Quiet Thanksgiving

Perhaps I’m just getting older.  Or lazier.  Or, quite possibly, both.
Whatever the reason, as time goes by, I find myself doing less on the Thanksgiving Holiday, even while society at large seems to be pushing everything and everyone to rush around at a more and more frantic pace every year.

HIKE: Red Rock Canyon To Calabasas Peak

(Not to be confused with Red Rock Canyon State Park.)
Driving to the trailhead is, most of the time, a relatively straightforward thing.  The parking areas are usually well marked or easily definable (like a wide roadway shoulder).  Such is not the case with Red Rock Canyon Park.
Located off Old Topanga Road, the [...]

Hike: Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa Ramble

Ranch Sierra Vista/Satwiwa is located at the northwest edge of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a good hour’s drive from Los Angeles.  The open landscape sits right next to the outer edge of suburbia, neighborhoods you’ll be driving through on the way to the trailhead.  The open land here is the border between [...]

The Problem…

…with watching all of “The National Parks – America’s Best Idea” for a solid week is that it makes one really, really want to quit one’s job and hit the road.
I can only imagine what would have happened if they’d aired the show in the spring, near the beginning of tourist season, rather than now, [...]

HIKE: Mist Falls

Mist Falls, with its relatively small elevation gain, can easily be done as a half-day hike.  I don’t recommend it, though.
Instead, the trail out and back to Mist Falls in Kings Canyon National Park is more worthy of slower ramble.  Take time to enjoy the quiet canyon, the sound of the South Fork of [...]

L.A.’s Short Attention Span Theater

The Station Fire, as I write tonight, is now about 91% contained.  The estimate for full containment has been pushed back, now, to this weekend.
What surprises me more than how long containment is taking is how quickly the fire was forgotten by the local media, even here in media-driven Los Angeles.  By the [...]

Respite

Just home from a much-needed relaxing weekend of car-camping in Kings Canyon.
There was hiking, talking, caving, fire lookouts, scenery galore, good food, and even a bear.

Orange Moon

As I write this, the moon outside my window has risen, and it’s deep orange color.
That’s from the smoke, which has been flowing over the LA basin for the last couple of days.
As I write this, the fire is only about 38% contained.  239 square miles have burned, and it’s still advancing on the east [...]

Distant Smoke

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve driven up Highway 2 into the Angeles National Forest over the years.  So many that I suppose I could probably drive it in my sleep, it seems I know the twists and turns of the road so well.
Don’t worry, though, I won’t.  The drop-offs on the side [...]

A Familiar Trail

(Written mostly in my head and on a scrap of paper in my pocket.  *shrug*  It’s an experiment.)
So, it’s Sunday morning, and I’m relaxing on the couch watching the Sunday Paper for Lazy People: CBS Sunday Morning.
Still, I think I need to go hiking.  It’s been a couple of weeks, and I suppose my feet [...]