DAY-3 REPORT: 6/3/12 Lake Morena to Cibbets Flat (13.4 mi)

TOTAL PCT MILES COMPLETED AFTER THIS HIKE:  32.8 Miles

Ridge midpoint between Lake Morena & Boulder Oaks

THE GOOD: Great vistas all along the trail, lots of variation in both terrain and scenery, more oak woodland than anticipated.  And, of course, great company.
THE BAD: Not so pleasant rattlesnake encounter, Rich getting stung by a bee on the back of his head.
AND THE UGLY: Over 10-degrees hotter than forecast.

Descending the ridge and towards Cottonwood Creek

Start temp approx 60-degrees.  Forecast high was 78-80 degrees but eventually it was at least 10-degrees in excess of that.  Seldom caught the breeze as we were in the lee behind the terrain for most of the hike.  Start time 8:00am, finish time 4:00pm (8-hours.)  Took longer because of extended lunch break at Kitchen Creek above the falls.

View of the nice flat valley with oak woodland to be crossed.

6-people on this hike including Atticus.  Besides ourselves, Daniel, Steve, and Rosalind joined us. We met at Cibbets Flat at 7:00am, and drove a shuttle car back to Lake Morena.  Funny enough, the drive mileage is longer than the hike mileage.


It's a pleasant hike from Lake Morena all the way to where the trail passes under Hwy. 8.  Fairly flat, and with a morning start a lot of shade under the oak and cottonwood trees.  Midway between Lake Morena and Boulder Oaks Campground there is a ridge upon which the trail climbs and eventually descends, but with an early start this is a very pleasant area to hike with great views along the way.  Water refilling at Boulder Oaks from a faucet there (good tasting water.)

Under the bridge for Buckman Springs Rd and crossing Cottonwood Creek

On our way to Boulder Oaks Campground

Rosalind taking a turn with Atticus

After Hwy-8 the climbing begins quickly.  About 2-miles from Boulder Oaks there is a spur trail off to the left that goes steeply down a few hundred yards to Kitchen Creek, above the point of the waterfall.  This is where we encountered the rattlesnake that had to be coaxed away from the trail.  Gave Allie quite a fright as he was only about 2-feet off the trail, right next to her,  when it started its rattle.  It was coiled up and ready for business by the time I gave it a nudge with my hiking pole to hurry it along his way to elsewhere.  I love seeing rattlesnakes, I think Allie could do without them.  Not sure how Atticus feels about them yet.

Just before the spur trail to Kitchen Creek Falls and lunch. Notice all the flowers in bloom.  Color everywhere!

From where we came:  Lake Morena is below Morena Butte in the background above my finger. We're about half way into the hike here.

Kitchen Creek is a great place to stop, with a nice Cottonwood providing shade right at the creek.  We took off our shoes and soaked our feet in the cool water as we ate lunch.  Because it was so nice, we spent quite a bit of time there before we put our boots back on to start again.

Great lunch spot along Kitchen Creek

The heat of the day really kicked in after lunch, and that could have been because of the time of the day, the specific area we were in, or both.  The trail continues winding up the canyon above the creek, and eventually crosses Kitchen Creek Road.  From there it goes around the east side of a ridge and we were afforded a very pleasant view of Thing Valley and surrounding area.  Trail was quite tight along this section, a bit choked with the flora.  Very interesting rock formations in this area, like fingers of granite all clumped together.

Steve and Atticus soaking them doggies

Before crossing Kitchen Creek Road we were able to spy the pine forests up high in Laguna Recreation Area, our destination for the next hike.  It's going to be nice to get up there!


Cibbets Flat Campground is a great, shady area to enjoy those ice cold beers at the end of the hike.  Well, it's a great place other than getting bit by those darned flies again.  Glad they weren't on the trail all day though, like last time.

Quality sign post after crossing Kitchen Creek Rd

Daniel taking his turn with Atticus, one of them happy, but I think the other is over this hike.

"Well done" to everyone that came on this hike, and thank you!   It was a really fun one, much more so than the last one.  We think that eating a couple of Thermotabs (buffered salt tablets) really helped rejuvenate us. Eating those every few hours shall now become a new part of the process (especially in hot weather.)

Last couple of miles with great views south and east

Almost a good advert for REI Clothing, last few yards at Cibbets Flat