I got up at 6:00am to go investigate the entrance to Black Cave.

I was following the "step log" which gives instructions like "40 degrees magnetic for 242 steps" and managed to get myself onto the totally wrong ridge. There was supposed to be an intersecting trail after 522 steps, but after about 2,000 steps I hadn't found one.

So I took the scenic route, but eventually found the entrance. The gate is guarded by a small army of daddy longlegs spiders. Yucky.

The drive up to the trailhead is a wild 4x4 experience. I've never been on so rocky/muddy a road. My poor rental car will never survive this on July 1; I'm going to have to borrow John's Bronco again.

Oh, and I saw three tarantulas, some vultures, and a rabbit the size of a small deer. Or maybe it was a small deer with really big ears.