In Wrightwood for Father’s Day weekend, we were looking for a decently-long hike with which to stretch our legs, settling on one which had been on the radar for some time. The Exploration Trail is a 4.5-mile route in the San Bernardino mountains near Big Bear – the western TH starts at 6,000′ just east of Running Springs and climbs 1,300′ to its eastern terminus north of Keller Peak. Also near the eastern end of the trail is the National Children’s Forest that we’d yet to visit, as well as the Keller Peak fire lookout to which we thought we might walk the road if we felt good enough. We got to the west TH just before noon and headed out shortly thereafter, first passing through an open area and over Dry Creek, which was surprisingly not dry. We ascended southward up to the ridgeline away from the creek, eventually turning east and essentially following the crest of the ridge. Under a mix of shade and sun, we were able to catch views of Keller Peak’s western aspect looming ahead, and we also got long views westward to the San Gabriels down the range. The trail continued its moderate ascent along the north side of Keller Peak where the foliage became more sparse and the terrain rockier – it was an interesting transition we weren’t expecting. Chris’ hips had begun to give him trouble about halfway up, and his pace lagged – he eventually caught Jane at the eastern TH where she’d been waiting for 20 minutes or so. Although we had a good amount of daylight left, we decided to forego the additional destinations nearby and return to the car – Jane got a call from a friend as we started walking back, and Chris listened to her chatting away as she quickly zoomed down the trail (he wouldn’t see her again until some 90 minutes later). Now solo, Chris retraced his steps westward, resting here and there to give his hips a break. At one point in a shady patch, his mindless stumble was interrupted by movement a few feet ahead on the trail – it was a small but angry rattlesnake, who instantly coiled up and loudly sounded his alarm. Chris was alarmed as well, and gave him a wide berth as he continued down the path. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful – Jane waited for Chris just short of the trailhead after slipping on a slick rock and breaking one of her trekking poles in her fall. We finished the hike together, realizing that 9-ish miles total might have been a bit too much for us to bite off and chew today. Still, it was a nice, well-maintained trail that offered plenty of views – might be good to try in early season, maybe even with a little snow on the ground.