For more info go to the Hiking Group website: https://ramhikes.org
May was an exciting month for the Hiking Group. On the 1st, we completed our first HARD hike since June of 2025 to the Serenity Swing overlooking Poly Canyon. Normally people reach the tree swing by starting out at Cal Poly. That route is not only long, but the last hundred yards are made genuinely treacherous by scaling a nearly sheer rock face. Fortunately, age and cleverness bested youth and audacity to pioneer a new approach starting at the base of Cuesta Grade. It was fabulously successful as can be seen in the picture below.
On May 15 we hiked our old friend Johnson Ranch pictured below. It was a SOFT hike of 3.3 miles with an elevation change of only 270 feet.
We have two great hikes planned for June. The first will be on Friday June 5th when we will circumnavigate Madonna Mountain. This is a really good hike in the Soft/Medium hardness category that just about anybody can do. It starts out hard but then settles into a fairly level route on a tree shaded path over bubbling streams around the mountain. Only 3.7 miles with an elevation change of 590 feet.
Our last hike for June on the 19th, will be, like the one to Serenity Swing, something we have never done before because the trail did not exist. The first 2.5 miles are now complete. It starts behind San Luis High School and heads up the mountain toward the old fire lookout overlooking the airport. Bik, Parkinson and Sisler scouted the trail on Friday, May 22nd. Total round trip distance is 5 miles with a 842 feet elevation change. Medium Hardness. Picture below of Bill Sisler communing with a bright yellow Yucca Plant. For more info on our hikes, visit our webpage at ramhikes.org.
