Saturday: (02/21) On the way into Bakersfield last week on Highway 166 I spotted a sign to the Wind Wolves Preserve which I hadn't herd of before. In my search for more information I noticed an entry about today's hike by the Southern Sierra Hiking Club, a Meetup group. I signed up for the hike. I was up early, had breakfast at Jack In The Box and met some fellow hikers at Starbucks to carpool down to the preserve. We drove 35 miles South of Bakersfield to the Wind Wolves Preserve in the hills above the valley near Maricopa. Wind Wolves Preserve is a 93,000 acre preserve of mostly grassy hills and steep rocky mountains but it is wonderful. Oddly and something most preserves don't have to contend with, this preserve doesn't own the oil under the preserve so there will be drilling on or under the preserve. I was told the dirt road through the preserve up into the mountains was the original path of the road from Los Angeles to San Francisco through these mountains. We climbed about 1830 feet up the grassy mountain and returned along the San Emigdio Trail by a creek. I was hoping that the campground might be appropriate for a stay in the RV but it is a walkin campground. We had about 22 hikers in our group, hiked 11.3 miles with a climb of 1830 feet. Here is the GPS track for this hike.
One of the things I do when hiking in the outback is to place my phone in "Airplane" mode to help extend battery life. That means I can't be contacted by phone both because of the location and because the phone is effectively no longer a phone but a GPS device. For that reason I missed a call from LOU saying that Aunt Helen had to go to the hospital. Lou was busy all day with Helen. We visited with her in the evening.
Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, Soup and salad at the Black Bear restaurant for dinner.
A fine group of hikers
Only a few trees but lots of sheep.
Lots of green grass to taste. Our troupes almost stepped on the snake.
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