#Socalsteemit builds real life friendships! I met 
All three of us are very interested in backpacking, but are still collecting appropriate lightweight gear. This trip only requires hauling our stuff a mere half mile from the parking area, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to test our minimalist packing skills.
I have hiked around this area for a number of years, and always dreamed of sneaking in an overnight visit. It isn't a designated campsite, but it has clearly been used as one, with multiple fire circles and a couple of swings hanging from the oak boughs.
Our camp was located on the ruins of an old stone cottage. Only a few retaining walls remain of it. The length of the canyon is dotted with these cobblestone ruins.
Beginning in the late 1800s, thousands of visitors began to camp along Mill Creek every summer and travel up Mountain Home Canyon on burro trains led by Sylvanus Thurman. When automobiles came into widespread use, they needed a road up the canyon to tour through the wilderness up to Big Bear and in 1914 the Control Road officially opened. https://www.pe.com/2014/03/21/mountain-home-canyon-celebrates-100-year-history/
After we set up camp, we took a wander upstream on the tiny footpath. The riparian trees kept us in full shade, and the berry brambles formed impenetrable thickets sparkling with bejeweled fruits.
The season is just hitting its stride, with many unripe fruits and even a few flowers promising more picking for weeks to come.
As we hiked, waded, and gorged ourselves, we startled a deer browsing in the creekbed. My barking dog sent it bounding straight up the nearly vertical walls of the canyon before I could grab a photo!
In some places, the canyon walls are formed by sheer rock, where another treasure clings: wild succulents!
If you look closely, you can see a "modern pictograph", as inscrutable as the ancient ones:
Looking down from our camp:
There is a nice little basin and miniature waterfall. It was a dream come true to just sit in the stream during the heat of the day.
In between wandering around collecting fat berries in the creek, we all just relaxed and forest-bathed.
Like a little child, I sat on my flat stone and played with acorn caps.
As the shadows grew longer, we thought we'd see if we could catch some fish. We found a spot where the minnows sparkled and there was possibly a larger brown trout playing hide and seek in the boulders.
The minnows devoured the morsels of beef jerky we threw in as chum, but wouldn't touch the ones hiding the fish hook. I suppose either the fish feed us, or in this case, we feed the fish. :)
Back at camp, we ate our packed meals, and nightfall set suddenly between the narrow walls of the canyon. Bats whisked by all around us under the huge oak canopy. We praised them for gobbling up their weight in insects.
Without a campfire (fire danger is pegged at EXTREME), bedtime came early. We zipped ourselves into our temporary homes, as the night turned chilly.
In the morning, it was time for one more round of blackberry picking, then we tore down camp to get to the truck before the forecasted 107F heat struck.
I managed to bring home just over two pounds of delicious wild berries...and memories of quality time spent building an awesome new friendship with wonderful Steemians!
Literally the cream of the crop!
