Day 377: Torrey Pines - Guy Fleming Trail

Day: 377  Hike: 410/395
Saturday November 26, 2011

Where: Torrey Pines (San Diego, California)

My Tripometer: 3.0 miles +250 feet

Description: The rare Torrey Pine Trees are located just north of San Diego.  You can walk along the beach and/or hike the easy Guy Fleming Trail.  Suitable for all ages!
Directions: From the 5 Freeway in San Diego head North and take exit 29 and turn left on Genesee Ave.  Stay straight and head North on Torrey Pines Road.  The street will eventually lower towards the ocean and you will see Torrey Pines State Park on your left.  It may not be possible to turn left there so we went all the way up and flipped back.  We found a spot along the road and saved $10 bucks for parking.  If you are going to hike the Guy Fleming Trail, you'll need to climb about 100 feet from the beach to reach the trail head.  Just follow the flow of people... 

Rewind:

Walking the streets in La Jolla, continued from Day 376 Hike 408/393

Stopped for some coffee on La Jolla Pkwy en route to the next hike...

Day: 376  Hike: 409/394
Friday November 25, 2011
Mission Beach Area


We hiked an additional 1.5 miles with virtually 0 elevation gain that Friday.  This was after a long day at La Jolla and before our night visit to Hickman Fields.  This is an area worth checking out.  Sort of reminds me of Venice Beach with the Promenade but without all the chaos and shops.  Ok, so it's nothing like Venice :)

Basically over this 2 day period we covered the San Diego coast from Bellmont Park to Torrey Pines.  It's amazing how much the coast line changes over this 15 mile spread...

Day 376: La Jolla City to the Sea & Harbor Seals!

Day: 376  Hike: 408/393
Friday November 25, 2011

 La Jolla Cove (Harbor Seal Haven)

Where: La Jolla (San Diego, California)

My Tripometer: 4.5 miles +150 feet

Description: This is a great spot to bring your kids but people of all ages will enjoy this unique town.  I had personal interest because of the Seals and was amazed that they shared the area so well with all the people.  You can litterally park your car and overlook the seals and then spend hours shopping through the streets.

Directions: From the 5 Freeway in San Diego, exit Route 52 West and take that to the end.  Stay straight on La Jolla Pkwy and then merge left on Torrey Pines Road.  Turn right on Prospect and then right on Coast Blvd.  This is a busy area so good luck parking.  We got lucky :)

 **You can walk on the beach with them

**Not so fast.  You may not approach them.  The seals are still very skiddish and if they feel threatened they will leave the area.  Only a few people walked across the back sand and when they did, the Seal Watch people whispered a yelling chant in their megaphone that its a violation of federal law if you provoke the seals.  They do have signs stating that you can walk on the beach but they do forewarn you.  --It's unbelievable that it has to be a debate!  The good news years, there is full time beach front closure.  The bad news is, there is heavy foot traffic in the area so I can only imagive how many times the seals are startled during pupping season.  --Final thought, if Carpenteria had full time beach closure, La Jolla represents enough evidence to suggest that some seals would stay year round. 

 A pup?! -Proof that the beach closure in Carp isn't 100% precise

 Next cove over; you are free to swim here!

 At low tide, make your way into the cave

 Looks like this seal wants to play

 Just hanging out in plain sight

 You can walk along the coast for miles, awesome rocky formations

 Jess and I -- Damn, I'm getting old but my wife is still hot!:)

 Ayden discovered the butterfly

Found a Hat Store...

***So, I'm still hiking every day.  I spent the holiday weekend down in San Diego, obviously.  Earlier that day I "hiked" at Hickman Fields where Alyssa was on a secret mission.  No, that's cousin Kaitlyn in the picture above.  Sissy was with her father hanging out at the hotel pool while we were at La Jolla. 

The Hickman hike will be represented like so:



Day: 376  Hike: 407/392
Friday November 25, 2011

So basically, everytime I "hike" it will be notated with the first number (397).  The second number represents how many different locations that I have hiked at.  Recently, I've been hiking or walking Sammi at Arroyo Verde Park, in the near dark.  This counts as a hike but not a new location.  Because I commonly hike in multiple locations in the same day, especially on vacations, I believe that I will have well more than 1000 hikes in more than 1000 locations over the 1000 day period.  I can live with that!  **I'm not going to pollute this blog with duplicate hikes, but I will keep track of them on a ledger, just in case Guinness is interested :)  I still have about 5 more hikes to update from this trip, and I have our 10 day New Zealand trip coming up in just 5 days!!!  OMG, not even close to prepared for this!  It's month end at work and the Amazing Race deadline is Wednesday.  We figure on submitting an entry video at the last minute.  Well, stay tuned and next time you go to San Diego, stop by La Jolla! 

Day 370: Nicholas Canyon County Beach

 Nicholas Canyon County Beach

Day 370: Saturday November 19, 2011
Nicholas Canyon County Beach
Malibu, CA

 Neptunes Net

 Crab Burger & Fries

From Oxnard, Camarillo or Ventura, take the PCH toward Malibu.  Pass by the La Jolla trailheads and Sycamore Canyon Camping area.  Before you cross into LA County, you will see Neptune's Net on the left.  If you haven't been here before; WHY NOT?  -_Very Good Fried Food and Sea Food!  World Famous, biker hang out; good place to eat Fish & Chips -- & BEER!

After our lunch grub we continued driving down PCH.  Just ahead on the right (parking on the left) is Leo Carrillo Beach.  Shortly thereafter is Nicholas Canyon County Beach.  We were the only ones here today.  The weather was amazing!!!  As I am writing this blog just a day later, the temperature is in the 50's and the rain is constant (A California Winter Storm :)).  **Be advised, self parking here is $8.00 on the weekend in the winter months!  Kinda sucks for just an hour, but we paid it...

Day Recap 2.5 miles hiking +50 feet (inclding Alyssa's Soccer Game at Kimball Park.  The Mighty Vipers suffered a rear defeat to Agoura, 1-0.  The conclude the regular season with a 10-2-1 record.  This should be good for 2nd place in the division.  Playoffs are in January...

******
My hiking at new locations every day has just recently come to an end, I suppose.  The sun has been going down early and I've been staying late at work.  By the time I get home, it's already pitch black.  However, I have been taking Sammi for walks at Arroyo Verde.  I try to venture off in the dark different directions and what not but often times I am only hiking the upper trail around to Skyline.  Therefore, I am duplicating. 

We leave on our trip to NEW ZEALAND on Saturday December 3rd.  Please check back sometime after December 15th for amazing photos, lets hope :)

**Rewind:

Day 357: Sunday November 6, 2011
Sunset Ranch
1.5 miles +100 feet (hiking)
Hiking/Horseback riding to the Hollywood Sign, but stormy weather (Hail) cut the day short...

***Some Pictures from my cell over this past month...

 Camarillo Springs Golf Course

 Dos Vientos (Random Trail -- Great Ocean Views...)

 Dos Vientos, tails along the road

 Tee Time!

Coming home from work on my Motorcycle :)



DAY 351: BLANCHE REYNOLDS PARK (HALLOWEEN)

Day 351: Monday October 31, 2011 --Happy Halloween!
Blanche Reynolds Park -- Ventura, CA
3.5 Miles  +50 feet

 The kids, and Sammi

 The Ocean Mist in the air creates a snowy effect

A Pirate Ship!

This is the first year that we went trick or treating in this neighborhood.  The local church had a carnival and small petting farm.  The locals were vibrant and decorative.  This exceeded our expectations.

***Soccer Video Update:::  Today (November 5th) I road over 200 total miles on my motorcycle to make it through traffic and attend the soccer games.  People have told me that You Tube will not allow viewers to watch Alyssa's video because of the copyright on the songs.  Really?!  I pay money to Itunes to make a video and they won't allow this shared?  What am I doing wrong?  I mean, when You Tube plays the videos, they advertise an ITunes link to buy the song if you like it...  Anyhow, I am uploading the video to Daily Motion.  With any luck, you can watch it here:

2011 Mighty Vipers Season

**So far behind on this blog...  My hikes have recently turned more into just new places to go outdoors but in my book, they still count.  I have lots of pictures on my cell phone, but I will upload those another time.  Quick catchup:::

Day 352:  Tuesday November 1, 2011 Camarillo Springs Golf Course -- Not sure if this is the actual name of the course but I piggy backed behind another car and entered the Camarillo Springs area.  I was searching for some hiking...

Day 353: Wednesday November 2, 2011 Dos Vientos Ranch in Newbury Park

The temperature was in the mid 80's but the wind gust were nearly as high as the temp.  I walked across Portrero Road and wandered about.  I was here many months ago and discovered several single footpaths beyond what used to be an old house or something... 

Day 354: Thursday November 3, 2011 Walnut Grove Park - Newbury Park

For the first time, I coudlnt remember if I had been here before in my 1000 hikes!  I knew I was hear many times in the past playing basketball afterwork and exploring.  There is a lot of greenery here, more than you would expect.  To ensure I did not duplicate, I wandered across Lynn and spied on the Los Robles Greens COuntry Club.  now I know I've never been there before.  My ankle is doing better, but I've been lazy and its still swollen.  I probably hiked a good 5 miles today...

Day 355: Friday November 4, 2011 Happy Valley (Rancho Conejo Open Space)

Figuring this would be my last real good daylight afterwork for some time (Time Change tomorrow), I didnt want to waste it.  I hiked down from Baxter and took the long trek up and into Happy Valley.  I came back the same way because time was not on my side.  I spent a good 2 hours out here.  I am still not running. 

Day 356: Saturday November 5, 2011 Van Nuys & Huntington Beach.  The Vipers Played a soccer game at Van Nuys--- I forget the name of the park, but I walked across the entire park because I parked on the wrong side.  Later that day, we hung out in Huntington Beach.  Awesome area!  Ate at the DQ across from the pier.  I drove down for the first time, The Other PCH...

-----I still have a bazillion days logged on stationary but I wrote all this from memory for my records.  I eventually hope to get back to more detailed descriptions of good hikes, but its hard!  If I wasnt nearly a year invested into this, I would honestly just give up.... 

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