The best walks

For me, the best walks are not when I'm surrounded by buildings and walking on concrete, although these are the walks I take during my weekly routine here in Downey. No, for me, it's when I'm surrounded by nature and walking on dirt or sand. Downey is surrounded by miles and miles of buildings and pavement in all directions. Unless you travel 20 minutes up the 605 freeway to the Whittier Hills.

Some significant portion of the hills have been set aside as Hellman Park so that the only buildings or pavement are the water towers. Other that that, you can walk for miles and see nothing but green grass, trees, and the city far off in the distance. This is the walk we took on our day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. There are multiple trails through the hills separated for different levels of hikers. We took the more level path called Peppergrass Trail rather than the steeper Hellman Trail.

For a small portion of our day we escaped to see in 360 degrees nothing but nature. What a great time.

Where do you like to walk?

The Pinnacles

Just 83 miles east of Downey in the San Gorgonio mountains lies a local landmark called "The Pinnacles." They are just off Hwy 173 near Lake Arrowhead. Adam, John, and I recently decided to go there for the day. We drove to the head of the foot path and parked in the adjacent shooting range parking lot. They were not very friendly so we parked just off the road.

We then hiked for about 90 minutes to a large collection of boulders called "The Pinnacles" and were rewarded for our efforts with a spectacular view of the desert just northeast of Los Angeles. Here lie the towns of Barstow, Apple Valley, Hesparia, and Victorville.

It's just another reminder of the vast array of environments that surround Downey.

Down in the valley

Yosemite Valley contains seven square miles of deep valleys, broad meadows, amazing waterfalls, ancient trees, and a wide variety of wildlife.

Along the Merced river that runs through the valley, there are so many colors and textures; the granite formations seem to rise above you in a way that humbles every view. 

We spent hours tramping around the various paths, hiking until our legs were shaky, and still felt like our time here was too short.

We didn't have to go too far to see wildlife. This little guy and the rest of his family met us on an early morning walk. Then, the next day, came by right outside our room to eat and laze around.

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see."
~John Burroughs

Snow-capped peak

The recent combination of rain and cold has brought snow and clear blue skies, which provide a view of Mt. Baldy poking its head above the clouds. At 10,068 feet (3,069 meters), Mt. Baldy is the highest point in Los Angeles and the tallest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The main photo was taken from one of our favorite hikes in the local Whittier hills.
To get some perspective on where we were, the picture to the right (taken last year from the top of the Embassy Suites hotel in Downey) shows Mt. Baldy in the far distance. The low-lying hills in the middle are the Whittier hills, where we were hiking. The hills are about 10 miles from Downey. Mt. Baldy is another 30 miles further.

Here a thistle, there a thistle

While hiking in Whittier, about 10 miles away from Downey, I spotted these beautiful purple thistles flowering along the trail. I had to take a picture, because they reminded me of a story I had just read while doing some ancestry research.

Did you know that in addition to being found all over the southern California foothills, the thistle is also the national emblem of Scotland? According to legend, an invading Norse enemy stepped on one of these prickly flowers while attempting to sneak up on a Scottish encampment at night. He yelled in pain and alerted the Scottish army which was a turning point in the battle for the Scots.

So, was the thistle native to California, or was it brought here by one of my ancestors? It kinda makes you wonder.

What is that?

On my hike the other day, I kept seeing this weird, almost creepy, plant covering other plants throughout the hills. Back home, I looked it up and it is a parasitic weed called the "California Dodder." It's less creepy when you actually read up on it. Click here for more information on it.

Eureka!

I don't know much about panning for gold except that one of our state's football teams is named after the gold rush era in and around '49. I did learn yesterday, however, that we still have gold "dredging" up here in these parts... In the Azusa Canyon, about forty miles north of Downey, up where the 605 and the 210 freeways meet, people hike into the hills to the streams and rivers to pan for their chance to strike it rich.

When someone dredges,* they take out part of the river and make a small hole damming it up with larger rocks. They wade in the pool and pan through the silt and sand, not forgetting to look under the larger rocks they've unearthed.

Here is what it looks like after someone has dredged out an area. The water has almost gone, but the hole is still there.


*as told to me yesterday.

Weed's eye view

In my opinion, this is the luckiest weed in the world. It sits up here on this magnificent hill in Whittier, staring out into the basin that so many of us call home. On my hike this morning, I kept having to stop. Partly to catch my breath, but mostly, to turn around and look at the exquisite view. To see more of what I saw, click here