Oak Grove Trail, Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness

The Oak Grove Trail was a fantastic hike up into the Pine Valley Mountains Wilderness. Though the trail is south facing we encountered quite a bit of snow and mud above 8,000 feet at the beginning of April which forced us to turn around after a few miles. Multiple sections of the trail were extremely steep making it a challenging ascent up to where we stopped but the mud and melting snow combined with the slope made continuing further too dangerous. Still, we made it to a beautiful overlook on a cluster of weather granite boulders and sections of ponderosa pines and were able to enjoy excellent views for the bulk of the hike. I am definitely looking forward to getting to the top and hiking along the ridge this fall. As a bonus we were able to get some beautiful views of the peaks and the creek exploring around the trailhead after our return.