Malibu Creek Hike

I am not sure what took me so long to hike at Malibu Creek SP since it was the outdoor film site for M*A*S*H. I will be back for sure!


Let's all give Arnold and the Dems at the state capitol a BIG applause for tax us on EVERYTHING! $10 to park at the site; mind you if the money went to maintaining the park I do not have an issue... but I digress.

I ended up parking outside the park and headed in.


I chose the longest path I could plan and and it had plenty of elevation gain (3968ft, highest 2640ft) and plenty of awesome views. But first up was M*A*S*H 4077th!

Double click this picture above and you can read all the details.

If you did not already know, my brother and I love M*A*S*H, and yes it is a bit pathetic that it has taken me this long to go on this hike. There is a small shed that houses a few M*A*S*H items, including the sign post. There are two rusty vehicles on site and not much else. I will spend more time exploring this area later.


One of the ambulances, VERY cool! Heading into and out of this meadow is a neat forest of trees along Malibu Creek. But now it is time to start climbing up towards Castro Peak, one of the secondary targets of this hike.


One of my favorite types of pictures to take is where man has inserted his needs and wants in nature. I like how formed metal, cement and lumber interacts with the natural environment. Take you favorite bridge and try to remove the setting it is in... can't, can you?

The power lines caught my eye early on the hike and while looking for a spot to break I was mesmerized by this tower.


One of the greatest things about hiking in and around Ventura County is the variety of the vegetation and views in such a small area. I ended up hiking over 18 miles and had vistas of the ocean, valleys and everything in between. In the picture above, the light hue on the ridge is millions of wild white poppies; if only pictures would capture the real view!

Malibu Creek State Park

Forest, meadows, desert, peaks, valleys... love all the changes! I was even fortunate enough to walk up on a few deer grazing out in the meadow. Mmmmmmmm that was making me hungry, but all I was caring about was how dry my mouth was. I ended up running out of water two-thirds of the hike, but found a faucet not long after.

Good times and a good prep hike for Yosemite... one week to go!

Gaviota Peak

New game plan in effect... prep for multiple Sierra Nevada peaks this summer!

Just realized that the Half Dome cables will not be put up until the weekend after I am up in Yosemite... not cool! So the training has not stopped, but refocused on for a long and hopefully high endurance summer in the mountains.

I took my brother, Rick, on a new hike this morning; found it on Google Earth... love it! Gaviota Peak looks over the 101/1 interchange along with the a view of a few Channel Island. No pics this trip since Rick and I both forgot our cameras!

This was a nick butt kicker. Rick is like a Jack Rabbit and pretty much runs up the trail, but I was cleaning up the rear. Summit in only 1:21 with a slight delay to the hot springs. The long haul had a 13.7% incline... I did say it was a but kicker, take a look!


Next time I will have some pics and new waypoints...

Ciao

How old are the grape trees?

We in California are frig'n blessed; with such a large geographic variety in a general vicinity, there is a lot offered here. Although Napa Valley is what most around the world would think of when they hear a wine is from California, but it is us locals that have found some of the true gems from Temecula, Santa Ynez and Paso Robles... well that and the fact I can drive to these wineries in under two hours!

I spent the past weekend with my cousins up in Ballard, a small neighborhood in the Santa Ynez Valley. I have to say Chris and Patty ROCK! They bought a nice place last summer right in the heart of the wineries and spend most weekend entertaining friends, drinking wine in cellars or basking in the sun. The food was awesome, the wines were DE-LI-CIOUS, and the conversations will always make you laugh, cry or just be glad you were there.

So did you notice anything wrong with the title? I heard those exact words while wine tasting. Chris and I did a double take at one-another too. Poor guy, he did sound like he was trying to learn a few things, but TREES? Of course that one comment lead to this posting and was the center of many laughs over the weekend.

Well I don't have any pictures to share this time around, but here are some links to all the wineries and restaurants we went too. Started off Saturday afternoon at Riverbench, a winery I had never been to; they only have Chardonnay and Pinot Noir's. Then it was off to Foxen, the site of the infamous blog title. Our final tasting for the day was at one of all of our favorites Rideau. We hung out in the back with Cate and I ended up joining the club too. LOVE the Reds... mmmmmm! That night we had reservations at Mattei's Tavern in Los Olivos and what a dining experience. I highly recommend this place and make sure to substitute your side for the Potato Gratin!

Sunday started off with breakfast burritos and some awesome Bloody Mary's made by Patty. Dang that was good. We continued our tasting at Gainey, another new spot for me. Of course Chris and Patty are members at this one so we sat in the private tasting room where our pour-er gave us some large samples. Our final tasting was at Roblar. What an beautiful place and it is more than another winery. Two years ago we did a luncheon for +40 group and it was incredible... and so is the Cabernet Franc! Lunch was at Trattoria Grappolo. Some of the best Italian food I have ever had; the pizza was da boom! After a nice siesta and walking the dog we headed out for our final meal at the Firestone Taproom. If you have never been, you have to go even if you do not like beer. The food is incredible.

Get out and savor!

Prepping for Half Dome

The goal is Half Dome in the beginning of May.

Alright step 1: More Hiking!

This spring has already be awesome and I can not wait for a long summer of new hikes.

I can't wait and thought has me wanting to hike every day, but right now I am nice and sore from two days of new adventures, Fossil Trail and Jackson Falls. Yeah, yeah I know where are those at.

Fossil Trail is part of Old Boney Trail that links Danielson Fire Road to Sycamore Canyon Trail. So I know part of the trail but it was nice to try something new. The wild flowers are absolutely insane, but I decided to only show one here and it is the Golden Poppy.

Well it is not called Fossil Trail for cave paints. (another hike too!) The are several rocks right in the middle of the trail that have absolutely pristine fossils of shells; they look like Scallop shells.

Well that was Saturday and on Sunday I did an old faithful... Punch Bowls. Gotta say it has even got worse than in high school with all the trash and graffiti. No locals 'hanging out' though while I was up. The goal was not the pools but a bit further up the Santa Paula Canyon to Jackson Falls.

This was a good hike to start the real training. Took my brother's family dog, aka 'Todd', for the trek. The Trail has really taken a beating; the slide on the fire road a few years ago is impressive.

Of course I am not going to hike all the way up passed Punch Bowls without stopping by. No I did not jump... it took a bit just to stand over to take this! And beside the trail going up is the same for the rest of the pools.

The canyon has some spectacular views; this one, is just above the last pool of Punch Bowl. The trail quickly climbs up the western side of the stream and presents you this awesome canyon wall. Jackson Falls is hidden around the next bend and the views only get better.

Get out and enjoy the "global warming"!

Take a Hike!

Where have you been lately... Me? Well just the other day I went for a hike while I had some free time on a business trip. My co-worker, Alex, and I found a nice trail just outside of Vancouver Washington. The goal: Hamilton Mountain.

This is the actual path that we took; I found a way to upload my GPS tracks onto Google Earth. Fitting since it was G-Earth that I found this hike in the first place.

Neat trail, we saw plenty of H2O: rain, streams, snow, waterfalls, ice...

Yes that is me wearing shorts, like you had to ask! The legs did not get cold, but I should have had a better jacket to keep a little dryer.

This last photo is the shear cliff that we hiked down next too, the old adage is SO true: a picture does not due it justice. But I still have to post it... the vertial face you see is atleast 150ft and there was a deep gorge between where we were standing. Awesome!

Get out and enjoy the our country!

London Calling... what does it want?

Well another trip to London and a visit to something I have continually missed on previous trips. God forbid that I actually learn something when out and about!

Being a freak about hiking, maps, GPS and such, it is surprising that I have not visited the National Maritime Museum earlier and more often. The significance you ask? Well it is not just the location of the Prime Meridian, but also home to the Royal Observatory, Royal Naval Academy and other exhibits including a Planetarium.

This site is where we (global) have designated to be ground zero of all maps (Prime Meridian)

Royal Observatory

Royal Navel Academy

Prime Meridian, at the top of the of the picture you can see a small black circle; this houses a laser that projects the Prime Meridian. The picture below show the laser at night. (Taken near one of the hotels I stay at, just opposite of the River Thames)

Public Standard of Lengths was posted at the observatory gate sometime before 1866, as noted on of the plaques. Here you can verify the accuracy of your measuring devices, although these are not the "official".

I also paid a visit to one of the more well known London Breweries, Fullers. Nice cask brews of very traditional English Ales.

To bad the their pub was closed on the weekends, but I was able to pick up a few mementos at the gift shop. The day also gave a few opportunities to take a few pictures of one of my favorite subjects, trees and branch/sky silhouette.

Frankfurt... home and namesake of the hot dog

Well I have finally update this blog and it is 'bout time.

We I am just finishing up a +2 week European business trip and it all started in Frankfurt, Germany. Crisp, cool air and an abundance of beer, applewine and sausages to permanently preserve any living creature for an eternity... seriously!

The city is nice to view from an architectural view too... well at least from my untrained eye, but I like it!

From the traditional German village

And the newer plazas...

To the modern high risers.

Boy do they loved meat out here. After working all day in the office, the team (~12) headed out for some dinner and drinks. We headed to a traditional German restaurant, where our leader told the waiter to just bring out some food.

I saw this platter and thought, wow that is a lot of meat... that should feed all of use. Yeah then two more waiters came out with the same platters! Oh what succulent and flavorful pork, gammon and mixed sausages; they were awesome.

I was fortunate to be able to escape the city one day and headed south to Stuttgart, home of Porsche; my boss Darryl, was the one that suggested the idea to go to the brand new Porsche Museum. The history was cool but the display of cars was simply amazing. Everything from the cars you see today, the birth of the Beetle and down to fire trucks Ferdinand Porsche build in beginning of the 1900s.

Classic American Roadster!

...and the Iconic 911 Turbo

And I was not joking about the Fire Truck!