by Nancy Beverly, story and photos
Sugar on Sugarloaf! The Big Bear area had a dusting of snow just before we arrived, and so on our first hike we were walking in a winter wonderland!
After meeting at Tammie & Kyla’s getaway home in Big Bear Saturday morning, we headed over to the Sugarloaf trailhead, just a few miles away. The inch or two of snow made the rocky trail much easier to walk upon… but also a little tricky to follow. Luckily, a fellow hiker started out just before us, and we followed his tracks up and up. It was a strenuous hike — 9+ miles up to more than 9000′. We were a little shy of the actual peak but getting down during daylight seemed like a good idea. We saw all sorts of critter tracks in the snow (bunnies?) and quite the assortment of pine cones.
After the hike we returned to T & K’s for a birthday celebration, much to the surprise
and delight of our two birthday gals, Carol and Mary. Then it was off to a local restaurant for Mexican food…and then back “home” for a rousing game of Cranium. Ask Mary P. to act out Andre the Giant some time, or Jen to hum “Electric Avenue” sans lyrics. Sunday dawned clear and cold… and we headed over to the Pineknot Trail for Carol’s provisional. It was an easier hike than the one to Sugarloaf (almost no snow and only a tiny bit of ice on the trail)… but the winds had picked up. We spent about five minutes at the terminus, Grandview, to take in the grand views of Gorgonio and nearby peaks… and then scurried down to get out of the fierce winds.
A big congrats to Carol, on the way to becoming our newest GLS leader, 
a big thanks to all of the participants who made the weekend fun, and of course, gratitude to Tammie & Kyla for hosting us again. See you next year!
