What Kokitac Saw, aka The God’s Eye Hike

This week’s journey takes us to the far away land of San Bernardino - ooh, aww - more specifically the San Bernardino forest, more more specifically, Big Bear. Here I am, on a quest you might say - a vision quest, which would be appropriate when you consider what I’m chasing. On this adventure I am looking for an outcropping of quartz crystal, but not just any outcropping: one shrouded in local legend and mystery, a true natural wonder, seldom seen and almost entirely forgotten except to those who seek it. Tantalizing, no? You bet your ass it is.

Our journey begins in the High Desert, Victorville to be exact. From here we jump on Bear Valley Road which can be accessed from the I15 freeway. We take Bear Valley Road  all the way until it ends at Highway 18. From here you want to turn right onto Highway 18 towards Big Bear. You will be on this road for a while. It’s a pretty straight shot through Lucerne, and on your left you will get a close-up of some pretty awesome rocks and ranches but not too much else. It’s not a long drive and the traffic is very light.

After a short while you will find yourself entering into the San Bernardino National Forest. If you’re not the type who enjoys a twisty turny drive through the mountain switchbacks, then screw you. No jk jk but there are quite a few that would turn the more sensitive stomach, so adventurer be warned.

I should also make one thing clear: there is no “God’s Eye” hike. If you try to google it, you will most likely find various blogs detailing a short drive down a forest access road. Blah blah blah - boring right? I have taken it upon myself to jazz it up, and believe me it’s much, much better.

So you’re twisting and turning through the San Bernardino Mountains when you come upon a sign informing you that you have reached an elevation of 6000 feet. This is your Almost There Indicator. As I mentioned before, this is not a real hike; I made it up. There won’t be any signs to tell you you are there, but just keep your eyes peeled. You are looking for a call box and a tree.

The call box will be on the right side of the road. 

The tree will be at the back of a big dirt lot on the left side of the road.

That’s where you want to park: near that tree in that big lot.

Yeah, that’s nice. Now it’s gonna look like just a field in front of you. Go into that field. If you have good eyes you will have already seen it. If you don't have good eyes, just walk straight forward. And get some glasses for gods sake.

This post is what you’re looking for. This little guy will confirm that you have just joined the thousands of adventure-bound hippies to have travelled on the Pacific Crest Trail, aka the PCT. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the Pacific Crest Trail is the mother of all trails from the top of Mexico to the bottom of Canada. 

For our purposes this will be our road to Kokitat.

Before the gold rush that brought prospectors to the San Bernardinos, the valley found at the top of the mountain was home to the Serranos. 

Unfortunately, much of the Serrano culture has been lost since many of the Serrano died due to disease while others scattered into more remote areas to escape the settlers. As such, their rich oral tradition has dwindled almost into oblivion.this is the story of Kokitat as I have come to know it.

In the beginning there were twin gods: Pakroki-tat and Kokitat. Both were the creators of man, but they disagreed as to what form man should take. Pakroki-tat thought that man should have two faces - one in the front and one in the back. Pakroki-tat also thought that man should have webbed fingers so that the things he held would not slip through his hands. Kokitat disagreed and the brothers fought endlessly over which was the right way to create man.

Finally, Pakroki-tat grew tired of his brother and left the earth forever, leaving Kokitat to create man as he saw fit, so he created man as we exist today. ButKokitat was a mischevious god. He divided man up and created different language barriers, thus making it impossible for man to communicate, which ultimately resulted in war. 

The people that Kokitat created eventually grew tired of his mischief and decided that it was time for him to go. It is unclear who was tasked with killing Kokitat, some say that Frog was tasked to poison him; others say that it was Woodpecker who bewitched him. Whomever it was, Kokitac eventually fell ill and began to die.

Realizing that death was upon him, Kokitat gave instructions for his body to be cremated. And also to not let Coyote eat his body, ‘cause you know, fuck Coyote.

The people that Kokitac created brought his body to the top of a high hill overlooking the valley where he spent his final days and died. Per his instructions, his body was cremated, but not before Coyote snuck in and stole his heart to eat later. Fucking coyote.

As per their tradition, after three days had passed the men washed away the hillside, spreading his ashes throughout the valley. Legend tells us that that is why there is so much variety of plant life on this particular part of the mountain.

When all the ashes were washed away all that remained of Kokitat were the crystals that made up his eyes, set on the hill top to forever watch over the Serrano and the valley.

In the early 1800’s the gold rush caught up with the Serrano. Prospectors believed that certain formations of quartz crystal displaying particular veins of color were good indicators that there were gold deposits beneath the quartz, and when they happened upon the “Eye of Kokitat” they could not resist. They dynamited the deposit, in search of what may lay beneath.

The trail is beautiful, 

so full of color and variety. 

The legend of Kokitat and the story of the settlers spins through my mind over and over, until finally I turn a corner and see the road that I was supposed to take to get here.

My eyes scan the hillside and I see it peeking through the trees. It’s the eye of Kokitat.

I can’t see any direct path; the road curves around and disappears behind trees to the north. I could follow it, but I’m too excited. So I charge the hill.

The hillside is littered with quartz, some the size of pennies, some the size of my head. I start to trot; my footsteps are clumsy and hard. Could this be the way that the prospectors came?

The hillside becomes steeper and I test my balance and agility; I’m moving faster now. Is this the way coyote came?

Finally I reach the top.

It’s amazing.

No sign of gold, but a man could make his fortune with the quartz alone. God knows there is room enough in my pack, but I didn’t come here for treasure. I came to see how a God chose to spend his last days on the earth, to lay where he laid, and see what Kokitat saw:

The last sight seen by the God of man and mischief.

the end.

The Rancho Cucamonga Waterfall aka Etiwanda falls

Did You Know that there Is a waterfall in Rancho Cucamonga? cause I sure didn't but once I found out i knew that there was nothing I wanted to do more than to find it, I had already eaten a doughnut which was what I usually want to do most first. I decided immediately that I needed to find this waterfall hidden away somewhere in the Inland empire. after spending several hours on the interweb watching Stargate SG-1 I googled Inland Empire Waterfall and immediately found several links and photos.  This epic journey was about to begin. first I needed to get to Rancho Cucamonga.

Once I was in Rancho "fun" amonga I jumped on the 210 freeway, from there I took the "Day Creek" exit I headed north on Day Creek up into the foothills. it's pretty ritzy up there so don't get all gangsta or anything. eventually Day Creek dead ended at Etiwanda, I took a left and the road went immediately from nice ritzy paved road to nasty broken nature hippies don't deserve nice things pothole road. 

After about 200 yards you will find yourself at the end of the road and in front of this guy. There is a big empty lot for parking and big metal power line towers to make you feel safe. 

Of course before you start any day hike you will want to make sure that you have all your provisions. sunscreen, water, M&M's, you know, survival shit. 

and you should never go into the wilderness without a smile. :)

The fun thing about this particular trail is that you have a few options as to how you want to start. you can go to the left or to the right. I chose to go to the left. westside style. 

The Trail is pretty wide and while it is littered with rocks I would consider it to be very user friendly. on this particular day the wind was no joke. but I would Imagine that in this part of so cal that the wind will be blowing more often than not. so if you hate the wind this might not be the trail for you. seriously I got sandblasted like ten times. I almost lost my hat twice. 

About 1/4 mile up the trail you will come to this little building that will give you all kinds of fun info about all the local flora and fauna in the area. and a little bit of history about the preserve. It's pretty cool for the naturalist nerd type. there is also the usual graffiti totally ruining the info signs, so you can be all like uh people are so terrible, not like me, I'm amazing. you know that's what you do when you see graffiti, your so full of shit. 

Once you leave that little hut you will start out on what is known as the Etiwanda preserve loop. however this loop will not take you to the Waterfall. It is a pretty cool loop and from what I saw on the map at the beginning of the trail it is definitely worth doing and someday I will return to do it. but today I'm chasing waterfalls despite what TLC told me. there are plenty of helpful markers along the way to help guide you along the trail like this little guy pictured below. but as I already mentioned the waterfall is not on this trial. Why don't you listen? when you come to this first marker what you actually want to do is take the trail that goes directly behind it, do not follw the little hiking guy and do not follow the little guy who seems to be giving a speech to some kind of floating picnic table. 

It is easy to know which one is the correct trial to take, your choices are right, left or up. you want to go up. and up..and up. but don't worry too much even though you will be climbing pretty much the whole way Its a pretty easy incline.

after hiking up for about an hour or so you will come to a fork in the path take the path to the right. you will know your going the right way when you see these two yellow gates and a long trail spanning out to the northwest. 

after a short hike on this path you will find your coming to the end of the trail  you will be able to hear the water but not see it. the path will narrow and become a little be more challenging. your gonna have to use your hands and climb over some small boulders but nothing to serious. 

you will only be on the more narrow path for a short while when you will come to this. it looks more like an animal trail than a people trail and to be honest it very well may be. I didn't see any footprints, but that could just mean that they were washed away during the last rain storm or gusty wind. or, its an animal trail. 

 Up until this point I would definitely call this a good beginner trail. but this is where it gets a little bit more advanced. there is no real path down to the creek and I did end up doing a bit of downward climbing and some real good butt sliding. so if you don't feel real confident in your butt sliding skills. you may want to just stick to the trail. but If you do decide to brave it the payoff is totally awesome. 

I love waterfalls. even little ones. hey little guy way to flow. 

and to celebrate, a little waterfall of my own. 

and now to rest and enjoy this beautiful place. 

after finishing my beverage and enjoying some snacks. It's time to head back up. this is a better view of the area you will need to traverse to get in and out of this little nook. not to bad. of course in my opinion getting down is always somehow harder than getting up. 

now it's time for the hike back but having already done the tough part, the hike down seems like a walk in the park 

and the view from the top can't be beat. 

on the way down I pick a sprig of sage the plants grow wild all over the mountain and the entire hike smells like sage. it's great and I can't help but want to savor the smell for just a little bit longer 

All in all I would say that this is a great hike well worth the uphill climb and facing off with the wind.