Idlehour trail camp

For Labor Day weekend, Andy and I went on a quick backpacking trip to Idlehour campground in Altadena! We parked at the upper parking lot of Eaton Canyon and headed up the Mt. Wilson Toll Road, aiming for our rest stop at Henninger Flats, which we got to in 1.5 hours.

Once at Henninger Flats we took a hefty break, which was mostly due to my huff-puffing-filled struggle up to that point. The toll road has no tree cover whatsoever, and we started off around 11:30 with the sun beating straight down, with the only respite being a scraggly tree here or there along the edge. Henninger was a welcome change of scenery, with lots of trees and shaded picnic tables, and a wonderful little information center where we each got a cold soda for $0.75. Back outside I checked out the view of Altadena/Pasadena, and picked up little bits of hardened (but still squishy) pine sap just to amuse myself.

Here's a candid snap of me that I had to share because of the look of consternation on my face. Nikon DSLRs are that baffling I guess!

From Henninger Flats to the campsite the trek was considerably easier - all mostly downhill and generously shaded - so you can see why I took my time to snap shots of a fluffy golden weed and some drying ferns, and many of dear Andy beasting his way through the trail.

Glorious mountain views! The Idlehour trail forks west of the Mt. Wilson Toll Road, and I think this shot of the mountains shows some "scarring" of the San Andreas fault, which is evident in the different kinds of rock formations all mashed together (?) which isn't very evident in this photo.

Andy's straw hat let in little sprinkles of light that illuminated his face, and I enjoyed that effect very much.

Do you know how poison oak looks? Here it is. Sometimes it's low-growing and bushy, dense and stick-y (as bushes), or dangly and sprawling as pictured, or tall and tree-like. Nasty stuff, don't get it on you!

Andy, the fearless trail-blazer.

We saw many a manzanita tree with brilliant red curls of bark flaking off to show off even more red underneath! So alien-looking and odd. Then we passed by a large number of feathers that marked the site of a bird's demise...oh the way things go.