Penney Pines Trailhead to Noble Canyon Trailhead
(10 miles, +200/-1,900 feet).

When I started going crazy with backpacking, I originally looked for trips organized by the Sierra Club, or self-organized trips by groups on meetup.com and elsewhere.  But when I started talking to my friends about backpacking, many of them said they were interested in doing it, too.

Some of these friends belong to a research group I’m in called the “Human Nature Group” (HNG).  As it turns out, lots of people in HNG had already backpacked or were interested in giving it a try.  So I organized two trips, one for beginners, and a more advanced trip later in the year.

We had 8 people for this easy downhill hike.  We shuttled a car to the bottom and then met at the top at Penney Pines near Mount Laguna.  The trail starts in chaparral but then drops into Noble Canyon which is forested.

After a couple of hours we reached our campsite in the canyon and we spent the afternoon hanging out and playing frisbee.

We had a somewhat damp—but not buggy—evening, and then we headed out early the next day.  It was a nice easy trip, and it was fun to hang out with friends!