Category: California Travel Blog
“Prioritizing The Waterfall” (Devils Gulch Falls and Trail Canyon Falls – January 21, 2022 to January 22, 2022)
…in one moment, Dad managed to trip and fall down on the trail, where he actually landed on a yucca plant as well as split his pinky, which was bleeding…
“Two Weeks Too Late” (Upper Hot Spring Canyon – January 15, 2022)
Maybe it was a good thing that there wasn’t more water here or else there would be no way to even get a look at even part of the falls without getting right…
“A Jay Day” (Big Tujunga Canyon – January 8, 2022)
…all this barefoot walking (especially since I was wearing Chacos) made me very wary of poison oak exposure… as both Jay and I were bushwhacking…
“New Year’s Season’s Seizure” (Ortega Highway and Big Tujunga Canyon – December 31, 2021 to January 1, 2022)
She blamed me for telling her that it wasn’t the falls so she didn’t want to do the hike, but she didn’t want to hear the truth that she didn’t own her…
“Risks and Consequences” (Santa Paula Canyon Falls – March 5, 2021)
But just as Mom and I were about to turn and walk downstream, Dad suddenly took a spill and fell belly-first next to the ground that we had stood on…
“Devious Intentions” (Etiwanda Falls – February 27, 2021)
The cop was still there issuing citations. I took the opportunity to ask him where the nearest legal parking spaces were. At first, he gave me a smug answer…
“Tying Up Loose Ends” (Carmel and Big Sur – February 5, 2021 to February 8, 2021)
So I made sure that each of my steps were sure and steady even though my face, legs, and arms were being whipped and scratched by the twigs of the fallen trees as I was scrambling…
“Whimpering Dogs” (Circle X Ranch and The Grotto Falls – January 30, 2021)
…we did notice another party with dogs that were also whimpering. There was something about this place that dogs didn’t seem to like apparently…
“Sin Mascara” (Bonita Falls – January 18, 2021)
Sure enough when we finally got to the familiar entrance for the Eaton Canyon Falls, we saw that the gate to its large parking lot was indeed closed…
“Remote Corners” (Northern California Coast – November 19, 2020 to November 23, 2020)
It was an unfortunate circumstance since the mood had now soured from what should have been a serene and peaceful hike through the forest in pursuit of another one of the waterfalls along the…
“An Out-of-Season Experience” (Paradise Falls – November 11, 2020)
Eventually at about 9:20am, Julie rushed us out of the house just as I was dialing into my meeting. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do any presenting though it would have been good to see…
“Grounded in Summer” (Bonita Falls – June 12, 2020)
It was unnerving to see this many people out here on a Friday, and I’d bet that on the weekends, it would be even worse. Maybe lots of people were already out of school…
“Social Clustering” (Millard Falls – June 9, 2020)
In my mind, I was thinking that all the caution that we were practicing was essentially getting thrown to the wind the moment you start involving people who don’t take this seriously…
“COVID Mixed Signals” (San Antonio Falls – May 8, 2020)
Regardless, by the time we were driving on Mt Baldy Road, we were seeing on multiple occasions flashing signs saying ‘All Baldy Trails Closed’ and ‘Parked Vehicles Will Be Towed Away’…
“Forbidden Social Distancing” (Rubio Canyon Falls – April 14, 2020)
Julie was fearful that they might get reported to police so they stayed behind, but now that planted in my mind that perhaps there was a time limit for my exploration before the cops would show up…
“Cabin Fever” (Dana Point Waterfall – April 10, 2020)
Still, with all the mental stress from being stuck in the house and the uncertainty for how long COVID-19 was going to last in America, we were definitely getting cabin fever. Spring was usually…
“Scratching That College Itch” (Sonoma and Napa Valley – February 21, 2020 to February 23, 2020)
Sure enough, when we got to the Bear Gulch Nature Center, given all the delays that Julie induced on the way here, it turned out that the car in front of us took the very last parking spot…
“Change of Access” (Heart Rock Falls – February 16, 2020)
When they eventually showed up, we ultimately got started on our hike at about 10:20am. Surprisingly, our group actually consisted of about five different families, I think, with lots of kids…
“Hot Sweaty Mess in February” (Trail Canyon Falls – February 8, 2020)
Along the way, I saw quite a few more hikers going up to the falls, including one couple where one woman really looked like she struggled (making me wonder if she had brought enough water…
“Nice But Never Again” (Black Star Canyon Falls – January 4, 2020)
We even had to scramble and skirt by some slippery and eroded ledges or dropoffs (including one rope-assisted part) where Tahia got real nervous and even cried as she was starting to lose confidence..