Cave-Rock Post-Injury

When my doctor said that I could take short, flat hikes, I was sure to clarify exactly what he meant by flat (because the road can be flat at an incline). It didn’t even occur to me to pin down what he meant by “short.” Monday, I took a “short”, “flat” hike up Aliso and Wood Canyons to a lovely hidden (in plain sight) gem, Cave Rock. It was the shortest hike I could think of where I could sit in a nice place in solitude.

Cave Rock Trail:

Cave Rock in the distance:

Approaching . . .
My only bit of “non-flat”:My Place of Solitude: 

As usual, weekdays are best. A father and daughter came by early on. Other than that, I had this side of Cave Rock to myself. I probably had all of Cave Rock to myself. But to investigate the entire rock would have entailed some additional non-flat hiking.

It felt wonderful to be out again. My secret place was so peaceful that I accidentally dozed off for a second. Whoa. It was time to head back. About 3.75 miles total for the round trip. I call that short. But I don’t think my calf thought it was short. It felt weird, kind of wobbly after a gentle stretch back at home. Worried that I over did it, I was back on heat and ice for the next few days. Since Monday, I’ve been off the trails and have been using my down time to get some painting done on the inside of the house. I am pleased with the progress but really want to get back to my obsession. Trails.

Moulton Meadows Loop

May 23 I finally got in some trails. (And I haven’t been out since.) With a lunch in my pack, I headed out early afternoon for a little known park in Laguna Beach named Moulton Meadows. From there, I caught Mentally Sensitive Trail into Aliso Canyon for some cave hopping in Wood Canyon. And I took my sweet time going about it.

I scraped up my legs a bit hopping around on the rocks. And the wind kicked in for some lovely times on the cliffs. In all, the Moulton Meadows loop covered about 9.5 miles. I still haven’t got the data off my “smart” watch for the stats that I so enjoy. For weeks it still read Eastern Standard Time.

Much needed medicine but too far in between.

RockIt:

The Way of the Creek

Thursday (March 22) I took another march in my stomping grounds where I let my feet lead the way. I turned off onto Wood Canyon because well, that’s the way of the creek, and I think that if there’s a choice between of going the way of the creek or not, I’m always going to choose the creek.

After a short while in Wood Canyon, I took a detour to one of my favorite places on Cave Rock Trail and spied this little guy:

After the caves, I hiked to the top of the giant rock but before climbing back down on the other side, I took a steep scouting expedition. This well travelled trail ran straight up the hillside. It confused me as to where it might lead. Much of the trail was rock; tire marks and foot prints marked the dirt sections.  Though it was mighty steep,  I continued to climb the trail out of curiosity. My direction intuition was out of sorts and I could not fathom where it  lead – this fueled my curiosity all the more! Eventually I saw the Top of the World neighborhood not too far away – the actual named neighborhood that overlooks Aliso Canyon. Wow. What a surprise. Once I realized where the trail lead (either directly into Top of the World,  or it turned off somewhere near it), I decided to head back down and let my feet continue directing.

Just as I am a sucker for creeks, I am also for caves. Next stop Dripping Cave:

A short time after arriving to Dripping Cave, two men hiked up. Not wanting to intrude on their time at the cave and not really wanting to hang out with two strangers at the cave (but also not ready to leave it), I found a trail that lead up and above it (but not before chatting a bit with the guys about poison oak). The view up top was breathtaking, exhilarating really, but more so because the rock up there sloped forward toward the cave’s mouth. The sensation was that if I were to fall, I would tumble down the slope and fall off of the top of the cave. Yikes! I would not like that one bit. Of course, I wasn’t going to fall. But that slant, though fairly slight, was just too scary. So, I hopped down from there pretty quickly and went and hung out in a tree close by that overlooked the trail . When I heard the voices from the guys coming my way, I jumped down and headed back to Wood Canyon Trail where I continued this delightful afternoon journey.

Above the cave:

Along the way, I saw deer in the field near the old corral:

And then I took another quick detour up a little known, short trail called Alwut Overlook. A bench sits up at the top overlooking Wood Canyon. I rarely visit this spot. But being spring, I knew the view would be superb so I took the hike up and parked myself on that bench. The view did not disappoint.

Last thing I did before heading back toward the way of the creek was to locate a secret meadow that I noticed some time ago while on a ridge trail. I had studied its location for a while, so with relative ease, was able to take a peek at the hidden meadow not too far off the trail. I love moments like this:

Stomping Grounds

A lot of people head out first thing in the morning to hike, bike or run in the coastal hills. But with the weather as cool as it has been and the time change, if I’m going local, I really have no reason to get out at the crack of dawn. Saturday (March 30) I had plenty of time to wait until rush hour in the coastal hills ceased before I hit the trails. By the time I arrived to my regular stomping grounds, that is Wood Canyon, the crowds had gone home. There were a few stragglers out for an afternoon ride or stroll. Best thing was, the weather was still chilly and quite breezy too..

I could not possibly count the amount of times I’ve hiked or run Aliso and Wood Canyon Trails. Well, I suppose I could count my blog posts (but that would not include the lost MySpace posts plus I don’t want to do that). But I can approximate. I’ve been wandering these trails regularly for about 15 years, and to use an estimate of once per week, that would equal 52 times a year, and 52 multiplied by 15 equals 780. Now, I’ll knock of 280 just because and I come up with 500; I’ve wandered the trails in these canyons about 500 times. This is why I call Aliso/Wood Canyons my stomping grounds.

I didn’t plan where I’d hike on March 20. Nowadays, I decide as I go when I’m in my stomping grounds.  On Saturday, I set off into Aliso Canyon and turned off onto Wood Canyon, and waited to see where my feet would take me. They took me to Cave Rock Trail where I stopped by my favorite caves. Then they took me to Coyote Run where I hiked up Nature Loop and took a side trail to a fine lookout over two canyons. I was about to climb down and head off to one of my secret places when I heard the voices of 3 or 4 teenage boys hiking up the trail. Perched up above them between the crevice of two giant boulders, I had a perfect view of the boys though they could not see me. Not wanting to surprise the lads last minute, I decided to answer one of the boy’s when his question to the others about where this trail led went unanswered. After that we chatted a bit. It was a fun interaction. They knew a lot of secret trails in the park, which of course they do right? I bet these trails are probably their stomping grounds too. Anyway, I told them what I knew about this trail and they switched places with me in my perch to explore more while I headed off to my secret place.

Sometime later one of the boys met up with me at my spot, and he described what they had discovered past where I had been perched up in the crevice. And then he was off again. By the time I headed off to take RockIt to West Ridge, all four of the guys were at the spot, thanking me for showing it to them. But they would have found it no doubt without me.

The interaction with these teens brought back a memory that hit me as I hiked up RockIt. It’s funny how things seemingly forgotten suddenly come to mind so many years later. This memory was a flashback to the 80s, to my old stomping grounds, an equestrian wilderness area called Walnut Creek below Frank G. Bonelli Park. I probably didn’t hang out at Walnut Creek 500 times, but this place was definitely my stomping grounds for about 5 years through my late teens and early twenties. On the day that flashed into my memory I was dragging a big leaf plastic bag behind me as I filled it with trash strewn about an area that we called Dragon Lake (due to a boulder allegedly shaped like a dragon). Up hiked these young boys, teenagers, too young to drive. They hung with me for a while and I ended up giving them a ride to a grocery store nearby. I know that sounds odd, but those were the days when people hitch-hiked. I hitched hiked. I picked up hitch-hikers. This was not a regular habit but I thumbed rides enough to have several such experiences. I’m not excusing the behavior (because it definitely seems reckless now), just explaining it. So, the boys came out of the store with bags full of candy and I gave them a ride back to the park. After I dropped them, I drove on and parked in another part of the trails so that I could get back to solitude and picking up trash. After some time, and a trash bag nearly full, I finally made it back to Dragon Lake, which I had left clean a few hours earlier. But it wasn’t so clean anymore. The place was littered with trash. Candy trash. The same candy that the boys I had driven to the store had purchased earlier. Ha! I couldn’t help but laugh but was also annoyed. I remember feeling a little deflated as I hiked around the “lake” picking up their candy trash and shoving it into my bag. Looking back, I got a good chuckle over the replay in my mind of this long forgotten experience. 

After that delightful memory, I continued on my climb until I reached Mathis Trail. I took that back down into Wood Canyon trying to find evidence of a trail the boys I met earlier said they found. So engrossed in visually locating that trail (which I eventually did) I grew a little distracted and nearly stepped right out in front of a biker. When I heard him holler, I immediately jumped out of the way (embarrassed!). And then that’s when I heard my name – the guy that nearly hit me was my old trail buddy Michael! What a great surprise and an awesome way to wind down this fantastic hike. Boy do I have lots of great trail memories with Michael. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, a few years in fact, so I was very happy to “run” into him.

I finished up this lovely spring afternoon / early evening hike at precisely 6 pm. 10 miles, 2,229’ elevation gain.

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Walnut Creek, my old Stomping Grounds
(picture most likely taken between 1985 and 1987)

Forcing It

It took a few more days than I thought before I finally grabbed my pack off the kitchen table and put it to my back. You see, among other things (remember, when it rains it pours?)  I ended up on antibiotics due to a tooth infection, and not feeling very invisible lately, I heeded my body’s advice and did a half-assed attempt at taking care of myself for a bit. By Thursday, October 23, I had no more excuses. It was time for some mental health therapy.I had to shove myself out the door.

I was really dreaming of Maple Spring Road in Silverado because its now fall and the Maples are starting to turn yellow. But since July was the last time I hit the trails, it is probably prudent to take it easy. And it was also prudent to not go driving all over the place when the budget is tight. Now is as good a time as any to start acting prudently. So, I decided to explore Wood Canyon (which is pretty easy) and stop by some of my favorite places: Wood Creek, Dripping Cave, Cave Rock, & Coyote Run.

I hiked 8.5 miles in total and took plenty of time sitting in caves and taking in the scenery. It was a beautiful eerie October day. Fall is in the air for sure – the weather is cool, the floor is littered with leaves and I can finally see the crawdads at the bottom of the creek beds – they start coming around in the fall!. I had to force myself out the door to get there -- I'm so glad I went. I know I'm better for it.

It’s been so long, I felt it in my legs on this one.

Time to Move Along

June 9, 2020 – Rock-it  / Meadows Lollipop Loop

Much needed late afternoon hike – didn’t begin until around 3:30 pm. I took my sweet ole’ time, taking time to cool down in Cave Rock. I finished up the lollipop loop at dusk, which is after the park closes. Aliso/Wood Canyons closes  at sunset. The lot was empty but I wasn’t the only one getting out of the park a little late. There were cyclists returning as well, and the rangers had not yet closed up the gates.

11.53 mi, 1,424' elevation gain. The route @ Aliso/Woods Cyns: Aliso Cyn to Wood Cyn to Cave Rock to Wood Cyn to Mathis to Coyote Run to Rock-It to West Ridge to Cyn Acres to TopOfTheWord to Meadows to Wood Cyn to  Aliso Cyn (Aliso Viejo & Laguna Beach CA).  

 

June 12, 2020 – The Big Loop (Cholla / Meadows Lollipop Loop)

Local once again, mainly because I have gotten used to sitting around for a couple hours drinking coffee and answering emails, reading news, etc. every morning. By the time I’m usually ready to go, it is much too late to drive to the mountains. I didn’t  wait as late this time, but I still started late (around 11 am). What a lovely warm afternoon with spring still in the air and cool breezes on the ridge!

Soon it will be time to change my routine and move along out of Aliso/Wood Canyons. For now, the Big Loop @ Aliso/Wood Cyns is a great go-to loop. 12.05 miles, 1,434' of elevation gain.