Peters Canyon

 

Just ten minutes up the road from my sisters is Peters Canyon, a nice five mile hiking loop complete with a ranger station. I went hiking with my sister’s neighbor and my new hiking friend, Carla.

 

 

As you can see, there were the usual wild flowers, but also some nice cacti that were blooming

 

There were the usual up and downs which seems to be a part of all of the hikes in this area

and some nice thistles.  Nice if you’re careful not to step in them.

And while we may not be the fastest hikers, we did cover our distance while a snail spent the morning crossing the path. He does seem to be a little confused on the direction and obviously does not have the ten essentials for hiking.

More photos of Peters Canyon

Santiago oaks

 

I went out to Santiago Oaks Regional Park, which is located next to the last remaining orange grove in the city of Orange.

While the wild flowers were out in full bloom

It is probably best known for its variety of 140 different bird species.

However, they tend to hide in the bushes or come flying over a ridge only to disappear before I can get the camera out.  I did see the Easter bunny

and his good friend, the pass over lizard.

 

And I got to see beneath the skin and view the skeleton of a prickly pear cactus

 

It was a nice hike that went a long a creek shaded by oak trees

 

 

and climbed up to some nice vistas along the ridge tops.

More photos of Santiago Oaks

Orange County hikes

 

While down in Orange County visiting my sister, I was delighted to find there were some nice few hour hikes with in a thirty minute drive of Disneyland.  And so, I pulled out my I phone and typed in Weir Canyon regional park. Unfortunately my I phone occasionally locates things on the corner of ‘could be” and “not likely.” and so I pulled up to a end of the street that had a trail that could be the right one, but didn’t seem very likely since I was expecting a trail sign more encouraging than “no trespassing.” However, with the help of a couple of policemen, I soon got to the right location.

The trail is actually twenty two miles long and goes from upper orange county down to the beach at Laguna, but I only had time for about five miles of the trail.  California has had a lot of rain and the country side was still green with a lot of wild flowers.

 

The trail went up and down over hill and dale with a lot of canyons and skyline shots.

 

I lived in Southern California for a year and do not remember the hills being this green.  Normally it would be the beginning of fire season, but I guess La Nina was wet for all of us.

And the wild flowers were out in profusion, as well as the California sage which can be seen in the foreground of the following photo. The California sage was used by the early pioneers to get rid of bed bugs and fleas.  get some for your next trip to New York.

More photos of Weir Canyon Hike