Meadows/Mathis Loop (A golden standard)

I finally recovered 100% from my illness this past Sunday. To celebrate, I set out for a ten mile hike (approximately), with a little running, in Aliso and Woods Canyons. Crowded park. Lots of hikers, bikers, runners. I didn’t mind the lack of solitude one bit. Total miles traversed: 9.68 (approx. 15.6 km) with about 1,200’ of elevation gain (366 m).

My photo diary --

Heading out on Aliso Canyon Trail behind a group of hikers:At the Aliso Canyon / Wood Canyon Junction where I turned off to hit Meadows Trail:Boots on the ground (not really boots) on Meadows Trail which looks brown and not quite “meadow-like” yet:Some more of Meadows, the easy part – it’s going to get difficult here in a bit . . . Starting the climb up Meadows (looking back on the flatlands):And the climb begins . . . And continues . . .

And continues some more . . . A little reprieve:Ah, look at the view down into Aliso Canyon (Saddleback Mountains in the distance):Just a little bit longer . . . At last, at the top of Meadows Trail (And it’s only 1.5 miles long with much of it relatively easy! The tough part is tough for me). There’s Modjeska and Saddleback Peaks in the distance – a sight that gives me a sense of peace and calm. View of Pacific Ocean from the top of Meadows Trail:Heading out of park (by Top of the World neighborhood in Laguna Beach):Officially leaving Aliso/Wood Canyons Wilderness park. Look at that magnificent home at the border of this park with unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean!On the path behind Top of the World neighborhood that leads to the streets:Once out of the park, there’s about a one mile walk to Alta Laguna Park where I catch West Ridge back into the park. This antenna has always amazed me:Parking is also scare here, as it was at the ranger station entrance:Re-entering Aliso/Wood Canyons Wilderness Park:Feet back on dirt along West Ridge:Heading down Mathis Trail:

Finishing up Mathis Trail:Back in Wood Canyon:

A nice route – challenging enough, mainly toward the beginning, but not enough to kill me. Peaceful (even with all the other people on the trails that day) and also safe. This loop has been a standard of mine for a long time. A golden standard.

Las Ramblas

So, I relapsed and got sick again for the one remaining week of my winter break. Vacations and me are not friends. Now, I’m finally, slowly but surely getting well after a week back at work. It was difficult going back, a bottle of liquid medicine in my bag, and eye drops in my purse to get rid of the bloodshot. Ugh. And now, I have a sore throat again, and also an earache (doh!), and I will likely relapse again – because I am stupid that way. Proving this point, I threw caution to the wind and hit some trails in between jobs this past Thursday – Las Ramblas, Cerro Rebal, Forster Canyon and Patriot Trails out to the flag and back. The Las Ramblas trailhead, I should mention, is ideal because it is quite easy to get to, as it’s right off Interstate 5 in Dana Point. They also aren’t very tough  trails at all. I would characterize them as nice and easy.

The “Las Ramblas” trails (as I call them) are mostly truck trail width, and overlook the cities of San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and Dana Point. I can see the Pacific Ocean, the harbor, the San Juan Capistrano Mission, and Interstate 5 in all its glory. There are gorgeous views. But they are views from trails with no trees to speak of. This last fact is what makes these some of my least favorite trails. I really must have trees! Still, it was good to have dirt beneath my feet once again. I will probably be back to this very same location again, one day soon.

4.13 miles total (an out-and-back to the flag on Patriots Trail).

Wood Canyon My Old Friend

I’m back to watching movies, off my phone while on the elliptical or cycle, at the gym. I haven’t watched movies or any kind of series in a long while. Well, actually, my little movie binge this time around started around Christmas time, and it wasn’t at the gym -- first with Whiplash, a movie from my living room couch that wound me up so much, I had to leave the room during one scene because the pressure just got to be too much. Pretty good movie; thought about it for days, analyzed it with my middle son who watched it with me because it is about music (and he will watch just about any movie that relates to music). After that, I re-watched (for at least the 5th time) Punk Drunk Love. It was too sad for me this time around, which means I’ll finally put that quirky movie to rest and watch it no longer. And then came the gym movies -- a couple days ago, I caught another Adam Sandler movie, this one, The Cobbler. The movie was mildly entertaining, it could have been much more. I am a little let down by movies like this where everything gets tied together so neatly at the end. But then, tonight I took in another movie at the gym -- Super, where things didn’t get tied together so neatly. Ummm. Wow. Hard to say just a word or two about Super. Not even sure that I liked it (though, I think I did). On the bad side was the violence. I turned away no less than three times from the sloppy, yet intense violence. (By the way, they tricked me and didn’t really hit hard with the graphic violence until about half way through the movie.) But there was a real involved story here, with classic themes and a bunch more of those introspective kind of things that we all feel and know about but don’t dally there much, because its depressing. So, I do believe that I give Super a reluctant thumbs up.

In between those movies I hit the trails in Wood Canyon. I certainly don’t need drama when wandering about a trail, even if it’s on a mundane trail that I’ve been over again and again. I chose Wood Canyon because I wanted something with easy access, and something relatively quick and easy. Being that we’re all still on winter break, aka Christmas vacation, at my house, I had plans with my family to have sandwiches at our favorite deli, Board n’ Brew, and a movie at the ritzy Cinepolis. The movie was The Last Jedi, and there isn’t much to tell, except for the reclining seats and waiters who brought food to our seats while we reclined in big chairs with tables and a small lamp at our sides, before a big movie that I found very little to talk about. So, back to something much more exciting, Wood Canyon. I knew that I needed something more than Wood Canyon, which is lovely in itself. So about a mile in (most likely less), I took a side trail off to the right called Wood Creek Trail.

Wood Canyon:

Wood Creek trail is single track (my favorite) and runs up above Wood creek, therefore basically parallel to Wood Canyon Trail. It’s rocky. It’s shady. It’s a forest. It’s coastal with chaparral. It has views of Wood Canyon from above, and intimate views of Wood Creek not so far below. It really is so many things in one. There’s mushrooms growing in the wet dark places. And there’s prickly pear out with the chaparral. And then. Before you know it. You are at Wood Canyon again.

View of Wood Canyon from Wood Creek Trail:

More Views from Wood Creek Trail:

Can you tell that I love Wood Creek Trail? After that, I was ready to take on all of Wood Canyon and its mundaneness. Though, I am too harsh – Wood Canyon really isn’t that mundane. I came upon a majestic Great Blue Heron on the out and the back of my hike. I also came upon each stick on the ground cautiously thinking it could be a snake, but knowing snakes aren’t out this time of year (it’s just natural reflex because of the many, many times I have come up on rattlers on Wood Canyon trail). I also came upon so many other travelers of Wood Canyon on this particular hike. There were lots of cyclists, many hikers, and some runners. It was a beautiful day, a day whose stories interest me much more than a movie (though I do enjoy a movie too!)

Oh. I almost forgot! 7.08 miles.