You guys get an "A" for effort. That's some long miles through difficult terrain; forty some miles in this stuff in an overnighter is probably on par with a 60+ mile overnighter on a well-maintained trail as far as required effort and time spent walking goes.
Post-Zaca Fire hikes in the Dick Smith just aren't very pleasant… the wild rose, throny ceanothus and a few other choice varieties of chapparal have come back with a vengeance and filled in thick. Throw in abundant PO and maybe even some poodle dog bush and you've got a recipe for hiking pants/skin destruction! Full height, tough gaiters are the only thing that will hold up (well) to sustained brush busting like this. I have a pair of BD full height gaiters that come out of the gear closet only for snow and the nastiest of bushwhacking trips. They would have definitely been along on this trip.
It's really too bad that the Dick Smith has more or less been neglected by the FS as far as trail upkeep goes. It has some really special places and lots of opportunities to have an area to one's self. The pound of flesh (literally) it costs to visit these places anymore makes it pretty discouraging though.
