Sunday, October 28, 2018
Maple Springs Road in the Autumn
Monday, October 22, 2018
Prepping for Chimera
Chimera is going to be a whole new beast this year, thanks to the #HolyFire. Much of the original course (which had been re-worked due to the Silverado fire some years back) was burned this summer. We’ve still have a hundred mile course, but now it’s basically a repeat of “The Candy Store Loop” five times. FIVE times. There are several other distances available also. Timing will probably be very difficult. But luckily for me I am not in charge of time. I am in charge of coordinating volunteers.
A whole new beast means completely different needs from the volunteers. We don’t need 4wd drivers any longer. And we don’t need as many aid stations. But what we do need is people to hike-in to stations, and more importantly, people to hike out in the weeks prior to take care of the trails and to stash water. For the past two weekends (10/13 & 10/21), I’ve gone out with a group of wonderful volunteers to hide some of that water. I got to hike with people I have not met before, and I got to do some hiking with regular volunteers and some friends from the trail. And boy has it been a good workout. The trail is single-track and technical, and carrying water, well, that makes it much tougher. Fortunately, it is gorgeous out there. And even more fortunately, the weather has turned. It is autumn!. Yah for autumn!! Over the two trips, we’ve stashed 60 gallons so far. We have a tall order to fill -- goal is 150 gallons of water stashed by race day. I am so appreciative of the folks who volunteered to do this crazy task! What a great group of people, and what a fun workout for me.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Santiago Truck Trail
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Aliso Woods Big Loop V. 2
Friday, October 5, 2018
Closing Out September
Arroyo Trabuco Trail:
The video clips:
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Black Star Canyon in the Summertime
Monday, September 3, 2018
Another One for the Summer (& in the Afternoon to Boot!)
Saturday morning (9/1), I slept in (as I do lately – I still have not recovered from my 17 days off from work). I believe that it was about 12:30 when I took off in my truck for Aliso/Woods Canyon. Being that the weather was damn hot, there were plenty of parking spaces on the street outside of the ranger station. This meant that I did not need to pay for parking, and as I cannot afford yet to even repair my truck, that came as a welcome (despite the very small amount our county parks require for parking – it all adds up!). As I prepped outside my truck, a woman sitting low in a car parked next to me hollered out to a passer-byer, “Is there a river in that park?” No, the passer-byer didn’t see a river. Hmmm. A river? Oh Boy. that was it on the subject, the passer-byer didn’t mention the creeks (which I did mention to the two ladies in the car who were smoking hashish out of a glass pipe).
So, Aliso/Wood Canyons has two year round creeks running through the park. One creek is in Aliso Canyon and the other in Wood Canyon. The two creeks meet it seems at perpendicular angles. Wood Creek dumps into Aliso Creek, which runs all the way to the Pacific Ocean rat Aliso Beach in the city of Laguna Beach. In all the years that I have been visiting these canyons, I have never seen either of these creeks dry (though low they can go!). And though they can flow quite heavily, I would never call them rivers.
Like I have already mentioned, it was dang hot out there in Aliso Viejo on the first day of September. Even so, there were your usual amount of warriors out trekking across the trails. One group that I saw off and on, was a group of 3 or so dads and ten or so little guys (probably about 10 years old) riding their way up Wood Canyon. I also got to check in with some of the burned area. There’s new growth already in some areas. The fire fortunately did not ravish Wood Canyon (but I have not seen Dripping Cave or Coyote Run trails yet because they are closed).
I didn’t see any of the large animals (like coyotes or deer), but I saw plenty of rabbits, road runners and lizards. And on the topic of lizards, I saw several horned lizards, which are a new finding for me in these canyons. Then toward the end of The Big Loop at Aliso/Woods Canyons, I came up on a baby gopher snake. It was a beautiful little creature, which I’ve pictured further down below.
Wood Canyon regrowth:Some more Wood Canyon:
Anyway! The first 4.5 miles were delightful. They were hot, but much of Wood Canyon provides good shade. The 4.5 mile marks the end of Wood Canyon. After marching up Cholla Trail, I took the rolling hills of West Ridge to Top of the World in Laguna Beach. I do not recall the time that I arrived at Alta Laguna Park, but I do recall that the weather was beginning to change. The sun still shined brightly, but there was a cool onshore breeze coming in. What bliss! The onshore breeze is the most wonderful thing about living on the coast. So, that made the remainder of my hike just utterly pleasant (not to mention that fact that I had very few inclines to deal with after the half-way point.)
The weather changed at the 7 mile mark which is Top of the World, or rather Alta Laguna Park in Laguna Beach. The breeze got a littler cooler and each time lasted a little longer. And so, I trekked through the Laguna Beach Top of the World neighborhood to enter the park again over in Aliso Canyon. On the way, I passed a pasture of goats surrounded by a make-shift electrified fence. I fought against an urge to touch the fence to see just how much the jolt would be. On meadows, I met a gopher snake, and also stopped in more than one place to listen to the wind blowing through the trees.
It was almost like a different day when I arrived by at the truck. It was like a cool autumn and not a hot summer day like when I started.
12 miles, 1,319’ feet elevation gain