-
Mount Baldy’s Bear Canyon Made Me Emotional
Because I nearly broke my foot in May, I lost a fight with a 30lb dumbbell, and then spent the entire month of June trying to process the loss of my Tickle, when I set out to do the Bear Canyon Trail in Mount Baldy last month, I was breaking a two and a half month long no hiking streak.
-
Murphy Ranch – Old Nazi Compound in the Santa Monica Mountains
Did you know there is an old Nazi sympathizer compound hidden away in the Santa Monica Mountains? (Or at least the start of what was to be a Nazi sympathizer compound.) Accessible via a moderately rated 3.4-mile hike in Rustic Canyon, Murphy's Ranch is a peek into some of the bizarre histories of LA.
-
Get in the Spooky Mood with Norco’s Pumpkin Rock Hike
Halloween may be less than a week away, but if you live in Southern California and are looking for a unique way to celebrate this spooky season, the Pumpkin Rock Hike in Norco may be perfect for you! I’ve done this hike twice now since moving back to California, right around my first Halloween back, and once this past weekend. The hike is short, just around a mile round trip, and despite the incline (depending on the route you chose) and some lose rock/gravel, the hike is pretty doable by most people in relative shape. And this hike is for the most part family-friendly, as long as no one has…
-
Gould Mesa Road: Angeles Crest Hwy to Paul Little Picnic Site
According to my AllTrails recording this hike was 6 miles round trip and took us a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes, including our short break at the end waterfall. It was a weekday morning that we went and we did encounter a few hikers throughout the trail, but I wouldn't call it busy and for the most part people were polite and did have their masks on them.
-
Quarantine Day 60 – 67: I’m still Happy and I went Hiking
If you read last week's Corona Journal entry, I am happy to report that things are still going good. After admitting to the world that I was happy and everything seemed to be going good, my life did not fall apart. I still feel really good, I even caught myself smiling last night for no reason. I'm still maintaining and/or working on all of my new good habits - working out, walking, meditation, gardening. For the most part the last week has been pretty much the same old same old, in the best way possible. Only new thing to report, I did finally go hiking!
-
Apple Picking Adventures
Fall is my favorite season, in theory. I love the changing leaves and the chill in the air. There is nothing I enjoy more than wrapping myself up in blanket on cool nights. I think I'm much cuter in sweaters, scarves, tights and boots, than in bikinis, shorts, and tank tops. And, I can start breaking out the eggnog (pumpkin spice can kiss my ass). But, I live in Southern California and that means my fall season is really more of a faux fall season. (Don't get me wrong its way more fall like here than it was in Hawaii, but compared to the majority of the country, it's barely…
-
Hermit and Sturtevant Falls
One of the many trails that begin at Chantry Flats in the San Gabriel Mountains, Hermit Falls and Sturtevant Falls are individual hikes that can be tackled independently or together in a little over 5 miles long loop. Me and my hiking partners decided to tackle the loop.
-
Switzer Falls
Switzer Falls is one of the most visually exciting hikes I have done here in Southern California thus far. At a little over 4 miles round trip, the trail travels up and down a narrow valley in the Angeles National Forest. At some parts of the trail you will see remnants of old roads, other parts you will be traveling casually along a stream, and the next moment you will be climbing up high above the trees. Although a tad strenuous this trail will keep you intrigued the entire way.
-
Etiwanda Falls
Etiwanda Falls is a short, easy, miserably hot hike to a gorgeous waterfall in Rancho Cucamonga. At just around 3.5 miles (round trip) most hikers can reach the falls in under an hour. But I must warn you, it is a long, hot hour up a rocky un-shaded hill. According to AllTrails we completed the entire trail with a moving time of just under 90 minutes.
-
Stairway to Heaven
One of the last hikes I attempted while on Oahu is also one of Oahu's most infamous and talked about hikes. It seems like everyone has heard of, or at least seen pictures of, Oahu's Stairway to Heaven (also known as the Haiku Stairs).
