happy 10/10/10 everyone
Went on another hike today, this time up in Fallbrook, which is way, way the hell out of San Diego (about an hour north on the highway to be more accurate -- well, there's only really two ways to go out of San Diego, unless you've got your passport or a water craft handy. You can go north or east. East is the desert, and who the hell wants to hike in the desert? Not me, kthx.)
The hour-long drive was peaceful. The hike even more so. There was almost nobody on the trail, just me and the dog and the piles of horse manure every hundred yards or so. (Yup, it's an equestrian trail too. Hoof prints everywhere. And bike tracks. But I didn't see any horses, and only saw one bicycle.) The river was very pretty and the trees were nice and shady. Which was good, because it was really hot ou,t. Even in the shade I think it was in the high 80s. Having given blood three days ago, thus screwing my ability to regulate body temperature (good going there Liz; why do I seem to recover slower every time I do that?), did not help. But I took it slow, since no one was in a hurry (that's why it's just me and the dog), and drank lots and lots of water and stopped to rest periodically. All was good.
I got really, truly, outrageously dirty. The trail was sandy and dusty, I picked up bits of clingy plant material (note to self: do not touch cactus just to see how pointy it is) and I even went wading in the river and got my feet muddy. And then I came home and had a shower. Which was nice.
Fallbrook is a pretty little town. Nice and green, compared to San Diego, and the hills are lovely 'cause they're not all paved over (although there's still expensive mansions on every ridge). Too bad it's so far from here. I can't make that many excuses to drive 50 miles, even if it's the best thing I've found to what passes for a forest around here. The trees were the primary reason I went that far; my hiking book listed this trail as mostly shaded, and I was lured. (Most of the hikes in the book are not shaded, because southern California is seriously deficient in precipitation, and thus also deficient in the tree department. Multiple major wildfires in recent years have not helped. Every mature tree I see when I go hiking is half charred, by the way.)
The hour-long drive was peaceful. The hike even more so. There was almost nobody on the trail, just me and the dog and the piles of horse manure every hundred yards or so. (Yup, it's an equestrian trail too. Hoof prints everywhere. And bike tracks. But I didn't see any horses, and only saw one bicycle.) The river was very pretty and the trees were nice and shady. Which was good, because it was really hot ou,t. Even in the shade I think it was in the high 80s. Having given blood three days ago, thus screwing my ability to regulate body temperature (good going there Liz; why do I seem to recover slower every time I do that?), did not help. But I took it slow, since no one was in a hurry (that's why it's just me and the dog), and drank lots and lots of water and stopped to rest periodically. All was good.
I got really, truly, outrageously dirty. The trail was sandy and dusty, I picked up bits of clingy plant material (note to self: do not touch cactus just to see how pointy it is) and I even went wading in the river and got my feet muddy. And then I came home and had a shower. Which was nice.
Fallbrook is a pretty little town. Nice and green, compared to San Diego, and the hills are lovely 'cause they're not all paved over (although there's still expensive mansions on every ridge). Too bad it's so far from here. I can't make that many excuses to drive 50 miles, even if it's the best thing I've found to what passes for a forest around here. The trees were the primary reason I went that far; my hiking book listed this trail as mostly shaded, and I was lured. (Most of the hikes in the book are not shaded, because southern California is seriously deficient in precipitation, and thus also deficient in the tree department. Multiple major wildfires in recent years have not helped. Every mature tree I see when I go hiking is half charred, by the way.)