The traffic was dreadful. Barely moving we sat on the freeway stuck in the midst of Memorial Day beach goers. The parking lots off PCH were beyond full and cars filled every empty space along the road. Finally after two and a half hours we reached our destination; the Malibu Motel. It was a little bit ghetto and a little bit retro but it was a perfect place to get away from it all. On the first floor we didn’t get the more spectacular ocean view that our neighbors got on the upper floors but our dogs didn’t seem to mind. They finally got to vacation with us and they were enjoying every moment. Behind our hotel a rocky path led up the side of the hilly terrain that is a staple of PCH. At the top was the real view; something even the upper floors didn’t get. The air was salty, the sky was blue, the dogs were happy and life was perfect.
Maxx loved the king bed
Our spot above the hotel
The view from the path above our hotel
Even better in the next parking lot over was a grocery store (everything happened to be organic and whole grain at this particular establishment) and a delicious pizza place so we ate well too. After getting a mostly full nights sleep we ate breakfast looking out at the sea. Maxx however did wake us up a few times because he was hogging the bed. After, we loaded the dogs up in the car and headed north to Leo Carrillo State Beach which is about 16 miles away. Past lifeguard tower 3 the beach is open to dogs as long as they are on leash. On this sunny Tuesday we had this stretch of beach almost all to ourselves. It was pretty windy but the dogs didn’t seem to mind as we ran them down the coast. The air was salty, the ocean was blue, the dogs were sandy and life was perfect.
Getting Pearl used to the water
Pelican flying low over the shore
This was the best one out of 20 self timed shots
Doggy footprints in the sand
We decided the rest of the day would be for relaxation. The dogs didn’t seem to mind that either since they thoroughly enjoyed having a large king bed to sleep on. After checking out the next morning we again headed north to Solstice Canyon. I found this particular trail on bringfido.com as it is recommended as a great dog friendly hike and it certainly was. The trail is mostly paved, very well maintained, has beautiful scenery and is pretty easy. The dogs loved being out in nature and needed the exercise as much as we did. Maxx pulled Bryan up almost every hill while Pearl let me lead the way. We chose to turn around at the site of the burned down Roberts house. By the time we got back to the car we knew we were all ready to head for home. It was a great end to the last couple of days. The air was cool, the traffic was light, the dogs were fast asleep and life was perfect.
Solstice Canyon Trail
Roberts house ruins
View from the canyon
On Tuesday I went on another wildflower hike with the
Irvine Ranch Conservancy. This time the hike was in Limestone Canyon, specifically at
Loma Ridge. Also this was a dedicated photography hike so many of the hikers brought along various DSLR’s. Again our docent was Kelley, the same IRC employee who guided us in
Round Canyon the week before. We started at the Augustine Staging Area which is just off Santiago Canyon Road. After meeting in the parking area we all carpooled about a mile in to the trail head. This hike was a little faster paced, we still did stop a few times so she could tell us about the flora and fauna. Unlike Round Canyon this trail had a hill, now I’m not vary fond of hills so the elevation gain was a bit of a surprise. It was probably about 500 to 700 feet of climbing total but when you are carrying what feels like a 50lb camera it’s slightly more difficult. When we stopped at the top of the first part of our climb we could see the most spectacular view of Orange County all the way to Catalina island. We continued our climb and we ended up at a spot that overlooked part of Limestone Canyon. By then we had been hiking for about two hours so we decided that was good turn around point, plus the temperature was rising pretty quickly. This was a really fun hike but unfortunately the trail is not open to the public. The IRC does various hikes on this trail including cardio hikes if you really want a challenge. Every so often the IRC also has open access days where they open these trails to the public (
they are having one this Saturday). I highly recommend taking advantage of these programs if you ever get a chance and see how amazing the Irvine Ranch really is.
You can see more photos from my hike at Loma Ridge in our GALLERY. You can also click on the images below to see the large version.
Last weekend my friend Sarah and I along with her family visited
Descanso Gardens which is located in La Cañada Flintridge. Descanso reminds me very much of the LA Arboretum and the Huntington Library which are both located in the surrounding cities. It has many different kinds of flora and fauna, including California natives, a rose garden and a Japanese garden. There is also a small train that runs through the facility. Don’t be fooled by it’s size, it may look like a toy but it is actually a fully functional train. If you walk to the far end of the gardens you will see the
Boddy House which is large and beautifully decorated. We didn’t visit every corner of the park but we did enjoy ourselves and got some pretty good pictures out of it too.
To see more photos from Descanso Gardens check out the
GALLERY. You can also click on the images below to see the larger version.
A couple days ago my friend and I went to the
Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary which is located in the middle of nowhere in Orange County. I know what you are probably saying, Orange County doesn’t have a middle of nowhere. Oh yes it does, it’s called Modjeska Canyon. The sanctuary is located at the end of Modjeska Canyon Road and takes up a very small area of land. It is free to enter but they gladly accept donations. The reason we went there in the first place was to photograph hummingbirds. Photographing these finicky little creatures is difficult; it mostly consists of waiting around quietly until they show up at their sugar water feeders. The other issue we found challenging about photographing these little guys is the location the sanctuary decided to place the feeders. Most of them were positioned under an overhang which meant all the birds were shaded most of the time. Convenient for the birds, inconvenient for the photographers. After exhausting ourselves with bird photos we walked into the Nature Center which held lots of kids activities, an array of taxidermy animals and some small reptiles in cages. Tucker’s is a nice place to visit if you are looking for something free to do, just make sure you don’t get lost trying to find it.
Click on the image to see the larger version.
Recently I have had some free time during the week and on Tuesday I took full advantage by signing up for a wildflower hike in Round Canyon with the the
Irvine Ranch Conservancy. I have been on hikes with them before such as the
fourth of July hike at Bommer Canyon, a photo hike at
Black Star Canyon and a terrifying beginners mountain bike ride (it was terrifying only because I don’t know how to ride a bike that well, plus I saw a tarantula). Anyway, I hadn’t been on a hike with the IRC in almost two years, mostly due to my job interfering with many the activities they have. This hike began at the Portola Staging Area just at the end of Portola Parkway in Irvine. Our group was very large, about 30 people, many volunteers for the IRC and our docent Kelly. After meeting at 9am we piled in our cars ( we could only take about 6-7 cars so we literally piled in) and drove up to the trail head for Round Canyon. This canyon is closed to the public and is only accessible by signing up for one of these hikes. The trail was overgrown with many native and non-native plants and there wasn’t an abundance of wildflowers, apparently they have had a slow wildflower season. So this was more of a plant and wildflower hike, Kelly pointed out all the various flora and fauna which she was very knowledgeable about. Although the IRC does offer cardio and fitness hikes this was not one of them. We only walked about a mile, at a slow pace and stopped every few feet to talk about a plant, flower or random animal scat. The pace was perfect for picture taking especially since I didn’t bring a very versatile lens. I chose to bring the Rebel T2i with the 50mm attached to it, this meant I really had to think about my shots and constantly move closer or further away to get a good composition. Even though the 50mm is not a macro lens it still has the ability to open up to an aperture of 1.8 which means really awesome
bokeh. We got back to our cars around 11:30am just in time for lunch. I highly recommend signing up for one of these hikes with the IRC, especially since most of them are free and you can learn something along the way.
To see more of my photos from Round Canyon check out the GALLERY.
Last Saturday Bryan and I visited the Flower Fields in Carlsbad for the first time. This is a surprisingly popular place, we got there about 2 hours after it opened and the main parking lot was full and the extra lot was filling up fast. When you go through the entrance the sheer amount of flowers is amazing. We luckily planned our trip when everything was in full bloom. All the flowers are beautiful but what this place is known for is the abundance of Ranunculus that are at the forefront of the field. This is the perfect place to do Macro Photography, in fact they even have a class in April dedicated to just that. Unfortunately I don’t own a macro lens yet but the lenses we used did pretty well. I brought my Gorilla Pod along so I could take a self portrait of the two of us but that didn’t really work out to well. I generally hate asking people to take our picture for us but I noticed another young couple walking ahead of us with a DSLR similar to ours. After stalking them for awhile, noticing the guy was taking photos of his lady in front of the flowers, I made my move. I offered to take their photo if they would take mine. It is very important to find someone who owns a high end DSLR since they probably know how to take a proper photo. Besides lots of photo opportunities the Flower Fields have a lot to offer; wagon rides, food, a sweet pea maze and lots of plants for sale. After we left the fields we went around the corner to the Karl Strauss Brewery which was worth the trip in of itself, especially if you get their bread pudding. If you plan on visiting this year make sure you go before May 15th which is when they close, you won’t regret it.
To see more photos from our trip to the Flower Fields check out the GALLERY.
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