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.

---

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

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.

 

Car Wreck/Rock-It Loop

March 19 (Thursday) Social Distancing was the talk of the town, but there was still no official shelter-in-place order. I had been converting all my classes to online and learning the software that I would be recording my lectures (Zoom). And so when we had another break in the rain, I was eager to take a break from work and headed on off to Aliso Canyon where the fields were green, but the skies were gray. The parking lot at the ranger station was closed but there was plenty of room to park on the street and in the church parking lot across the street. There were other cars parked about with hikers and mountain bikers -- I'd say 20 to 30. But this wilderness park is about 4500 acres. So if each of those cars had 2 people each, that'd be 60 people in a 4500 acre area, which of course means you stand a good chance of not seeing a single other person there.

The park itself was open, I confirmed by talking with a ranger. And then minutes later, as I was headed out toward Aliso Creek Trail, the rain began to fall. I hurried beneath the structure that houses a piece of historic farm equipment, hoping to wait it out. It was cold windy wind, so I took a gamble and headed off into the native plant garden to a couple of benches that I recalled beneath some trees that overlooked Aliso Creek. What I didn't remember was that those trees were deciduous, which means the benches were completely exposed this time of year (no leaves!). By the time I made it back to my truck in the church parking lot, I was pretty drenched. Fortunately, I was wearing a pair of quick-dry hiking shorts, and I had a dry beanie waiting to replace the drenched one upon my head.

I checked my weather app to see that this storm would be passing and leaving a wide area open for slight rain, or no rain at all. And I just sat there for a while in my truck, taking in the few people here and there scurrying into their cars. Twenty to thirty cars may seem like a lot for this pre-shelter-in-place "Social Distancing" phase we were in. But it's really not for this park on a spring day (and spring break for many), you could easily see 5 times as many people. I finally felt dry enough to venture out of the truck. It was about 11:30 am. I was still on spring break, and the next week, more after that, I was working from home, so I had time to get in a hike, and so grateful I was for that. The dark rain clouds at last parted and Aliso Canyon looked like this:

Aliso Creek was roaring

In Wood Canyon, about to cross over Wood Creek

Because I set out so late on this hike/run (but mainly hike), I decided against the Big Loop or any version thereof. Instead, I decided to head up Wood Canyon, turn off on Mathis, then before the big climb up Mathis, turn off onto Oak Grove Trail. This lovely green and wooded trail leads to a land of fairies and magical spells, a wrecked car from long ago (now destroyed from vandals) and a magnificently steep trail that climbs back up to Mathis (near West Ridge). I don't often find myself on Car Wreck, as it is quite difficult going up. But on this particular day, that kind of uphill climbing was just what I needed.

Kickin' Back on this Bizarrely Placed Bench on Oak Grove Trail

 

Car Wreck Trail

A tiny bit of rain came down on Car Wreck Trail. And surprisingly, I met up with two separate groups of people, each consisting with about 4 people (I think the first group had 5). That's quite unusual. As empty as this park was, I would have figured that one of the most remote trails (like Car Wreck) would have had no people sightings. I did some live video going up Car Wreck (it really is that fun of a trail!). And then at Mathis and West Ridge, I found the trails desolate once again.

I elected to head back via Rock-It and Coyote Run Trails. I saw a couple of people off in the distance on RockIt Trail. I don't recall any others. The park was pretty desolate. 4,500 acres is a lot of land. What a beautiful day it was!

Rock-It