Monrovia Canyon Falls

Place: Monrovia Canyon Falls  Monrovia, Ca  11/7/10
Hiking Distance: 1.5 miles nature center to waterfall

Trail map.

It was a overcast cool day for this hike which I love! The trail I wanted to do the Bill Cull trail, but it was still closed due to a fire that went through in late August. The area needs to to regrow and heal before people can go hiking on it again. I payed the $5 fee and we parked the car near the nature center so we could start the hike there.

This was a short trail but there was a good amount of elevation change to the waterfall and lots of uphill parts. So this was still a good hike! The trail would narrow at some points and be high above the ground so we would have to stop to let people pass first. The people on the trail were all very courteous and let us pass on the narrow trail before them as well. We passed things that looked like dams, but I'm unsure what they are really called or what their true purpose is.

Damns? I do not know for sure.

Overall was a very nice hike in a peaceful area. Hopefully when the Bill Cull trail opens up we can do the whole thing! More pictures of the hike can be found HERE

Billy Goat Trail Hike

Place: Great Falls Billy Goat Trail Potomac, MD    Section B     10/31/10
Hiking Distance: 1.6 Miles (I think)

Panoramic view

I went to Washington DC over the Halloween weekend to go to the Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear. I also was able to get a great hike in! This was the first hike I have ever done outside of California so I was very excited! I brought my hiking clothes and boots but left the Camelbak at home and just used my smaller LL Bean Stowaway bag. Jamie Stone, Erland's mom, took us to this great trail and hiked with us!

Erland & Jamie at the Trailhead

Being used to my desert state of California where the weather is hot 99% of the time, it was a nice treat to have a cool, breezy day to hike. This trail I found was true to its name, due to rocks jutting out of it. We did a small bit of scrambling as well. Hiking along a real river instead of small creeks and streams like back home was amazing! Being fall the trees in the area were all sorts of colors and made for a beautiful view as we hiked along the path. We passed some people and a few dogs as well. Even saw a little black poodle enjoying the trail.

The Billy Goat Trail lined with rocks.

Vertical view of Falls

After hiking the Billy Goat Trail we came upon a nice flat open trail where runners, bicyclists and families were enjoying the day. This trail was next to a calm river that had Canadian geese enjoying it as well. We got back to the car and decided to drive to the C & O Canal nearby. The Chesapeake & Ohio canal was one of a network of American canals dug during the late 18th century and early 19th centuries to form water highways for commercial trade. these canals were part of the great Industrial Revolution. Lots of people were out and about. They had a very nice walkway setup so people could walk above the river. The river itself was awesome! It was very fast and very very loud! We even got to see the people on the other side of the river over on the Virginia side. I have never been so impressed by a river in all my life.


Throughout this whole hike the history nerd in me couldn't help think/imagine what it  must have been like for early settlers who made places like this home and explored so much of the forest, as well as the Native Americans who lived in this nature. I had a great time on this hike. Thank you Jamie for taking us here!


More pictures of the hike can be found here 




I have lots of Videos! Hopefully this will convey how great the hike is in person.

Placerita Canyon Trail

Place: Placerita Canyon State Park
Hiking Distance: 4 miles round trip.

Erland and I managed to get to bed at a decent hour and actually wake up at 7a.m! I also went to the supermarket the night before to get Clif bars and some beef jerky. Being well rested and stocked on snacks we had our 3 liter camelbaks full of water and ready to go. No being thirsty on this hike!

The drive out to Placerita Canyon was great. Open roads all the way there. We arrived at the park and as full as the lot was we had no trouble getting a parking spot. We walked to the trailhead and as we were about to start hiking on the trail two mountain bikers came charging out of the path. I know the trail is for everyone but, this was just the start of bikers not following trail etiquette.

After our delayed start at the trailhead, we hiked along the path. We came across a few people on the way to walker ranch. We even came across a man carrying his hiking boots and walking barefoot on the trail. It was a warm day but not inferno hot like it was for our Grotto hike. The trail had plenty of shade and made it a very comfortable hike. We stopped to take a picture at one point and another mountain biker came careening down the path. He did manage to slow down as I tried to get off the trail as fast as I could. I don't know what it is with the bikers on this trail but they really don't care for trail etiquette it seems.

Our new packs!

I got the ones with the largest water holding capacity. 

I have to say the Camelbaks are awesome. It's amazing not having to stop just to get a water bottle out of the pack. Just drink out of the tube while walking and you stay hydrated. The pack wasn't even that heavy with the 3L of water that we carried. We enjoyed one of the many benches at one point along our hike to just sit and enjoy our surroundings. It's so nice to get out in nature and enjoy the peace and tranquility that it brings. It is a nice change from the everyday stress of traffic, work, school and car troubles. All of that just goes away for the hour or two or three that we spend hiking.

Panoramic view of the mountains.

When we reached Walker ranch we debated if we should continue onto the waterfall trail but decided that since the stream was bone dry that the waterfall itself wouldn't have any water. I look forward to when we get a bit of rain so that there will be some water in the streams/creeks. After exploring the walker ranch area we started our hike back to the car and the nature center. We saw a lot more people along the trail on the way back. We even passed the man we saw before, the one walking without his boots on.

We reached the nature center and I wanted to go check it out. We left our packs in the car and headed over. They had a red tailed hawk and a horned owl on display in cages. Raptors have to be my favorite type of bird. They are all kinds of awesome. Erland saw that they had a museum so we stepped inside. They had a lot of information about the animals that lived in Placerita Canyon as well as a few animals on display. This was a fantastic hike and we will be coming back for sure to hike to the waterfall when it is in season. Photos of the hike found here.


Videos

Hobby #4: Crochet!

I know crochet (knitting too) is thought to be an old lady thing/hobby/job, but I want to prove that wrong along with all the other people of varying ages who crochet! I want to add some more crafty arts to my hobbies. My main goal with crochet is to learn how to make Amigurumi, which is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed creatures/animals with the most important criteria being that, they must be cute!. I eventually will figure out how to make the more traditional things like hats and scarves later. Since I am a huge geek, I figured I should be able to make myself some characters from video games, t.v shows/movies and some cute animals ^_^.  First step on making myself these awesome characters in yarn form, learn to crochet!

So cute! ^_^

I have slowly been teaching myself with the help of a book I bought at the bookstore. It so happens as I was making my purchase the cashier at the bookstore tells me.

Cashier:  Oh I have tried crocheting and its tough. I am more of a knitter!
Me:  Ah, yeah I'm going to try and learn!
Cashier: I find it really difficult. Knitting is much easier for me.
Me:  I think I can give it a decent shot!

After leaving the store and armed with a beginners book, my adventure with crochet begins. I have found that pictures along with the instructions don't always work for me. Sometimes I just need to see how its done a few times. I hop onto YouTube and sites dedicated to Amigurumi and start watching videos on how to's and tools of the trade. The info I have found has been amazing, with patterns that I'm itching to make! Of course, I must learn the basic stitches and what size hook should be used for certain projects etc.

Hooks,needles and stitch holders.

Yarn!

I armed myself with some info on  crochet hooks and yarn type and headed to my local Micheal's to get the supplies that would get me started. I have posted pictures of my stitches. They are not very good but I am getting better and learning to do them without looking at the book for reminders/tips!

All the stitches I have practiced 

chain stitch

Made a chain stitch first then tried a single crochet stitch. I got confused halfway so I stopped

Take two on the chain stitch into a single crochet stitch. I did it!

chain into single plus a row

Chain into single crochet with 2 rows. Currently making this 3-4  rows to see how I do

I'm considering taking a few lessons just so that I can make sure I'm doing things correctly and to help me read patterns when the time comes. I am really enjoying crochet and can only imagine having more fun as I start to make amigurumi!

Grotto Trail Hike

Place: Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area
Hiking Distance: 3.5 miles round trip

I don't know what it is, but I can't seem to get out on the road very early to get to hiking spots. Set alarm for 6AM, woke up then went back to sleep. Ended up on the road around 10AM and then hit traffic for an hr and finally got to the trail around 12 noon. It was hot and I mean 103 degrees hot. A sign posted on the ranger station warned people not to bring their dogs because dogs have died on the trail in this kind of heat. So off we went towards the Trailhead!

Panoramic view of the Santa Monica Mtns.

Going down towards the grotto was relaxing and fun. There were great views and everything was so peaceful. Only bonus of going at this time is that the trails are never crowded. You feel like you are completely alone in the world out in the wild. Getting to the grotto was completely downhill. The trails were dusty and littered with loose rocks. Thanks to our hiking poles, we made it down safely and at a nice pace.

We reach the grotto. I knew that we would have to do some scrambling/rock climbing, so I bought a pair of gloves for each of us to protect our hands. We passed another couple who were coming up from the rock/boulder area so we figured it would be pretty easy.  As I looked over the edge to look for a path  my water bottle fell out of my packs side holder and down into the boulders and rocks. I figured I had lost the bottle for good. Erland having found a path climbed down first and found the water bottle in one of the crevices. He also saw a lot of other peoples water bottles in that exact same spot! The bottle had survived a long drop without a scratch. Nalgene bottles are tough as nails! It was important that we got the bottle back because it was all the water we had. I plan to buy another bottle from REI so that I can carry two water bottles and I'm going to get Erland a camelback. Running out of water was the worst thing to happen to us on this hike.

Boulder area. Right on top of grotto cave.

I should also note that Erland and I did a very unwise thing. Since we got a late start, we skipped breakfast and went hiking on empty stomachs. We also forgot to get Cliff bars from the market. On every hike we have done up to this point I have always carried  some Cliff bars and sometimes an apple or two. This lead to us being extremely tired and weak/sick feeling by the time we had to scramble on the rocks. Being hungry and then running out of water really made this hike, which I know would not have been a problem under normal circumstances, feel like murder on our bodies.

Since we couldn't figure out how to get to the actual grotto cave after climbing down through all the boulders, we climbed back up towards the trail. We sat for a few minuets on a huge boulder to rest. Now, the hike back to the car will be the worst thing I have ever experienced. Hunger and thirst was making us slow. The heat making us want to just die. We took a lot of breaks in the shade on the way back. Erland ended up falling and scratched his leg. We used the first aid kit to clean it up and then continued on our way. We finally reached the car and couldn't have been happier. I have to say the hiking poles helped out A LOT!  Next hike we will have lots of extra water and plenty of food/snacks. Lesson learned! More photos of hike here.


No hike next week. We will probably be going to the L.A county fair.

Video

Scott Pilgrim Papercraft!

So I made some papercraft characters from the Scott Pilgrim comics! I wanted to make the whole cast but unfortunately, my printer is busted. It smashes the  paper it wants to print out! That is not good for getting papercraft blueprints.Here are the tools needed for papercraft.

The tools.

1) Self healing board.
2) Papercraft model/blueprint.
3) Cardstock paper. Regular paper will not be strong enough.
4) Pair of sharp scissors.
5) I use an x-acto knife for the detailed parts when scissors just won't cut it.
6) A ruler for lining up cuts with x-acto knife and for scoring the paper at times. I use a clear one so I can see.
7) Glue. I use Elmer's glue stick. You want something that dries clear.

L-R: Knives Chao, Stephen Stills, Kim Pine

Side view.

Back view.

Stephen

Knives

 Kim

Once I get a new printer there will be more papercrafts that I can do. I have quite a few lined up!

Second archery class!

At the group lessons at DC Archery.

Went to DC Archery again yesterday! After studying all week and taking a test earlier, I really wanted to shoot some arrows. I arrived at 7pm with Erland. He came to take some pictures and watch, which was nice of him. I paid my $15 fee and went to string up my bow. A new coach was present this time as well as the one from before. I got a lot of instruction this time.

Getting tips

                                                                
  I  feel that I improved a bit from the first visit.I started to at least group my arrows in one spot instead of all over the place.I kept shooting towards the right, but they said as long as they are grouped up all I need to do is aim down and to the left so I can actually hit the center of the target. I didn't figure this out until it was time to leave. I was shooting down after they told me to but for some reason I didn't aim left as well. Oh well maybe next time I will actually hit the center of the target. I improved my grip on the bow which really made a difference. My arms were not sore at all after this visit. It's amazing how just a simple change like bow grip can make such a noticeable change.

Trying to aim

Releasing the arrow.

I wish I had more time to shoot and practice. I have a lot of things to work on that just improve with being consistent and repeating the action. I also noticed, from these pictures that I need to work on my form as well. My elbow is way too high and I need to work on keeping it even. I would like to have time to just figure out what aiming technique will work for me. I was given a lot of tips by three different people and I wish i could have worked on figuring out which one works instead of switching between them without getting a rhythm down.

Side view.

I look like a chipmunk here.

 I think once school is over for the semester I may be able to shoot more and possibly at a 24hr type range so that I can go and practice whenever. The membership fees are not to bad for the range considering that they give you a key to the place. I will see how it goes but for now DC archery once a week-every two weeks will have to do!

Retrieving my arrows.

Group lessons.

 Video of me trying to learn:

Ronald Reagan Ranch

Place: Malibu Creek State Park          Malibu, Ca  9/12/10
Hiking Distance: 3 miles round trip

For this hike we decided to head on over to the Reagan Ranch. This trail travels on the land where President Ronald Reagan lived prior to his election as governor of California.His old barn and house were also here but I somehow forgot to take pictures of them. They are now used by the rangers for storage. For this Sunday hike, the trail was devoid of all people. It was very peaceful when we didn't have to hear the cars on the road/highway nearby.

View of the meadow

The first part of the hike was a lot of meadow area. Then as we moved on, it became more woodsy with a lot more trees and shade. Shade was important on this hike since we got there around 4pm and it was pretty hot. Once we got to higher ground we had some great views of the mountain range behind the meadow. It was very beautiful. As we continued our hike, we came across some very awesome looking trails. The trails reminded me of the spooky trials you would see in scary movies or cartoons. Now that I think of it, it would have made a nice Halloween hike.


Towards the end of the hike we got a nice aerial view of the Malibu lake. I got to see some jackrabbits by the car as we headed home!  Overall very nice hike. Will be coming back to this area to try some of the other trails. More pictures of the hike, as usual, can be found here!



Video time!

Next Sundays hike is Grotto Trail. Volcanic rock walls, boulders & subterranean streams! 

Hobby #3: Archery

My recurve bow!

Thanks to another awesome birthday present, courtesy of Jamie and Don, I finally have been able to start archery! I have been interested in pursuing archery for a while now. I have taken two intro courses at two different times/locations but, now that I have my own recurve bow, I hope to have a scheduled archery day every week or so.

DC Archery mascots.

Saying hello.

I looked into archery ranges near me that would fit my schedule. There are surprisingly quite a few of them around. Some require membership fees, some are free and some just require a small fee of $10 for rental of a lane at the range. For the time being I have chosen to practice my archery at DC Archery in Sunland, Ca. It is an indoor range which is nice for those really hot days and those rainy days. (rare here in California, but it does happen in the winter.)

The range area

The shop area

I arrived at DC archery (on 9/9/10) an hour early thinking that the group class started at 6pm. A group class did start at 6pm but it was the children's group with the adult group starting at 7pm. I bought some more arrows and had the them show me how to string my bow.Then I decided to wait there for the hour. I took some pictures, looked around and watched the kids.

Kids group.

My bow hanging, waiting for 7pm!

As the time neared 7pm, more people began to show up. Three came with their own equipment in fancy cases making me worried that I was going to look awful shooting next to them. Two other guys also showed up with one being new to archery. As we started to shoot, I asked the coach what I should do.( I forgot to mention the 7pm class is a group class that has a coach watch peoples forms and give tips) The coach instructed me on what to do and off I went. My arrows were going all over the place! The coach took a look at my bow and got the guy at the counter to make some adjustments. It turns out the arrows were not nocking to the string properly because the nock didn't fit! It was too large. After he made adjustments I was ready to get back to shooting. Now my arrows went straight, but I didn't hit the target very well. The coach would instruct me and helped the others as well.

My arrows in the quiver.

It turns out archery requires quite a bit of upper body strength. I believed myself to have decent upper body strength, but soon found out that I do not. My bow has a draw weight of 29lbs. so basically every time I pull back on that string with the arrow that's how much weight I am holding. That's not even a lot! Some people shoot with draw weights of 95lbs! By the end of the hour my arms/shoulders were so tired and sore. I had to really force myself to draw that string back. I am so weak ha ha. We had a balloon round at the end. The three people who came with the fancy bow cases all hit theirs(Turns out they were not pro, they just had more practice under their belt.) while me and the two other guys did not. I know that with practice I will get better. I very much look forward to the day I can hit the target with consistency.




Bonus Video of me stringing and removing the string from my bow. It's good  practice to remove the string when the bow is not in use. It's best to be able to do it without whacking yourself in the face with the bow arms.

Note: I was unable to take photos of the hour I spent shooting. The pictures shown here are from the hour before.

Hike #3 Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach 9/5/10

Proof that it counts as a hike!

This wasn't really a hike in my opinion but it's in the hiking book, and I did say we were going to do every hike in the book!  I am kinda glad that there was a super easy hike available. Due to getting my tattoo, I can't carry a pack very well. Forgive this very weak update but I want to chronicle all our Sunday hikes.


We headed out around 11AM. Labor Day weekend really brings out the crowds, even on really overcast mornings. I forgot my camera so we took a few pictures of the pier with Erland's camera phone. I didn't manage to get pictures of much else since we were just trying to make our way through the crowds in one piece.

We plan to do a real hike again next week. I will have more videos and photos for next weeks hiking post!