SoCal Winter Hiking Along the Coast

Sunday is hiking day.  This time we attempted hiking closer to the beach in San Clemente.  But the weather was not very cooperative.  So we ended up going back to the Las Ramblas trails in southern San Juan Capistrano.  At first it was a little sunny, then the overcast dark clouds were making their way where we were.  Funny how mom and I have that happen to us.  So we started hiking and as we got higher and higher up and on the hills, the storm seemed to head straight for us.  I took some snapshots at the top.  Normally you get amazing views of the Pacific, but not on this day.  And as per the norm, we decided to go off the beaten path, take little side trails and tried to find a shortcut.  But of course, just our luck, we had to back track! Very funny joke on us.  But in the ends we had a good hike, had a good little workout and we headed back on over to the San Clemente pier and had ourselves some fresh seafood.  
   

Fall Hiking; Holy Jim Falls and Main Divide

On Saturday October 10th, Mom and I decided to go hiking.  Well she really wanted to go to the Holy Jim Falls.  So of course I was more than happy to oblige.  So the day started out with me driving her CR-V through pretty treacherous rocks and gravel for a non-4 wheeler.  I kept control of the car for the entire 5 mile trek to the trailhead.  Of course Mom may have sprouted a few extra white hairs :-)  We arrived to the trail head, saddled up and armed with our waist packs that hold a water bottle.  I had filled them with Vitamin Water to keep us hydrated and ready to conquer anything.  I took some snapshots along the way.   Here is the beginning, when we are all ready to go and hyped to get to the fun parts of the climbing and trudging through the creek.  Mom: This is the road that you need to walk through if you do not have a permit or are not staying in one of the cabins.  What a simple walk:
Me getting ready to get to the falls, and get a cardio workout: But before getting to the actual trail, you walk through a town that I now claim must have been the setting for “Deliverance”.  Though it’s never inhabited, well I’ve just never seen people in them, I always think I’m going to hear a banjo. Some of the “Deliverance” cabins: One thing that I was taken aback by, and so was mom, was this ingenious modern outhouse, equipped with a solar panel no less: Finally we arrive at the Holy Jim Trail and we start out fun trek to the falls.  It is about 3 miles roundtrip. The falls.  Well at this point it’s more of a trickle, but still fun to arrive to nonetheless. And of course a good spot to take mid-trek photos to prove that we are doing well:  On our way back along the creek we notice some little beaver dams: And a fun tunnel that you must go through to walk the trail: After we saw the falls, neither of us really was ready to go home.  On the way to the falls you come to a fork; Falls you go right, Main Divide Rd. Hike you go left.  Well the Main Divide is an arid 5-mile trek up the mountain.  We decided heck why not go for a little while longer to really get a good workout out in, and make this trip worthwhile.  Little did we realize that as we kept walking we passed the 1 mile marker, then the 2 mile marker, then finally the 3 mile marker.  Well by then we’d gone 3 miles, why not keep going?  Supposedly there are some fun springs at the top.  So we kept going, and going and going.  Passed the 4 mile marker and the satellites at the top of the mountain that always look so small, started to look rather large.  We got almost to the top when finally we decided to cut our losses, we didn’t see springs, but we sure did trek 4 1/2 miles up the side of a mountain!  And the views were definitely worth the hike.  If you notice, there is a small line in the foliage just above the nearest trees at the base of this photo.  That is actually the trail.  It really is in the middle of nowhere, and you just keep walking, making your way up. This is the trail.  It keeps you on the ridge of the mountain. But like I mentioned already, the views of the rolling hills were AMAZING. Though it took less time to go back down, the hike needed to be over.  We had gotten there and started walking around 10:30am, and we did not make it back to the car until 3:45pm on the dot.  I remember the time perfectly because we had a bet going.  The person who guessed closest what time it was when we got back to the car got a free Subway sandwich; and I paid for our meals.  It was definitely a fun time, and by the end we were becoming pretty delirious just wanting a sandwich and a glass of red wine for the muscle pain we knew was going to hit us that night.  So for a Sunday, we had a great busy time hiking 13 miles.  We will most likely conquer another trail this weekend!