A Fine “Final Exam” (Rock Spring 5/18)

Mother Nature's bipolar disorder continued this week as she tried to decide whether it was Spring or still Winter.  Rain fell as we drove toward the trailhead and we were bundled up in our cold weather gear when we met at the Rock Spring.

Gray skies persisted as we headed down the Benstein Trail toward Potrero Meadows.  Raindrops made blooming clover appear “frozen.”  A pileated woodpecker cried out of sight in the forest.  Wendy managed to find one amanita mushroom along this section of the trail.

In about an hour and a quarter we had reached Potrero Meadows and turned west towards Laurel Dell.  Twenty minutes later the sun came out although white cumulus clouds would continue to billow up into the sky for the remainder of the afternoon.
Recent rains made crossing Cataract Creek a challenge.  Some opted to take the long way around rather than risk getting their feet wet.  This time we spotted the World War II airplane engine sitting in the creek --- a sighting we had missed on past hikes.

By the time we had finished the hike the temperature had warmed up  significantly and it was comfortable to sit in either the sun or shade during lunch. As usual, our “Final Exam” feast left us stuffed and with plenty of leftovers to take home for another meal.

After lunch we strolled across Ridgecrest and enjoyed fine views south towards San Francisco while hunting for jewel flowers among the serpentine rocks.
 
By 3:30 PM the the end of the school year had arrived, the last of us had stowed our gear in our cars, and “summer vacation” for the Meanderers had officially begun.

We hiked a six-mile loop on this outing, but at a leisurely enough pace that we weren’t worn out by lunch time.



Although there were a few uphill sections, our total elevation gain and loss was pretty modest.