Hiking Eaton Canyon

One of our very favorite places to hike is Eaton Canyon, out in Altadena. This is the perfect time of year to go, as spring wildflowers are beginning to emerge and the stream is full with mountain-snow runoff!

We also love it because it's dog-friendly! So few places welcome puppehs, which is a real shame...

For the more ambitious hikers, there is a beautiful waterfall you can hike to as well.

Please note that if the water level is high in the stream, as it is now, you might fall in trying to cross like I did. :-D

Post-rain Trek through Aliso Canyon

We're fortunate to have several nature walks, not too far from our home. One of them is located at Aliso Canyon Park, which you may recall reading about in a previous post.

Kelsey loves this walk, but we have to watch her to make sure she doesn't jump in the stream. Today she tried, nearly taking her daddy with her!

The rain has wreaked havoc on the trails. They quite clearly turned into streams during the recent heavy rains. But we braved them anyway!

It looks like we weren't the ONLY ones... check below for a photo of the wild-animal tracks we saw. Not sure if they're from coyotes or mountian lions. Seemed too small for a mountain lion, but the claws look sharp enough... :-\

Vazquez Rocks

Yesterday, it was a beautiful if chilly day here in the SoCal, so we opted to take Miss Pupps & The Tween out to Vazquez Rocks for a hike. This is a beautiful park about an hour north of the San Fernando Valley, featuring unusual rock formations caused by its proximity to the San Andreas fault. So unusual is the terrain, the park is often used as a stand-in for other planets in movies and TV shows -- most famously, Star Trek. (See: Kirk v. Gorn.)

It made for a lovely morning outing.

Please enjoy these snaps!

Placerita Canyon

Today we decided to head up to Placerita Canyon. It's been a long time since we were there! They've been working on some improvements, and the place is really looking great.

Sadly, the recent rains have rendered the main trail from the Nature Center to Walker Ranch impassable, so we were not able to hike that route. Out of necessity, we discovered a new, beautiful trail and hiked it instead. As an added bonus, the local firemen were also hiking this trail. HA!

It was a great morning! I can't wait to return in spring and see all the wildflowers which will undoubtedly have sprouted.

This red-tailed hawk is just one of the creatures that lives at the Placerita Canyon nature center. There's also an owl, some tortoises, and more! This fella is a real beauty, as you can see.

Daytrip: Los Feliz & Silver Lake

We had a SUPER-nice day yesterday in the Los Feliz/Silver Lake area! I thought I'd share our activities, as it would make a great outing for local families.

We wanted to do something outdoorsy, but The Tween is not a big fan of our usual hikes (Placerita Canyon, Eaton Canyon, Topanga State Park)... So this time we opted for the Fern Dell area of Griffith Park. The base of this trail weaves along amidst a beautiful canopy of trees, ferns, and streams. (I'd love to know the history of Fern Dell; I found nothing online. If you keep going up the trail, it becomes more strenuous and ultimately leads up to the Observatory.) Dogs are allowed on-leash, so next time we'll definitely bring Kelsey!




After the stroll, we drove in toward Silver Lake for lunch. There are some wonderful eateries here, but we opted for Wendy's (again, looking to appease The Tween).

Next up, one of our favorite stores: WACKO! Mr. Siegel and I have frequented this place since before we were married, when it was located on Melrose. I ADORE this shop. Stop in and you'll encounter bacon-strip band-aids; Absinthe dental floss; tons of Dover clip-art books; wind-up toys; and some of the most unusual art and pop-culture books you can find under one roof. In the back corner lies La Luz de Jesus Gallery, often displaying super-rad art that you won't find anywhere else (altho not always kid-friendly, so scope it out before you drag Junior back there).


A GREAT daytrip for Angelenos. I hope you'll give it a go!

Here's a great article about the Fern Dell area from examiner.com, and here's another from guidespot.com.

Today was a really nice day.

View of LA from Runyon, originally uploaded by katerz1.

Me and the hubs took Kelsey up to Runyon Canyon bright and early.

We had a really nice walk.

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying just relaxing and clearing my head! Not sure how I was living in such a wound-up state for so long...

A job and state pension don't do ya any good IF YER DEAD.

Furlough Friday activities!

I'm fast runnin' out of Furlough Fridays to document! This one was the last one I'll be spending in which I enjoy Mommy Free Time, as the youngster is conveniently OFF during my next 2 scheduled Fridays off. This is both awesomely convenient, and a bit of a bummer. ;-)

Anyhoo, this past Furlough Friday, I was joined by Mr. Siegel. We started the day at The Boy's school awards ceremony, then headed up into the Hollywood Hills to check out Runyon Canyon. We've heard alot about it as a nice place to hike... plus it has an off-leash dog park within. So we thought we'd drag Kelsey up there and check it out.

It's rather unconventional as off-leash dog parks go. It's not fenced, so if you had, say, a crazy Siberian Husky you were particularly fond of, you would not want to bring him here. But our pup was fine and stayed pretty close while still enjoying the steep hillsides.

On the way out, we ran into Reese Witherspoon in the parking lot. In my effort to "look natural," I slammed my finger in the van door. #CelebrityEncounterFail

Hope you enjoyed your hike, Reese.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day... in pictures, because I don't feel like typing a narrative. LOL! What can ya do?! Sometimes, you just don't have it in ya.

I will however provide links to the following:

a) Eaton Canyon Park, where we took our Valentine's Day hike. This is an absolutely lovely park in the hills above Pasadena. As you will see, there are many trails, and, in a good water year like we're having now, a beautiful stream! Perhaps the best part for us? Our puppeh was more than welcome to join us!

b) Tops Restaurant, where we had lunch. This place has the most AMAZING gyros and fried zucchini! They have outdoor seating, so we were able to keep the pup closeby.

A lovely day was had by all (altho The Boy was not wild about the hike).