Hiking and Peru Friends

We call them our Peruvian friends, but only because we met them in Peru. Yesterday was our second reunion since our August trip, and we met out in Westlake Village for hiking and a meal. The hills just south of the 101 offer great trails for a good workout and some nice views. When T asked if we wanted to go on the 1 or 2-hour hike, I volunteered for us all for the 2-hour version. I probably should have asked him how many miles, because I might have chosen the shorter hike. The 2-hour hike turned into 3 hours because it was nearly 8 miles, and I know that I cannot walk 8 miles in 2 hours when part of it is hiking uphill.

However, it was a great post-Thanksgiving workout, and we not only enjoyed the exercise and fresh air and friendship, but the meal afterwords was delicious (and so delicious that I forgot to take any photos). T made pisco sours that were just how we remembered them in Cusco, and HK cooked up a few Peruvian dishes. TO brought a quinoa salad and we brought that most Peruvian of desserts, Portugese bread pudding from Euro Cafe. 

View of Anacapa Island and another Channel Island

Return to Sycamore Canyon

We should know better than to try to find a parking spot at the Claremont Wilderness Trail, especially on the weekend, so after looking at the crowds, we drove over to the Thompson Creek Trail parking lot on Indian Hill this morning to hike Sycamore Canyon. I blogged in August that I had not really found a map online, but there is one at the parking lot. I was pretty sure I could get us to the trailhead, but was not totally sure how to get back to the car, so I asked H to bring along his GPS. Turns out the GPS wasn't totally necessary since we found the Thompson Creek Trail at the end of the hike by the Girl Scout place, but the information that the little box gave us was informative and fun.

Official Map at the parking lot

Topo map

View along the way - a little hazy today

Uploaded from the GPS, this is our route including a slight little wrong turn that lead to a dead end.

Information about our hike, including the 5 minutes of non-moving time.

Sycamore Canyon Hiking

Ever since I read about the reopening of Sycamore Canyon, I have wanted to hike it. Maps and information online are not terribly helpful, so when my friend, Susan, offered to show me the way, I jumped at the chance. We walked over to the Thompson Creek Trail from her house and found the trailhead (which is the part I was pretty sure I could find). 

I had heard that it was a pretty steep uphill start, so I was prepared for that mentally as well as physically. I still feel pretty good after our time at high altitude in Peru, so maybe my blood cells are still oxygen-rich. Anyway, this is a perfect alternative to the now-crazybusy Wilderness Park Trail. We saw about 6 other people during our 70-minute hike, and when the skies are less hazy, the views will be even better.

San Antonio Falls Hike

If one weekend hike is good, another is better. I have not been above Mt. Baldy Village in about 24 years (really? can it be?), and I thought that there must be a good, but not too strenuous hike up there, and I found a very, very easy walk to San Antonio Falls. It starts just above the campground about 4 miles out of Mt. Baldy Village, and it took us about 15 minutes to stroll to the falls. Elevation gain was minimal, although it was at about 6000 feet. We bought our $5 day use pass at the Baldy Visitor Center. We had heard that you could park at the ski lift for free and walk down (it's very close), but they were charging $5 to park there, too.

After we got to the falls, we thought we ought to get more out of our parking fee, so we wandered toward Mt. Baldy Notch for about 45 minutes until we decided to head back down. We watched the ski lift in operation with some people riding. The cloud cover and cooler weather made for a lovely time.

The only thing that happened to me was in the car on the way down. All of a sudden I felt a stabbing pain on the left side of my forehead, and I knew pretty quick that it was probably my sinuses. We stopped for a few minutes and I drank some water and held my head. The pain abated a little bit, and we came home. I looked online and found numerous stories about people who have this pain when they are diving or are descending in an airplane. Among other things, it's called Aerosinusitis. This afternoon I have been taking steps to relieve sinus pressure and I feel much better.

Here are some photos from our walk.

The trail to the waterfall is paved. Easy.

San Antonio Falls

One of many yucca plants we saw.

The cloudy, hazy view of the valley from up high.

Claremont Wilderness Trail

It's been awhile since I've been to the Claremont Wilderness Park to hike the loop. I'd been reading in the Courier about the new parking lot and the expanded parking lot and the myriad of parking problems, and today I saw that first hand. I have never seen so many people and cars there. It felt like trying to get into Disneyland. We couldn't use our resident parking sticker since that lot was full, so we parked on Pomello, and there are some photos here which show the many cars that were still there when we left at 10:15 or so.

The best part of the hike for me today was that it was much easier for me than it has ever been. For the past two months at the gym, I have put myself on a little regimen of interval training, and it seems to be working well. I have also been much better about working out on a regular basis, especially since school has been out. Anyway, if you take the loop to the left (Burbank Canyon) the hardest part is from mile marker 1 to 2. Usually I have to stop a few times on that part, but this time I not only walked it straight through, but no one passed us, and we passed four people. Hooray! My usual time for the loop is 1:35, but today we made it in 1:29, even with a stop to watch some deer.

We saw the little house that used to be in the Pomona College wash. I guess they moved it here.

Here is one of the three deer we saw on the way downhill.

Parking on Pomello Dr.

Parking on Mills

City Hall Business

Every summer I renew my business license with the City of Claremont, but this year I did it online. They say that it will take 4-6 weeks to get my license in the mail, but they have always been much quicker than that in the past.

Today I actually went into City Hall in order to obtain my Resident Parking Permit for the Wilderness Park. I have not been hiking there since the pay parking lots went into effect, but I'd rather be ready to go when I want to. Since City Hall is closed on Fridays, I made sure to go in on a business day.

The last time I looked in the fountain in front of City Hall, I saw a rubber duckie. Today a saw a shark, but the duck was nowhere to be seen. Hmmm...

Hiking in the Mountains - Parker Lake

It's always great when the people you choose to travel with like to do things the same way that you do. H and I have our modus operandi all figured out for trips like these. Get up a little early (but not TOO early) and have a good breakfast.  Start hiking before 10:00 and snack along the trail. Get back from hike in the middle of the afternoon and sit by some great body of water (lake, river) or meadow.  Take it easy the rest of the day and eat a delicious dinner.

Two of our three hikes were not new to us.  We chose them because we knew we wouldn't have much time to adjust to the altitude, so we wandered up and down the Tuolumne River where it was relatively flat.  One day we went towards Glen Aulin, stopping just when the path takes a steep descent.  The next took us up the Lyell Fork of the river towards Donohue Pass.  

On the way home, however, we tried out a new hike, this one just outside of the park.  I read about it and thought it sounded great, and it WAS.  Off of the June Lake loop road is a dirt road leading to the Parker Lake Trailhead.  The first 20 minutes of the hike are pretty steadily uphill in the full sun, and I took advantage of frequent stops to take photos.

 Here is one photo from our ascent as we look back over Mono Lake.

After a little way the scrubby growth gives way to a forest of huge pine trees and aspens and the trail is much more level, as well as shady.  It wanders by a stream, so the sound of water was soothing.

After 1.9 miles and 300 feet in elevation gain, we emerged at Parker Lake, and if you look up, you can see a beautiful waterfall.

We enjoyed this hike so much that I am sure we will do it again, and next time we'll take some friends!

Soldier's Pass - Hiking in Sedona

When looking for a good hike in Sedona, I was overwhelmed with choices, and I think that not many of them are bad.  So, I looked for one that was about 5 miles with not too much elevation gain.  I chose Soldier's Pass because it fit that criteria as well as touting a large sinkhole (the Devil's Kitchen), some arches, and seven sacred pools.

We found the sinkhole and pools (the pools are nowhere as impressive as the seven sacred pools on Maui, but they are still nice to see on the hike), but the guide said that the side hike to the arches was via an unmarked trail on the right, and we passed a number of such possibilities that we didn't want to try them, just in case the arches were not at the end of them.  So, no arches.  But we did see lots and lots of beautiful scenery, including red rocks galore.  

We also ran into some Carleton alums along the way.  They noticed my shirt and started a conversation which gave us not only a pleasant interaction, but a nice 20-minute rest.  They live in northern Minnesota but spend every March in Sedona and April in Palm Springs.

 This is the Devil's Kitchen.

 One of the sacred pools (or puddles).

 Not exactly arches, but some caves in the distance that were pretty enough to photograph.

 From near the top of Soldier's Pass, this is our view with Sedona in the background.  We had about an 800 ft. elevation gain.

 This is a rock formation that I particularly liked.  It looked like a group of people.

Saturday Hike

I am always happy to find a new place to visit in the LA area, and this morning we made it to Malibu Creek State Park.  This park has been the location for many movie and tv shoots, the most famous of which is M*A*S*H.  A few relics from the show are still around, including this sign and a rusted out ambulance and jeep.

The 2-mile hike to the site is pretty easy - mostly flat - and quite beautiful with the Santa Monica Mountains rising up all around and Malibu Creek running along.

I would be happy to return to the park and take other trails (which are undoubtedly more strenuous), or even return to this site.  I have posted a few pictures on my Flickr site.

Monrovia Canyon Park Hike

It is a beautiful sunny day here in So Cal, perfect for a little hike. Using my California Hiking book I found short walk to a waterfall in Monrovia Canyon Park, just about 20 miles from Claremont. Looking for further information on the hike, I stumbled on this youtube video which shows much of the hike by a family.

It's so funny these days to see people on a hike talking on their cell phones, whereas I can walk next to my husband and enjoy each other's company without saying too much.

Wilderness Trail on the Web

We were not the only people hiking the 5-mile loop of the Claremont Wilderness Park this morning. With the wonderful weather that we've been having this summer, we could hike the trail from 9:30-11 and not get too hot. Many, many other people took advantage of the loop today, as well.

I discovered a website that shows the route along with pictures. The only difference between that website and our hike is that we take the route the opposite direction.

Multitasking

Hiking the Wilderness Trail allows me to accomplish several things at once. The obvious one is to get exercise. We walked the 5-mile trail in a little over 1 1/2 hours, so I'm pretty sure I got my 10,000 steps in for today.

I also like to take my camera to capture some images. Today I looked down at the trail we just came up and enjoyed a number of blooming yuccas.

Third task was some catching up on NPR podcasts. I listened to 3 sessions of "Most E-mailed Stories," including a story on Emily Dickinson and programming robots to play music at Cal Arts.

Solstice Canyon

After Hal's umpire gig, we stayed the night in nearby Westlake Village, enjoying dinner at Pookie's Thai. In the morning we were primed for a hike in Solstice Canyon, near the coast in Malibu, just a short drive away. The destination of this hike is a destroyed ranch house and waterfall. Pictures of the 3.5 mile hike on my Picasa site. We had to say hello to the ocean, too, before we headed back inland after lunch at our favorite Senor Fish in Eagle Rock.

Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve

A rare treat today - a whole day with nothing scheduled for either of us. The original thought was to drive to Joshua Tree National Park to see the wildflowers, but after remembering that it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there (and then 2 1/2 hours to return), we looked for a closer place and discovered the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve near Murrieta. It's only about an hour away.

The Reserve boasts Vernal Pools, as well as wildflowers, and with the lovely rains we had this winter, it was a great day to take a 3 1/2 mile loop to take in the pools, the rolling hills with great live oak trees, historic adobe house and grinding stones. I have a new album at my picasa site with photos from our hike.

I love using my macro on my little camera - and with the blue sky today, I took this poppy photo looking up instead of down.

Wilderness Park

Hal and I took the loop at the Claremont Wilderness Park this morning. We saw a number of people we know (Rebecca, Gaby, Louisa, Eric, Margaret and Matt), dogs, horses, bike riders, families pushing strollers, people with canes, and pregnant women. The sky was overcast and the recent rains have left much green growth. I need to remember to take this hike more often.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 5

Today's adventure included a hike up Spencer Butte just south of Eugene. We took up lunch and sat on the rocks at the top for a good while enjoying the view, although it was a foggy one.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 4

Before the morning winds picked up, the view of Diamond Peak over the lake was clear. After sleeping in and breakfast, we broke camp and hiked the 5 miles back to the car, through the rest of the mosquitoes. We had thought we might camp at the Trapper Creek Campground, but decided that showers sounded more enticing, so we returned to Eugene.

The highlight of the evening was learning a new game: Settlers of Catan.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 3

Day One of backpacking. We drove south of Eugene to the Deschutes National Forest and hiked five miles up to Diamond View Lake. We saw not one single person along the trail, nor anyone at the lake. However, we were greeted by billions of mosquitoes, so we made camp quickly and spent our after-dinner time playing hearts in the larger of the two tents.

Special Edition: On the Road, Day 2

Here are Hal and Chris starting to pack our gear for backpacking tomorrow. We've planned our route, packed our bags, and tomorrow we need to pick up a few supplies. We'll be without internet, electricity, etc. for three days, so I'll check in later!

Boxing Day

Yay for the sun today! After a very wet, gray Christmas, the storm moved on, and we were treated with a beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains. Hal, Liesl and I took a walk up to the Botanical Gardens this afternoon. We each had a camera and had fun practicing with our macros.