Chiquito/Chiquita Falls are Falling

The last time I hiked out to Chiquito Falls I said that the next time I visited they’d be falling. AND THEY WERE. Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday) I was off from work, so I drove up Ortega Highway and into Blue Jay Campgrounds. Due to the government shutdown, the campgrounds (and all the bathrooms) were locked (because you know, the peasants might go out and play on the king’s land).

I parked outside of the campgrounds on Long Canyon Road and trekked through the grounds to see at least 3 people camping. They parked outside too and hiked in their gear. I mean, who was going to enforce the closing if the government was closed? Nobody, that’s who, and good for the campers too who made the trip all the way up the mountain to find it closed. I do not believe that the actual trails were closed (that would be absolutely unenforceable), but all the campgrounds were for sure.

Despite the government locking us out from the people’s land, the trails were gorgeous on Monday, and they were empty too (until I reached the falls). I took Old San Juan Trail to San Juan Trail. And then, instead of getting right onto Chiquita Trail like I usually do, I opted for The Viejo Tie, which takes a bit longer. I was missing the tie, it had been years. And The Viejo Tie did not disappoint. It was just how I remembered – single track winding between giant boulders arranged on sandy desert-like dirt and then shady, lush areas with moss and shrooms. 

It got even better – Chiquita Trail was lush and green from all of our rains, and the creek was full. The trail was like an enchanted forest with green moss covering the rocks, and a lace like canopy meeting above. At one point, I noticed an animal running toward me on Chiquita, and as usual, it took a couple of seconds before I could determine the animal. It’s a strange thing that when I see an animal coming toward me my sight and thought are not synced. It takes a few seconds for my brain to register what type of animal I’m looking at. My brain registers the picture, but naming it comes a few seconds later. On Monday, it was a gorgeous gray fox. At first, after registering the longish snout and the big pointy ears, I thought coyote. But then my brain settled down and I registered its short legs and the creature’s closeness to the ground. Definitely a fox, and unfortunately, by the time I got my camera out, the fox realized that he was running straight toward a human, turned around and darted off the other way. I do not believe that I have ever caught a picture of a fox. I have perhaps seen a  half dozen on the trails, some in California, others in Texas. 

The falls were falling, and they were crowded with people who had hiked up from The Candy Store on Ortega Highway. There must have been a half dozen hikers laughing and having a good old time as they feasted on fruit at the top of the falls. There another guy playing a ukulele in the high grass right next to the pool, and a male/female couple sitting on the rocks a little further down. After about 15 minutes though, everyone left, and except for the water, it was silent. I had the falls completely to myself. (I posted a 50 second video of the falls here)

I loved this hike. It totaled 9.82 miles with 1,654‘ elevation gain (though that gain was really over about half of that, 1,654' feet in about 4 or 5 miles). I also ran a bit because I was falling behind on time. I took San Juan Trail all the way to the end (or beginning) which I haven’t done in years. It was delightful. It felt good to have dirt beneath my feet. And I didn’t even feel clumsy along that pretty technical trail.

Hiking San Juan Capistrano (Plus an initial review of Amazfit Pace sports watch)

I got a new sports watch for Christmas, and I have barely said a word about it. The fact that I haven’t said much is testament to its relative ease of use. I’m still learning how to use it to its fullest capacity, but I already know that me and this watch are going to be friends. The watch is an Amazfit Pace, and it’s battery lasts for days and days. Battery life, if I have not already mentioned before, is of utmost importance to me -- perhaps the most important. And so, Amazfit Pace hit that concern right on the mark. However, I’m not accustomed to a touch screen watch, and most of the time I cannot figure out how I got to a the menu I’m currently at (the menus can run deeper than my mind wants to go!). The good thing is that I can easily start and end a hike or run without getting lost in the menus on my Amazfit. I was also able to easily sync the watch’s data to the phone app. But, I’m not thrilled with the phone app, mainly because it’s a phone app. I prefer the large screen -- I’d like a pc app (like I had with my Garmin). The best I have found so far, is having the data upload onto Strava.com.

I somehow linked my Amazfit phone app to an old Strava account that I don’t think I’ve ever used. I didn’t even know that I correctly synced the two (it’s all a guessing game with me sometimes) until I received some “kudos” from a few trail running friends.  Also, another thing about the Strava upload, and this is going to bug me for a while, the numbers between the two apps differ slightly between my Amazit phone app and the Strava pc app.

Aside from all the usual stuff that I’m used to on a sports watch (distance, mileage, elevation, pace, etc), this watch also tells me the weather forecast for a week, records my heart rate and even tracks my sleep when I wear it to bed! Yes the Amazfit Pace tells me how much of my sleep was light versus deep sleep. And it shows me graphs with the exact timing of deep sleep cycles. Who knows how accurate the sleep data is, and I’m not sure even if that information is useful to me. I could download music to the watch too and listen bluetooth (which I probably will not do -- I’m old fashioned and still pack an ipod). Bottom line, useful statistics or not,  I’m back in the business of tracking stats.

On Friday, after a week of rain, I strapped on my Amazfit and headed out for some trails. I went as local as can possible being that I didn’t get out until the afternoon, and my son had a 4:30 doctor’s appointment. Seemed like as good a time as any to get reacquainted with the town that I so love, the town that got us out here --  San Juan Capistrano. I reminisced in my Friday video how many years ago I was travelling by train with my husband-to-be and his classmates from an urban development class at Cal Poly. As the train slowed down through the hills of San Juan Capistrano, I gaped at the beauty outside of my train window. I had never been to San Juan Capistrano but knew right away I loved it and exclaimed right there in the train, “I want to live here!” Turned out, my husband’s first job out of college was in San Juan Capistrano. We moved out here in December 1988.

Trabuco Creek flows right into San Juan Capistrano. From there the creek that I so love, meets up with San Juan Creek, and they both flow out to the ocean at Doheny Beach in Dana Point. I decided to meet up with Trabuco Creek before it met San Juan Creek. I parked my truck by the horse stables just outside of the Los Rios District.

It has been a while since I have seen Trabuco Creek flowing so forcefully through San Juan Capistrano -- at least a few years. It was flowing so well on Friday, that I could not find a place to cross. My hike came to a halt where the creeks comes tumbling down the rocks beneath the train tracks. So, I took a little detour and climbed up to the tracks, ran across the bridge then made my way back to Trabuco Creek Trail through the meadows that are dotted with orange trees. After meeting back up with the trail, I turned back off again to take the bike path beneath Interstate 5. From there, I made my way fairly easily to Arroyo Trabuco Trail, just past the golf course off of Avery Parkway in Mission Viejo. My hope was to make it to the first giant overpass (Crown Valley Parkway), but my hike came to a gradual halt when my feet began sinking down into the mud. The trail became so muddy that my feet sank down to my ankles. Pulling them back out of the mud to tredge on became tiresome, and I feared that I was going to fall flat on my face. So, I made my way back from this lovely hike in San Juan Capistrano a little earlier than planned.

7.43 miles logged
3:10:48 Total time
528 ‘ feet of elevation gain
220’ average altitude
121 bpm average heart rate

One More Mental Health Hike

I am back to work after a winter break. Work that is teaching. I teach computer applications at two schools (one community college and one k-12 adult ed), and HSE Prep/high school equivalency: math, reading/writing, social sciences, and science, (at another community college). There is much preparation time involved, so I am beat. I am beat because I also want to spend time with my family, keep the house clean, read, write, run or hike, and so on, and I haven’t yet figured out how to juggle it all with teaching (though I have a very big suspicion on what it is that I need to do).

So! Back to the reason for this blog (besides supplying a way to just ramble on about wandering trails), and that is, my last trail adventure. January 11, 2019, I took in one more mental health hike (my second of two). It was a change of plans, as always, that landed me in Laguna Wilderness that morning. The trails aren’t overwhelmingly beautiful to my tastes,  in that area anyway (sorry Laguna Beach , I still love you though, very much! ). The trails here are mostly all completely exposed. There’s no shade, no place to recover from heat, and the creeks are almost always dry (but there is always the Pacific Ocean, which makes this a perfect place any time of the year!). Fortunately though, there is no need to escape from heat right now in Southern California. Our low temperatures during the day are in the fifties (Fahrenheit). If I drive 30, 40 minutes inland however, the temps can dip ten, twenty degrees.

Back to subject:Traverse Laguna Wilderness or Crystal Cove Parks during the wintertime!  There is no lovelier time in these parks (which run along the coasts of Laguna and Newport Beaches). In the wintertime, the weather is cool enough that you don’t need shade to recover. On Friday, I switched in and out of of my long sleeves, gloves and beanie, but I was mostly slightly chilled. Most of the hike, a gray sky hovered over a steel colored ocean. It felt somewhat eerie, especially when a ray of sun beamed down through a lapse in clouds causing a streak that reached to the horizon. There was a short time there that the clouds parted and blue skies appeared. And when that happened, I could see all the green more clearly, and it appeared as we were on the brink of spring!

This was my route (10.23 mi):

1,621' elevation gained

Mental Health Hike

I recently returned from a 15 day road trip. My husband and our three sons (ages 13, 16 and 19) drove our big old SUV over 4 states to Texas. I have barely been home a week (6 days to be exact) and I feel whacked. It was an emotional trip that wore me down on many levels. If I had been on the road much longer, I probably would have taken up smoking again (that means a lot more then I tell here!). Don’t get me wrong, there were lovely times, there was family, and a little bit of rejuvenation. But being on the road, well, that just made the downs and the transitions to the downs a whole lot harder. Now that I am home (no longer bundled up in wool coats, scarfs and hats!), a long hike is the only thing I can think of to help make the transition back into “normal” life. A long mental health hike.

Mental health hikes (or runs) work like this: The first half, maybe even three-quarters are difficult (there is usually much to confront). Amazingly though, you work through it, the crap, the bad feelings, the things that you can do absolutely nothing about. Then you just come to the inevitable, which is you just have no choice but to deal with life the best you can (best as in the least troubles, and with the most dignity), and you sure love it out here, moving along in nature, look at that Blue Heron, and oh there’s some deer . . . just relax. That’s what trails help me to do: RELAX.

The Big Loop, V. 1 @ Aliso/Woods Canyons: Aliso Cyn-Wood Cyn-Cholla-West Ridge-Top of the World-Meadows-Wood Cyn-Aliso Cyn, 11.59 miles, 1,539' elevation gain. January 9, 2019,

5 deer in Aliso Canyon:Wood Creek:West Ridge:Meadows Trail:

Dinosaur Valley (Paluxy River)

I decided two Fridays ago (12/30) to take my chances and once again roam about Dinosaur Valley outside of Glen Rose, Texas. Last time I did that, 7 years ago, I got lost. Land of the Lost.

THIS TIME, I carefully mapped out a 5 to 6 mile loop, which entailed crossing the Paluxy River on the way out, and the way back. I only slightly considered how I might cross the river during my planning stage the night prior. Turned out, the river was quite full, and that crossing it even at the shallowest places would have meant getting wet at least knee deep (but probably more).

So, a river crossing was out of the question, especially since the rangers had closed all trails north of the Paluxy River. I wasn’t much in the mood for another ranger encounter. So much for my planned out route.

I took a trail adjacent to the river instead, and filmed my Friday Hike video. The temperature was in the low forties (Fahrenheit), and that was absolutely wonderful. I love the cold weather. But there were no dinosaur tracks to be found, as the river covered them all. Often I needed to hike up the river’s banks to find passage. Then when I could, I would hike back down to the cold waters. For the most part, I was alone, except for a lone fisherman here and there, or a camper up on the banks. Occasionally, I would come up on a group of people in the easy to reach look-out spots. This park is a tourist attraction that attracts people from around the world. I would visit again and again. Next time, I think I might rent one of the kayaks that I saw along the river's bank for $25 a day.

Total miles: 4.38 miles, 509’ elevation gain

Country Runs

I’m in the country this Christmas season . . . Texas country, where the roads are long and the skies are big. My boys are staying at my in-laws ranch, while my husband and I are in town at a hotel. Every morning, we drive out to the ranch (about a 20 minute drive), where we have been spending time with family. There’s lots of land to walk around and a couple of ponds to linger about. It really is beautiful country, with miles and miles of back country roads to venture out onto.

Christmas Eve, I set out for a short run with my oldest son in the afternoon. The temperatures were in the forties (Fahrenheit), but that wasn’t cold enough to keep on the long sleeves. By the time we reached the small cemetery (Bowman Ridge Cemetery about 2 miles in), I was ready to take off the long sleeves and run in a tank top. It felt really good to get out and run the straightaway dirt roads. Really good. This run measured a little over 4.5 miles (with close to zero elevation gain). I know this for sure because I’m wearing my new sports watch – Amazfit Pace. Yes, I have officially left Garmin behind, and so for, I am pleased.

Run 2, which was today, December 27, I took my middle son along. It was dang cold out, but he didn’t even bring a jacket. I told him that he’d need one, but he did not believe. He mainly walked, but every so often would run to catch up with me. I think the running helped to warm him up. His face was red with cold. At about a half mile a jack rabbit stood up and ran across the field. He had to be three feet tall! I wish I was quick enough snap a picture. But by the time I had my camera out, he was long gone. Then about one mile in, two dogs ran from a farmhouse out onto the road, and accompanied us for most of the run. It wasn’t until about a half mile from “home” that the owners of the dogs showed up in a car and called the dogs in. The dogs were beautiful.

I kept my long sleeves on the entire run. I believe that it was thirty-something. Like I’ve already said, dang cold! The dogs didn’t mind, and my son without a jacket didn’t seem to mind much either. (Crazy kids!) We went back out to the cemetery, which is so interesting. It is a very old cemetery, with grave markers dating back to the early 1800s. It’s also a historical landmark being that it is a Confederate veteran cemetery. I know that it is popular to hate all Confederate history, but I love history, so I’m delighted to come across an artifact like this, which by the way, is practically in the middle of nowhere – it’s surround by country roads and farms – that’s it.

This run measured just a little over 4 miles, with again, practically zero elevation gain.