Eight enthusiastic Trailblazers started their hike from Meridian Trailhead on a clear, cool winter morning. After introductions I pointed out some of the prominent peaks near the trailhead, including Peak 3004 (between Funyung and Ajay in the picture above). Michael had graciously agreed to lead them in a loop around Peak 3004 after we had hiked the Mystery Trail.

We started walking north on the Bulldog Saddle Trail and then turned right to go east the Meridian Mystery Trail.

Forest Road 3516. That’s what the Forest Service had on their map for the Meridian Mystery Trail.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that their map shows part of the trail in the right place, but not all of it. The Bulldog Saddle Trail they show as FR 3515, but only some of the lower part looks like a road. The upper part is definitely a trail, not any kind of road.

As we continue east, we walk past some mining prospects and a rock-lined watering hole, possibly, for livestock.

Then we got to the end of the trail. There’s nothing: the trail just fizzles out. First time I was there I went bumbling around, bushwhacking, trying to find a trail that continued east from that point. But there isn’t any.

Six of the Trailblazers decided to climb up and explore this area, while Val began walking back down the trail with me. Soon the others caught up, but decided to leave us and go exploring where the trail crosses a wash.

The rest of our walk back to Meridian Trailhead was uneventful. Val and I kept turing around looking for our companions high up on the slopes above us, but we never saw them.

Our hike ended just before noon, with lots of people walking to and from the trailhead.

Six adventurous explorers – Michael, Wayne, Ajay, Nancy, Funyung and Quy – continued our hike with our leader Michael bushwhacking towards Peak 3004. It was a challenging obstacle course for us with all the up and down hills we crossed to reach the Bulldog Saddle Trail.

After reaching the trail, we continued our accent toward Bulldog Saddle. We finally reached the saddle and found a shady spot to rest our tired legs and have lunch.

After lunch, Michael and Funyung decided not to continue the loop but go back to the cars the way we came up.

The last four – Ajay, Nancy, Quy and Wayne – of the Magnificent Eight, left Bulldog Saddle at 12:30 PM. We continued our trek on the picturesque north side of Peak 3004 for an hour and finally met up with the Pass Mountain Trail.

Hooray!!! It was all downhill from here. We continued our downward trek on the Pass Mountain Trail and finally reached our cars about 2:40 PM. Michael was waiting for us at Sand Canyon to make sure we didn’t miss the turnoff to our cars.

Photos courtesy of Wayne, Ajay, and Quy.