A late National Naked Hiking Day in the lovely mountains of Southern California

Happy Naked Hiking Day!

I did go on a hike on the Summer Solstice, but there was no opportunity to be nude. So a couple of days later I tried a trail I was really confident would be empty. I checked to make sure there were no cars at any trailheads in the vicinity and hiked in the afternoon, long after anyone else would start.

The trail I took was just a few miles on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from the summit of Liebre Mountain to Bear Campground, maybe five miles round trip. The temps were in the low 80sF and dropped into the 70s. It was a bright and sunny day with a strong, gusty wind that had me starting to feel cool by the end of the hike.

The PCT through here is stunning with grassy meadows interspersed with oak forest. I crossed over from the north side of the mountain to the south side and it was a world of difference. The north side had burned in the 2004 Pine Fire. The oaks had barely been touched. The few pines had fared worse, but there are plenty of young trees coming up to replace those that were lost.

The south side had burned in the 2020 Lake Fire. Being a southern exposure, the flora was mostly scrub oak. Scrub oak is much smaller and more drought-tolerant. However, it burns easily. It has a different survival strategy. The roots survive to sprout shoots that in time will become replacement trees.

It was literally perfect weather at 5,600 feet while my home sweltered in triple-digit heat. It climbed up to the mid-80s and then dropped to the low 70s. It was slightly chilly near the end because of the wind. Nothing worth dressing for.