Pinnacles National Park Hike

The group split up into two.  One set went wine tasting while another went on an epic hike.  I know what wine tastes like so I decided to explore the mountains!

We hugged the mountain and got some pretty cool views, but the highlight was exploring caves.  We were crawling through small areas and using our cell phone flash lights to help us get through.  Jimmy was prepared with a headlight.

"Caution: Flashlights required, low ceilings, dangerous when wet"

We had time to do some photoshoots.  Jimmy got some great shots!

On our way back!

Abalone Cove Shoreline Park Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

This hike was pretty strenuous because of how long it was, but we made it to the ocean!  It involved running across a highway and steep hills.

When we made it to the coast, we were greeted by beautiful rocks and cliffs!

Oh man - I am so artsy!

The tide pool was fun to play with too!

Ernest E. Debs Regional Park Hike in Monticito Heights

The views on this hike are amazing and it's pretty under appreciated like a lot of things in Los Angeles county.

Maybe it was because we were hiking during golden hour, but geezus it was so beautiful look at downtown from this view point.  Save that concrete jungle for New York So Cal is lush!

You wouldn't think that this hike we be interesting because of how easy it was, but there were lots of surprises.

You can see how the highway slices through the valley and then into the city but not before stopping by these cute neighborhoods

My turn!

If you take the correct route you will stumble upon a hidden lake.  There were kids running around, couples snuggling on a picnic blanket, people fishing.  It was like an oasis unaffected by the drought.

I'm really in love.

Switzer Falls Welcomes us to 2015

We did a good job starting off 2015 with hikes and it seems like this is the year of more outdoors activities.

Switzer Falls - A clear sign that we're in a drought

This was our destination.  A glorious waterfall in the San Gabriel Mountains.

We needed to purchase a quick permit and thankfully we had some light jackets because it was chilly in the shade in the early morning.  It felt like Jimmy and I were starting a new adventure.  Our anniversary just passed and this was our celebration with our friends and nature.  I also discovered that I don't look too bad in a beanie.

The mountains were really pretty.

Charles, John and Darnell were our company.

And here we are, the glorious falls.... after being afflicted by the drought. So sad.

We made the most of it by learning how to scale granite.  It was actually pretty scary even though it was a pretty easy incline.  Needed to use that step cross skill.

Our reward for the day:  Jazzcat Hotpot.  Give me that Jurassic plate!

Grand Canyon Road Trip - PART 2

Jimmy prepared me for a one hour wait to get into the national park.  The South Rim was the most popular and we were attending during peak seasons, but after driving one hour from our motel we arrived.  This is the first sight of the canyon that I saw.

I wore a camel pack and carried large quantities of snacks and bananas for our trip.  I also had fun with the GoPro.  Those videos to come soon.

 This is a better view.  There were many warning signs:  "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO TO BASE AND COME BACK UP IN ON DAY."  Apparently people die from heat exhaustion trying to do this.  You have to go to the bottom, camp, and then climb back up the next day.  And it always takes at least twice as long to go up.  While going down we noticed the folks traveling upward were out of breath.  They looked dead.  We made it to the first pit stop and decided to call it a hike and started to go back up.  It was approaching lunch time any way and the park had other trails to see.

Jimmy doing some stretches in gift stores.

I tried to memorize the bus lines and plan the hikes that I wanted to do.  After the Bright Angel Trail we hugged the rim to get some shots.  This is where older folks and families would spent most of the time since the Rim Trail path along the top of the canyon was paved and quite a nice stroll.

We avoided the first points because that's where all the tourist were and enjoyed many secluded areas with spectacular views.  I learned that "point" infers that there is a good view.

I caught my bae being a nature photographer.  Planning out his next picture for his Shirtless and National Parks series.

We took a handful of pictures together, but we used his nicer camera and tripod.  This one was taken by another hiker.

This is the closest we got to the edge.  I can still feel myself losing my breath.

It's so massive and unreal.

Our third hike was in another corner of the South Rim in the park.  I wanted to see the OOH AHH Point.  This trail had less people, but it was a bit of a struggle because the sun was directly on us at this point.

These folks made it to the point.  They were hanging out there for a while so we couldn't get on top of the rock.  It's time to go back!

We stopped by Yaki Point that was along the shuttle.  We found the perfect spot.   But we were too early for sunset and really tired so we started to headback.

The food was comforting.  We snagged all American bites and got out of there before it got too dark.

Drive home was a bit creepy.  Not many streetlights, but I got this cool photo.

A recap.  

• Parked near Bright Angel Trailhead on the left near the blue line.  
• Had lunch at the Maswik Lodge - mmm PIZZA!
• Walked along the Rim Trail / Trail of Time indicated by the brown dots and stop at many points to take a ton of pictures.  
• Arrived at Yavapai Point to learn more about the canyon.  Probably the best view behind glass
• Took the Gold Shuttle to South Kaibab Trailhead to hike to Ooh Ahh point.
• Stopped by Yaki Point to get the closing photo which will be posted soon!
• Found ourselves at Mather Point which is the most crowded lookout spot and missed the sunset.  Jimmy has a few pictures of us lost in the clusterfuck crowd of people
• Took the blue shuttle back to Maswik Lodge for dinner and to get back into my car

WHEW!  There's a whole Red line that we didn't even touch.  And at the bottom of the canyon there's an amazing suspension bridge... one day!

Grand Canyon Road Trip - PART 1 - Conquering Sedona

Jimmy called me on a Thursday while I was work and said, "get Friday off, let's go to the Grand Canyon."  So I did.  Come with us on our journey through desert heat to arrive one of the natural wonders of the world.

The drive there wasn't too bad.  Jimmy drove most of the time using my car which is newer and gets better mileage than Jimmy's.   We start our trip in the early morning.  Good Bye California, hello Arizona!

GETTING THERE

It was interesting to watch the landscape transform as we drove down what seemed to be endless highway.

SEDONA

We finally arrived at Sedona.  Our first stop!  Jimmy planned to see Cathedral Rock.  AMEN for this sign:

Jimmy prepares for a photoshoot.  It's sexy time.

The area was very picturesque.

We did some hiking.  There was this one point that Jimmy wanted to find, but we didn't know which way to go.  We made a quick decision.  It was getting late, but we travelled all this way so we picked a direction and pushed forward.

The sun was setting so we were getting a bit nervous.  The trail was getting dark as we found ourselves in a forrest.  Then I heard water and suggested that we follow it.  We heard people too!

The Oasis! We did it!  It felt like such an accomplishment.  This picture does not really show how beautiful the area is.  We conquered Sedona!

We rewarded ourselves by eatting at a very popular place called Elote. The wait was 45 minutes and I'm so happy we waited it out. Everything was amazing.

Good Night Everybody!