Secret Canyon Trail
(14 miles, +500/-3,500 feet).

Recently, BarnFinder introduced me to his friend MixMaster, who is also interested in hiking, and today was our first trip together.  BarnFinder picked a really nice trail in the Pine Creek Wilderness called the Secret Canyon Trail (shhhhhh!).

The trail follows Pine Valley Creek and actually crosses under a beautiful modern bridge for interstate 8.

At one point we lost the trail and had to bushwhack for a while through high weeds infested with ticks.  Yuck!  Fortunately, we found the trail again and it soon climbed out of Pine Valley into Secret Canyon.

The end of the hike was uphill and hot, so we spread out a bit.  BarnFinder saw a rattlesnake, but MixMaster and I missed it.

Overall it was a great day and I’m really looking forward to more trips with these guys.