This weekend I went on a hike with two of my brothers-in-law. One of us wanted to hike to the “Champion Lodgepole Pine." It turns out that there is a type of pine tree called the lodgepole. Near Bluff Lake which is about 3 miles south of Big Bear Lake, grow the largest Lodgepole pines in the world. In this location there is the tallest of all the lodgepole pines, the “Champion.” It was discovered in 1963 and is a magnificent, double-topped tree that towers above the surrounding forest reaching a height of 110+ feet. The circumference of the trunk at the bottom is 22 ½ feet, however the bulbous base is 36 feet in circumference. Its age is estimated at 440 years.

We went to the Big Bear Discovery Center to find out how to hike there. They told us we couldn't go see it. There is an access road that gets you 0.6 miles away from the tree, but the access road was closed, and the only way to get there is to hike four miles in over moderate to difficult terrain.

We looked at the other trails and there was one called Cougar Crest that was nearby and only 4 miles long (round trip). It was marked as a moderate to difficult trail, so we figured it would be a good length. It was 11am, and we wanted to make it back down to eat lunch and watch the UCLA basketball game at 4pm.

The trail head was 0.6 miles from the Discovery Center (~6,900 feet), so we just hiked along the lake to the trail head. It was a great hike with great views of the lake. It had been a long time since I had hiked a trail like this so there were parts that winded me, but when we reached top, it was worth it. At the top you are hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a well-known trail that goes from Mexico to Canada. It felt good to think about all the brave people that have taken this trail.

After a brief break, we were thinking about heading back when we read about the trail again and were reminded that just 0.6 miles away was the summit of Bertha Peak (8,502 feet).

We decided to go for it because we had some extra time. It turned out to be the steepest part of the hike. There were event better views of the lake along the way, which kept us inspired and also gave us something to look at while we rested. We seriously considered stopping because we were all getting so tired. We were promised a 360 degree view of Big Bear Lake and the Holcolm Valley on the other side of the mountain, so we pushed on.

At 1pm, over 1600 feet higher, we finally made it! The view on the other side was pretty but not spectacular. The Holcomb Valley is not developed like Big Bear is. The area is almost unspoiled. All three of us didn't remember to bring a camera, so no pictures of our actual trip, sorry.