I've come to terms that I'm stuck down here in dry Southern California for the next few years so I better start appreciating it for its own unique beauty. I learned to love the humid forests of Virginia this summer so might as well learn to love the complete opposite of that. The past couple days I've been doing some outdoor exploring around the area and found some very enjoyable lakes that I will be visiting again soon.
Saturday, my roommate and I took a nice long drive up to Crestline, CA. It's a tiny little mountain town about 45 minutes away from where I live in Riverside County and 20 minutes away from Lake Arrowhead. The weather has been completely bipolar lately so we didn't quite know what to expect when we got up into the mountains, only that it would be chilly. Because we are so acclimated to Southern California weather already, all we bundled up in was pants, thin jackets and scarves....boy were we in for a surprise!
The drive up was breathtaking! And as we had guessed....freezing! As well as windy!! We laughed as we jumped out to take a few pictures and ran back to warm up in the car.
Climbing up into Crestline, we drove through clouds and started seeing patches of snow that must have stuck from the recent storm. We wound our way through town towards the lake that is clearly marked by many signs. The shoreline was dotted with adorable cabins with stairs that reached all the way to the water. How much fun it would be to visit in the summer! We parked at the north shore of Lake Gregory and it was time to explore!
American coots and Mallard ducks were crowding the shore, diving for food. It was a beautiful and calming scene with the fog obscuring the other side of the lake.
Absolutely magical
I turned around to see what my roommate was doing and she was snapping pictures of me! haha
We soon realized it was freezing and we would only last so long outside. So off we went down the shoreline for a bit, to see what we could see :)
This waterway ended abruptly at the top of a creek. We hung our feet off the edge and imagined what a cool place this would be to hang out at during a hot summer day with friends & some good music.
Back to more fun photography.
While all we had to work with was our smartphones, we made the best of the technology. Rigging tripods from rocks and pieces of driftwood :P
Soon after, we realized our hands were mostly numb and our pictures were getting more and more blurry hahah. Time to head back to the car.
One last look at the quiet lake...
Back in the car, defrosting and happy we got out of the house long enough to enjoy a few wonderful hours in the great outdoors :)
We descended the mountain around 4pm and the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. One last pit stop for an attempt to capture the pink sky and then home to warm food and PJs.
-------
Sunday, I decided to embark on a mini adventure by my lonesome. I don't encourage anyone to hike alone on a new path unless they are pretty experienced with hiking but I needed to get out of the house and stretch my legs. After sitting all week working and studying, my body craves constant movement whenever I can manage it, so off I went to Lake Perris State Recreation Area to try out the Terri Peak Trail. $10 fee at the front gate and a short drive into the park and I stopped by their Indian Museum to try my luck at the trail head there.
I had found this trail using the AllTrails app put out by Nat Geo. This app is fantastic! You can search trails around any zip code, then find trail information, pictures and reviews by other hikers. It's a wonderful resource for any of you adventure lovers out there. Past hikers had said it was a little unkempt of a trail (especially when starting at this particular trail head) but that more experienced hikers could manage. I decided to try it out.
View of the whole lake as I climbed the path
Very dry and very unused part of the path. It was just me and the brush and an occasional raptor :)
This lichen was every where on the rocks and surprisingly colorful for how drab the rest of the landscape was
Winding through these rock formations got very confusing and it was tough sometimes to keep the trail but I came across a few trail markers that kept me going.
For those less experienced hikers here are a few markers to look out for whenever you're out hiking the wilderness.
Sometimes it's an arrow spray painted to a rock or tree
Which way do you go???!
oh!! there's the arrow! right it is!
Another commonly seen trail marker is a row of stones to effectively block a game trail that might otherwise be mistaken for the actual trail. Other trail markers to keep an eye out for are three rocks stacked on top of each other, branches laid out as arrows and wood posts (commonly set up by state/county parks)
Came across an interesting plant called Datura. There are a few species of this plant all which have very pretty flowers sometimes called angel's trumpets or moonflowers. Here in southern California, you can see these very often growing wild off the side of the road. These plants are related to the classically devious nightshade and mandrake, often called Witches' weeds. This stigma comes from particular substances, such as atropine, produced by the plant's tissues. These substances are toxic upon digestion and can lead to hallucinations and death.
These beautiful plants have been abused by recreational drug users and has resulted in many deaths because the toxicity of the plant varies greatly depending on plant age, where it is found growing and the local weather conditions. It is always a good idea to know about the local plant/wildlife when hiking or backpacking. While this Datura is toxic to eat, there are many plants which can be eaten or used for their medicinal properties. If you're planning a long trip where you will have limited access to convenience stores, I recommend picking up a plant guide of some sort to take with you and supplement your supplies.
Unfortunately, what the hikers said was true, about a mile up the trail I lost all sight of trail markers. I followed several game trails in the general direction of the peak (keeping the lake on my right hand side) but never saw anymore trail makers. I noticed the shadows becoming longer and wanted to get down the trail before it got much darker, I was alone so this was the best/safest idea. Supposedly, the trail is much easier to follow from the other trail head located near the front entrance of the park and from there it's easier to make your way down the trail to the Indian Museum. Next time, I will have to explore that trail as well.
While I didn't make it to the top of Terri Peak, I had a lot of fun rock hopping and scrambling through the brush looking for the trail and making sure to avoid run ins with rattlesnakes and other wildlife. By the time I made it back to the parking lot of the museum, the sun was beginning to set and my tummy was growling :)
I encourage you to all take a few hours on your day off to explore your local trails and parks. Everything has the potential to turn into it's own sort of adventure and opportunity to appreciate the world right outside your door. More adventure updates soon! Have a great week fellow explorers!
No comments:
Post a Comment