Friday night at our wilderness car camp on Pine Valley Creek Road, we fell asleep to a symphony of frog sounds and awoke the following morning to the gobbles of wild turkeys. A couple hours later we started our hike up Noble Canyon Trail which leads up to Mount Laguna. The stream along the canyon was pretty lively from recent rains and snow melt. And fortunately, there were not many people on the trail, probably because of the forecast.

I was amazed how much of the snow melted since last week's scout trip. There were barely any patches left. It made it so much easier to maneuver on the trail and no wet boots.

After reaching camp with "perfect pace", we quickly set up camp, had lunch, and then embarked on our day hike.

The day hike was so much fun. I left it up to the group to decide how far and where to go. We hiked through a pretty forest on the ridge west of Big Laguna Meadow. Near the peak, we stood on a windy outcrop and enjoyed a great panoramic view to the west. We could actually pick out the buildings of Downtown San Diego, the high rises on Silver Strand, Point Loma, and the bay. We then hiked down to Big Laguna Meadow and strolled alongside the dreamy meadow lakes.

When we got back to camp, we started happy hour with fabulous dirty martinis and I cooked us one of Perfect Pace's new signature backpack entrees, Smoked Salmon Fettuccini with a Vodka Pepper Cream Sauce. To finish off our lovely dinner, Andy delighted us with his delicious home-made truffles. We dived into thought provoking conversations late into the evening.

It's so nice to discover a backpacking destination a little over half an hour from my house. Noble Canyon offered quite a variety in terrain, flora, and views. And of course, the folks who came, Andy, Alan, and Malex, made it all even much more special. Thanks guys for more memories to cherish with Perfect Pace.

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