The
Angeles National Forest is so clever with their trail names aren't they?! Last Sunday Mark May (one of dad's friends) invited me to go hiking with him and a group of his friends, I had to work the night shift Saturday so I was a bit hesitant but I decided that my need for sun outweighed my need for sleep and so I found myself headed out for my first foray into the Angeles National Forest in the middle of a heat wave (we topped out at 102 that day) after working all night. I'll be honest, the circumstances could have been far worse (it really was a beautiful day) and I
still would have been out there all because of one little line at the end of Mark's invitational email to me: "Would you mind driving? We may need a high clearance vehicle to reach the trailhead." I was hooked. It was the Pathfinder's time to shine, how could I resist?! The hike couldn't have been more than three miles but when you are overheated, near delirious from lack of sleep and dodging rattlesnakes you feel like you are in an episode of Survivor Man. It was nice to get some fresh air and this
hike was quickly followed by the best sleep I have had since Dance Marathon when I was a freshman at UF. You will notice that the first couple pictures in the album require some explanation. Our destination was a 75 foot waterfall however, California (just like everywhere else) is experiencing a lack of rainfall so instead of a thundering tower of water, we arrived to find a small creek trickling over the edge of a steep cliff. To make matters more anticlimactic, we arrived at the top of said waterfall and so could only peer over the edge at the shaded pool below, accessing it would have required adding another hour of hiking (in direct sunlight) to our afternoon so we opted instead for backtracking along the stream to a shady spot where we could dangle our toes and enjoy lunch. You will also notice that I did not manage to pull out my camera before we arrived at the waterfall so my only hiking pictures are of the return journey and thus are all downhill (which, I can assure you, the hike was not) and end at the trailhead with a map of Trail Canyon.
The Angeles National Forest is so clever with their trail names aren't they?! Last Sunday Mark May (one of dad's friends) invited me to go hiking with him and a group of his friends, I had to work the night shift Saturday so I was a bit hesitant but I decided that my need for sun outweighed my need for sleep and so I found myself headed out for my first foray into the Angeles National Forest in the middle of a heat wave (we topped out at 102 that day) after working all night. I'll be honest, the circumstances could have been far worse (it really was a beautiful day) and I still would have been out there all because of one little line at the end of Mark's invitational email to me: "Would you mind driving? We may need a high clearance vehicle to reach the trailhead." I was hooked. It was the Pathfinder's time to shine, how could I resist?! The hike couldn't have been more than three miles but when you are overheated, near delirious from lack of sleep and dodging rattlesnakes you feel like you are in an episode of Survivor Man. It was nice to get some fresh air and this hike was quickly followed by the best sleep I have had since Dance Marathon when I was a freshman at UF. You will notice that the first couple pictures in the album require some explanation. Our destination was a 75 foot waterfall however, California (just like everywhere else) is experiencing a lack of rainfall so instead of a thundering tower of water, we arrived to find a small creek trickling over the edge of a steep cliff. To make matters more anticlimactic, we arrived at the top of said waterfall and so could only peer over the edge at the shaded pool below, accessing it would have required adding another hour of hiking (in direct sunlight) to our afternoon so we opted instead for backtracking along the stream to a shady spot where we could dangle our toes and enjoy lunch. You will also notice that I did not manage to pull out my camera before we arrived at the waterfall so my only hiking pictures are of the return journey and thus are all downhill (which, I can assure you, the hike was not) and end at the trailhead with a map of Trail Canyon.
1 comment:
Paige - thank you for not stopping to photograph the snakes. I would have run you over as I sped past when I heard the rattle.
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