The “Big” Big Loop

June 5, I still choose to hike locally, especially since I’d rather sleep in a tad, til about 7 am, then sit around drinking my two cups of coffee with stevia and heavy whipping cream. Of course that gets prolonged because I need to pack my stuff and do a walkabout on my property to look at things like the blackberries and wildflower seeds planted beneath the Orange tree. By the time I head out, it’s already at least 10 am!

June 5 was hazy and gloomy and even rainy in the early morning. We call that June gloom on the coast in southern California. It’s this way every year. Sometimes it seems we barely see a day of sunshine in June. It rained, in fact, the day I gave birth to my oldest son, more than 20 years ago, June 3, 1999.

June 5, 2020, I decided to go for The Big Loop, V. 2, as I have often called it, which is a longer extension of The Big Loop. I parked in the church lot across the street because the parking lot at Aliso/Woods ranger station was closed (although the park was open). That didn’t seem so odd to me since we live in weird times right now, and parking lots are constantly being closed. Then as I was climbing out of my truck, at least 50 motorcycle policemen (& women too, I’m sure)  road down the road toward the boulevard. And that’s when I suddenly heard the shouts and cheering from afar. And amazingly, from my viewpoint, I could see protestors out near the federal building in Aliso Viejo. There have been protests daily in my area. All have been peaceful, so I was not necessarily alarmed. But the event felt a little surreal.

The Big Loop (the first version), is actually a lollipop loop, going up Cholla Trail, going down Meadows (or vice-versa), just under 12 miles. The Big Loop, V. 2, on the other hand, is just under 13 miles, replacing Meadows above with Mentally Sensitive Trail. Of late, I’ve been calling V. 2, the “Big” Big Loop. I think I like that name better. But that’s neither here nor there. What’s is here and there is this (despite all the depressing news out there – in the U.S. and even in the world, you know what I mean):

Spring is still out there on the southern California coast!

And this:

The forest is spooky and awesome

And this:

The California Riviera