day 4 // donner summit

Today was pretty packed.

We woke up on the early side to get ready for the day. It was J's mom's birthday, so we went on a birthday hike to Donner Peak.

We made sure to bring some warm clothing but we didn't even end up needing it, it was pretty hot. The terrain teetered between being too rocky, sandy, and flat throughout the forest parts. I like to think the trail teased us a bit, starting off all nice and flat with the path lined by nice rocks to show the way, and then quickly shifting to steep rocky climbing. The steep rocky climbing did tease us with a really nice view though.

One interesting thing was, on the way up, seeing some snow on the side of the mountain [we walked passed it and touched it!] when it was 72 degrees out. Definitely some cognitive dissonance there.

There were some pretty awesome scenic spots along the way, and the wildflowers that popped up along our way were unlike anything I've ever seen before-- some really small, all vibrant

It ended up being around 7 miles round trip and the pathways were very rocky at many different times. However once we got to the top, it was all completely worth it.

We also found a geocaching box at the top of the mountain that's been there until 2002, and we wrote a note to go along with the other bunch of notes in there... you could take an item from the box if you left something behind. J's little brother took a cork out, and we left a hair tie behind. I love the idea of geocaching, a little treasure to find and contribute to, only to pass on the mystery to the next traveler-finder. 

 We came back to the house, all of us pretty much exhausted... we chilled until it was about time for the sun to set. We cut it a bit close getting to the Vista Point and we were  on the wrong side of the mountain, but it was still a spectacular view.

Til next time,
xx
steph