Doing the Harding Again

Posted on November 30, 2004 in Hikes and Trails The Orange

Sunday’s rain washed the snow off the Saddleback, purging what last Thursday’s warmth could not strip from the hills. I went for a short walk (less than four miles) up the Harding Trail to leave off a few new geocaches that some say will never get visited. I enjoyed the view, took a couple of pictures, and walked back down the track, a great smile on my face because I was out there in the brush, enjoying the blanched trunks of the sycamores and the few orange leaves that still squeaked from the electric-shock branches.

Even though it was early afternoon, the breeze chilled me.

I love the Harding. There’s no perpetual steering around trail bikers for one thing. The trail is wide, so you don’t have to stumble into the bushes every time you hear the whirr of spokes cutting the air and the cry “Behind You” usually delivered as an afterthought.