I assisted on a Sierra Club hike from Penny Pines to the summit of Garnet Peak. This is one of my favorite day hikes ever, and I was excited to help 10 others enjoy this hike as much as I do. This >4 mile hike is pretty mellow, and meanders most of the way along the PCT overlooking Storm Canyon, and a magnificent view of the Anza-Borrego Desert.

Just four years ago this section of wilderness was decimated by fire. It was very poignant to come back to it today, the first weekend the Cleveland National Forest was re-opened from the latest wild-fires, and see that our wilderness can come back from the devastation we wreak upon it. I remember so vividly wandering through this same stretch of trail weeks after the fires in 1993, and feeling like I had just landed on the moon. I have had similar feeling just lately looking at the damage that our county has sustained. Now walking through this trail, one is struck by the peculiar beauty of nature slowly covering the signs of fire just four years ago. The brush has come back, almost as tall as before, but you still see the bleached skeleton like branches poking out from the tops of the festive red and green profusions of Manzanita lining the trails. The trees are the spookiest reminder. It is questionable whether they will ever return to their former glory. Yet the hardier oaks have begun to sprout out of the charred twisted remains of their conflagrated ancestors. It is proof positive that nature is strong, and the will to survive lives on.

The last 1/4 mile when you turn off the PCT onto the Garnet Peak trail is the only real challenging section of the hike, and this is where you summit the peak from the north side, and are greeted with a 5,000ft vertical drop almost straight onto the floor of the Anza-Borrego. I love to point out the peak to newcomers as you are approaching it to from the south and tell them that is where we are going to climb, as it looks unobtainable without very serious mountaineering skills. At the top, it is almost always windy, and today was no exception, and it was fun to watch the front of a mild storm approach us, and feel the air cool down as the storm began to overtake us. As we sat, enjoyed the view, and enjoyed a little snack at the top, Perri and I decided to visit one of the little mysteries of the area. About 50 yards east of the peak on a smaller peak there is a large black stone that is completely out of place among the jumbled red Julian schist, and neatly carved into this stone is the following inscription:

K.P. ZALESKI

SKI
1943 1998

Along with this stone, the is a wooden carving, that always seems to move a little each time I visit it, of a bearded man in relief. While it is not really a mystery as to what this is, it is a mystery as to who K.P. Zaleski was, and how this massive black rock made it to the top of Garnet Peak. I certainly cannot think of many better places to be remembered.

After a nice respite on the top of Garnet Peak, we boogied back down the hill, and made good time along the trail, stopping often to enjoy the view, and to learn how to tell the difference between Quarts and Feldspar. Both are chalky white stone, but when you see quartz sparkle, it looks like lots of points of light, while the shine of feldspar lights up the whole surface of the rock. Soon after we arrived back of the trail-head, said our goodbyes, and headed back home, watching the rain from the storm that chased us down the mountain begin to come down.