A rainy Saturday. 11 of us (all who have signed up) hiked to Silver Star Mountain via Bluff Mountain, skirting Little Baldy. About 13 miles, mostly flat rocky trail with water running on it. Wed and cold. No view to speak of due to the weather. Can only imagine what it could be like when all is clear, as part of the trail are on the ridge. About a mile first on a logging road. Flowers along the trail for the first few miles. Lots of bear grass, but only about 10 in bloom. According to Wikipedia, they have a 4-6 year cycle. So I should come here again in 2017-19. It was such a disappointment after what I saw last year.Had a lesson of changing tire at the parking lot, in the rain. Rough road. This time I had a ride to and from Gateway from Erin, who happened to have spent 3 years in France. Too bad, we didn't really practice the foreign tongue.