Black Canyon

My buddy Dave and I got to take our daughters for an excursion up Black Canyon Creek. The creek was almost ready to dry up but the trickling water that was flowing was really enjoyable. The weather was perfect and we all had a good time. The girls seemed to really enjoy it. Dave and I did some swimming and jumping off the boulders in the main pool. I couldn't talk the girls into swimming this time. It was a great day for wildlife viewing. We seen two water snakes and caught one of them. We seen a crazy squirrel way out on the very ends of some oak tree branches eating acorns, and what was really cool was that we encountered a huge Toe Biter water beetle eating a frog. I can't wait to come back here after a couple of heavy storms hit.

Tijeras Creek

I went and hiked a couple miles along Tijeras Creek after work. Although close to the city, it seems like you are far into the wilderness once you drop down into this canyon. The creek has beautifully carved it's way through the sandstone and yet the river rocks are an assortment of multicolored granite and other types of rocks washed down over the years from the mountains east of here. Some of the largest Sycamore trees that I have ever seen grow here. Deer tracks are everywhere and it is not uncommon to see deer in these canyons as I have seen several in other nearby similar canyons. Anyway, this was a really nice afterwork getaway......

San Marcos Mountain - East Approach

The girls went to the mall. I had a few hours to spare. My hiking boots and backpack are usually in my trunk for spur of the moment hikes. I set out to find the trail up the east side of San Marcos Mountain. I found out that this is the hard way. I really got my workout on up the backside of this mountain. Not a soul around. Plenty of solitude and great views from to top.

Kaddodyville Canyon

An after work evening hike to wind down the day and take the stress away.

Santa Ana Mountains

Linda and I got up early on a Saturday Morning with the car loaded with camping and hiking gear. We wanted to stay fairly close to home but somewhere new to us so we decided to go camping at Blue jay campground in the Santa Ana Mountains in Eastern Orange county. We drove up through the clouds and ended up driving up along a high ridge where we stopped and took in some spectacular views above the clouds. We could see San Gorgonio mountain and San Jacinto mountain ( which I have summited ) rising above the clouds on the eastern horizon. We found our camp and set it up. We were then ready to hike. First we hiked down into Hot Springs canyon toward a location of waterfalls and pools that we read about. The creaks were dry and the poison oak was really creeping up on the trail so we had to hike very carefully. What was really nice was the solitude we had down in the canyon and on our entire trip for that matter. We covered many miles after coming up back out of the canyon hiking through grasslands and pine and oak forest. Then we set out and hiked up to two small peaks and took in the views of the mountains and enjoyed the silence. After all of that it was time for lunch and a nap. Later we ate a nice dinner, say around a nice fire and gazed at the star filled sky. The next day we hiked to Tenaja falls where we were happy to find cool flowing water. Peace..........