Day 3: This would be our longest hike, the Hotel Creek Trail, which was 8 miles roundtrip and a 1,200 climb in elevation in the first mile, reaching an elevation of 5,600 feet at the top. This strenuous hike switch-backed through chaparral to a forested ridge at the top with breathtaking views of the Canyon and mountains beyond, still snowcapped.
We encountered rattlesnakes, rubber boas, and only one other couple hiking the trail in a 4 hour period. We continued back on the Lewis Creek Loop, passing a large area which was burned in 1980, one of the largest fires the park had experienced in recent years. We passed through varied landscapes of pine woods, manzanita bushes, meadows, open grassy hillsides and moist streamways.
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