It's rained here for a few days, finally stopping yesterday. Needless to say we're getting cabin fever so we headed out this morning for a short Jeep run. We've spotted a road on previous trips up Hwy. 288, Desert to Tall Pines Scenic Highway. There's a small pull off and almost hidden from roadside view, there's a closed and locked Forest Service gate, so we parked the Jeep and hiked in. We've been curious to see what was out there. It's a beautifully scenic area with tall mountains and peaks rising high from the pine forest floor. We were surprised to find a load of cabins and structures as well as a former office of the Forest Service hidden back in the woods. It appears to have been used at one time to house Forest Rangers and possibly firefighters who might come to the area to fight local forest fires. There were several cabins, a couple set up as bunkhouses and a few for individual families. There was also a mess hall with a large kitchen and giant stove, it looked like a lot of people had been fed there at one time. There is also a large building that was once used as a shop, bins and work benches are still in place. It's a choice location with Parker Creek flowing down through it in a series of lovely waterfalls. We could see some ancient Indian Cliff dwellings high up on a mountain peak, but you'd have to be a mountain goat to make the climb up to them.
Hopefully, with the 60º temperatures and cool breezes, the trails will dry out soon so we can get back into some serious Jeeping. Meanwhile, today was very nice.
It's hard to describe the scent of the crisp, invigorating, pine scented, mountain air, I wish we could bottle some and share it with all of you.
