It was Labor Day, and time once again for Chris and Jane’s Excellent Adventure, the annual hike we lead with family and friends in tow. Last year’s event was canceled since Chelsea was potentially going to deliver Ollie a month early, so we chose for this year’s destination the same one we were to have hiked last year: Mt. Pinos, reached via a 2-mile dirt access road, followed by Sawmill Mountain, the next summit 1-1/2 miles further west. We hiked this trail and made both summits twice earlier in the year, so it was familiar ground for us – from previous posts, the reader may recall that Mt. Pinos is the high point of Ventura County while Sawmill Mountain is the high point of Kern County. This year’s participants totaled twenty people, including four boys age 3 and under – we expected that jogging strollers would work well to caravan the kids up the road to the summit of Mt. Pinos, at which point the boys would have to be transferred to other backpack-type carriers since the trail to Sawmill is a narrow singletrack. We intended to get an earlier start, but we didn’t arrive at the trailhead until about 10am, although we got everyone organized fairly quickly. Setting out up the road, the stroller-pushers quickly realized that the sandy, rutted surface was not ideal, even for jogging strollers – though gentle enough to walk comfortably, the grade proved pretty tough up which to push a stroller. We covered the two miles to the radio facility at the top of Mt. Pinos in about an hour, but were disappointed to find the summit register missing from its location atop a tall jumble of rocks – the trademark red coffee can was nowhere to be found, but Jane and Patty did locate nearby a ziplock baggie with some paper scraps and an old pencil inside. The whole group signed what scraps we could and Chris replaced the baggie in its usual spot – we’ll have to let the Sierra Club know so they can replace the can. After spending a fair amount of time resting and enjoying the summit views, we moved out westward once more to where the road ends and the trail portion begins at the Vincent Tumamait trailhead, stashing the strollers under a tree and getting everyone packed and organized for the trek to Sawmill. We made the acquaintance of Jeff and Dionne, a couple from Pine Mountain Club who were hiking the same trail as us but continuing west and north back to their home at the north base of the mountain, and they led the way down the switchbacks as we continued the hike. Jude and Noah, the oldest two boys, were able to walk some as we followed the mildly graded trail, but eventually all the boys had to be carried at various points. Katie didn’t have a carrier for Deegan, but she was a trooper and carried him in her arms nearly all the way down the switchbacks, across the Pinos-Sawmill saddle, and up the east shoulder of Sawmill. Although the pace was slow, we made steady progress up the trail, finding the side trail to the Sawmill Mountain summit and arriving at the Chumash spirit tower there just before 1pm. Jeff and Dionne had arrived ahead of us, and they joined the group for the glass (ok, the plastic cup) of wine that has become a hallmark of the Excellent Adventure. Scattered clouds had been present for most of the hike, and they began to consolidate a bit more as we ate lunch, adding contrast to the deep blue sky – it made a lovely scene. What was really cool was to see so many people of varying ages and hiking experience enjoying themselves – while it required no insignificant effort to reach the spirit tower, we were all able to relax and be in that sublime moment of accomplishment and satisfaction. The trip east was fairly uneventful – some hikers we had met on the road said that they had spotted a bear cub west of Mt. Pinos, but we saw no wildlife whatsoever except lizards and birds. Those who had been carrying babies were very grateful to retrieve the strollers, and the whole group became several scattered teams of three or four as we made our way at our own varying paces back down the dirt road to the parking area. We had expected to cover something just over 7 miles, yet Chris’ GPS read nearly nine as we got to the cars – Patty’s GPS app on her phone measured 8 miles, and we concluded that hers was likely the more accurate value. Since it was nearly 4pm and everyone’s appetite had been revived by the walk, we made plans to rendezvous in Frazier Park for pizza. It was another great day – perfect weather, good friends, beautiful scenery, quality family time, and a healthy walk all rolled into one.