On Saturday, we decided that it was time to test out our new Gregory backpacks. Seeing how we want to eventually do multiple day hikes, we know that it’s important to work out way up to being able to do that. Hiking with just a day pack (our normal thing) is completely different from backpacking with a bigger pack, so it’s important to condition your body before taking on a longer trip.
We headed up to Big Bear and hit the Cougar Crest Trail. From the parking lot, the trail is roughly 5.8 miles round trip. (You hike up and then back down again.) It’s around an 800 foot upward elevation change with lots of ups and downs and terrain changes. (It’s a elevation gain of 750 feet over about 2 miles from the trailhead. Cougar Crest trail is considered a moderate to difficult hike.)
We weren’t sure how it was going to go, so we took things slow and stopped on a fairly regular basis to give the dogs water.
Only one of the dogs’ packs had come in at this point, so we decided that Wiley would carry the pack with their water and snacks. Because we didn’t want him to get sore, we didn’t have him carry all of their water this time around although he probably could have without an issue.
Next time, Wyatt will be carrying his share of water.
Neither of the dogs got tired. In fact, they were very energetic the entire trip – until they got back in the car. 😉
We love that this trail, as well as other trails in the Big Bear area, are dog friendly. Of course, that means there are a lot of other dogs on the trail. Most owners had their dogs under control. Sadly, there was one who didn’t and went after our dogs which didn’t sit well with our boys. Thankfully, no dogs were harmed in the scuffle.
Along the trail, there were several different places to sit, relax, and enjoy the view. The views were stunning.
The hike with new packs meant lots of adjustments along the way. I quickly learned that while I could easily carry my camera around my neck with my daypack, it caused issues with this full pack. I’m going to need to figure out something for in the future. It may mean that I need to get a point and shoot camera for backpacking trips. We’ll see. I still want to try a couple of different options as I like having my “big” camera with me. 😉
Once we arrived at the top, we took a nice break, dropped the packs, ate something, and talked to some other hikers. Some people continue on to Bertha Peak from here, but that was not in the cards for us. We need to get in better shape and better condition ourselves for carrying our packs before we head up another 1360 feet in elevation over only 1.5 miles. That particular trek is considered a difficult trail. 😉
The view from the top was beautiful. While it wasn’t an easy hike by any means, we had a great day in Big Bear. We look forward to hiking more trails in Big Bear in the future. It’s a nice escape from the desert heat. 🙂
