On Wednesday we had 4 hikers come out to hike to Baldy Peak from the Mule Mountain trail located off Upper Applegate Road. For several years, landowners closed access to the trail. A new approach has been made so we can now do this hike instead of Charlie Buck trail. I had just recently heard of the access so planned the hike right away. I had forgotten how warm it gets and will schedule it either in the fall or the earlier spring. It was 64* by the time we started a little after 10:00 AM. Before we started the hike, I sprayed everyone's pant legs and shoes with a natural tick deterrent for dogs. On the new access trail, we had a bunch of cows on the other side of the fence that seemed very curious about us. When we got to the Mule Mountain trail, there were 2 private property boundary signs.

Since the trail hasn't been used in many years, there was grass and vegetation overgrowth. We could see that recent trail work had been done, but it will take some time before the trail is like it used to be. We had to dodge a lot of poison oak. I somehow managed to get some on my wrist under the sleeve of my shirt. This is the 1st time I have had poison oak in my 12 years of hiking.

We saw lots of Cat's ears and some very large Dichelostemma Capitatum. Also some large purple lupine and Arrowleaf balsamroot. The views of the surrounding mountains were absolutely outstanding.

When we reached the saddle, Scott decided to just go up to the tree. Marilyn, Mark and I went to the top of Baldy. I was disappointed that someone had taken the marker off the rock. We quickly decided Scott had the right idea and we came right back down to have our lunch under the tree.

We headed back to our cars and took several breaks due to the heat. It was around 3:45pm and we had hiked 8.88 miles and gained 2,721 feet of elevation. After getting home, I found 2 ticks on myself so I messaged everyone to really check themselves. A day later I found one on my dog. He hasn't been anywhere that there are ticks, so it must have come off my gear.