Being busy with other commitments on Saturday left us with Mother’s Day as the only day to hike this week, and we decided to pay Mill Creek a third visit, not having been up this way for almost three years. There was a 20% chance of rain in the forecast, which we took to mean there was an 80% chance of no rain, so off we went up the Kern River canyon to the trailhead, arriving there about 10am. The overcast skies were starting to brighten a bit as we set out, and there were alternating periods across the spectrum from sunshine to gloom throughout the hike, but it never did rain. What was immediately striking were the wide variety of wildflowers in bloom – we found perhaps a dozen different types before reaching the cattle gate at the mouth of Mill Creek’s valley 1/4-mile from the start, and we’d continue to find more all day. The easy traverse through the initial valley section went quickly enough, and the creek was flowing strongly at the first crossing about a mile in. Although the grass in this lower section was mostly quite dry and brown, it got greener the further we walked and higher we climbed. Just past the first crossing we spooked two cows off to the right and a third on the left – Chris got the third one’s photo after she scampered across the trail, then realizing that another larger animal was still behind a large bush on the left. After a moment, as we both stood still, a large bull emerged from the brush, then slowly meandered across the trail, pausing next to motionlessly stare at us for a couple of minutes. Once he moved off the trail to graze again, we quickly edged past him, but he never once took his eyes off of us. We made good time through the rest of the four creek crossings, thinking for a minute about turning back during a dark period that looked most like rain – this was just past the saddle south of Pt 3,295, but Jane argued that the ridgeline where we had discovered a large boulder (Jane’s Boulder, as it has now been unofficially christened) was only 3/4-miles ahead. So, on we went, ascending south through grassy fields dotted with flowers and through a shady gully, turning back northward at its head and negotiating several ensuing switchbacks to the ridge top west of the gully. What a great decision to continue – the higher we climbed, the more stunning the wildflower show became, and we topped out on the ridge welcomed by cool breeze and lush vegetation (we had last been on this ridge in August 2013, on a very warm day and with nothing but dry brush in the vicinity). We made our way north about 150 yards to Jane’s Boulder, which she immediately scrambled up. After some photos and a check of the GPS (currently at 3.5 miles), we decided to head back down (the Mill Creek trail continues another 3-1/2 miles south to Squirrel Meadow on the Breckenridge Road, a hike we’ll have to do someday) and finish our Mother’s Day agenda. The hike out seemed much quicker than the hike in, and, whereas we had seen no one prior to Jane’s Boulder, we now passed several parties coming up as we headed back. We paused for a few minutes at the Native American grinding holes in the granite slabs just east of the saddle, and then made one solid push to cover the remaining 2-1/2 miles to the trailhead. We spied the bull again just downstream of the first creek crossing, and he watched us carefully until we had left his turf and harem behind. A wonderful hike that’s heartily recommended, especially this time of year.