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!