John and I took a wonderful, if ambitious hike last Friday. We hiked the McKeon-Ponderosa Way Loop, starting from White Oak Flat. The trail was pretty rutted out with the recent rains, actually gully might be a more apt description. It was a pretty good grade we were going down, as the trail dipped down into the canyon, stopping it's descent just above Todd Creek, then turning to the west followed the creek along for a ways until the creek fell away and we curved back around the mountainside to meet the McKeon-Ponderosa Road. There were great places to stop and view the canyon, and the area surrounding Todd Creek has obviously been mined, there are mine tailings everywhere. Next time we take this trail, it will be fun to explore a little more. But John was pretty freaked out about how far down in the canyon the trail had taken us and was wondering when it would turn back up the mountainside. He was much relieved to see the picnic table under the oak tree at the intersection with the road. We sat for a while and enjoyed the vistas before heading up the road back to our truck. It was quite the climb for a couple of fatty fat fatties (as Glen Beck likes to say) who are out of shape, but we did it! I would say it was about 1 to 1.5 miles back to the truck, ALL UP HILL. We both had an enormous sense of accomplishment.
Then we got either hayfever or colds the next day...so much for the good attempt at healthy living. We'll have to start again another day, a different trail, so much to explore living here on the divide!
