smart enough to simply turn around and go home.
We returned to the narrows, and after a refreshing dip in to pool, we decided we would make the 7.5 mile hike back to the car rather than spend another night. Maybe not a great idea. We left around 1:00 PM. The sun was absolutely brutal. We made it back to the car at 5:20. I had to stop and rest several times. I wasn't afraid Dave would leave me because it was my turn to buy BEER.
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