getting closer...

I don’t know what happened but something flipped the switch. I think it’s all the fitness magazines that I’ve been looking at (lol)... been doing a couple of miles for a while now, usually pretty slow. A couple days ago I really felt the urge to do two different trails and spend a lot of time in Malibu. The key is to get there late on a colder day and to hike till it gets dark. That way I miss traffic on the way home and the entire day just “flows” :))))

So I did part of the backbone trail for a while (mostly taking pictures) probably a mile total (great warm up) and then drove to another spot and conquered the hill! The loop was 2.5 miles (a bit more than I remember) with a 450 ft gain. That meant that I had to PUSH to get back to my car before dark.

In hindsight I realize that I was following my intuition…. I really really really wanted to do each of these trails, and to just keep going and going. I want to prepare for a 4 miles hike in the mountains so now I have a REAL reason to get back on track and push harder, get back into shape.

Yea! I’m back on track!!

Hiking rocks! (haha)

See more progress on: Get back into shape – be able to hike entire Solstice loop under 3 hours

El Dorado Nature Preserve

Sneaky squirel.... "I didn't do it, really.... I didn't!!"

RIGHT lol

lunch... (poor kitty)

Misc pictures :)

I was going thru some of my old pictures and ran across this really cool one that I did while exploring 4th Street in Long Beach. There was this really cool telephone pole and I'm really happy with the way this one turned out!

Aaauuuugggghhh!!! Damn technology!!

I'm soooooo frustrated! I'm trying to enter a photography contest online and for some reason their system keeps booting me out! It keeps saying they're unrecognizable, that they only accept jpeg's .... they are jpegs you dumb computer!!! Now I know why I like nature so much... so much simpler ;)

Oh well, things happen for a reason. I think I'll go to plan B and start making some prints to put up in coffee shops and work on developing my portfolio instead.... and maybe even the Pasadena Art Walk!! hmmmm....

Here's some of my nature pics....

Malibu hike - end of May

Daisy field on the way up to the hike

Beautiful sunny day, hiking under the trees ;)

secret campsite on the hike, wonderful shade on a warm day

This was a wonderful surprise... there were these wild orchids...

they were sooooo beautiful.... growing in patches along the path.... very cool.

Palm Springs visitor center & natural gardens .... and a CRAZY bird!!

This is the CRAZY bird that we saw... at first we thought that he was doing a mating dance, but later (thanks to google! :) I learned that this is actually a 'bit' that he does to lure preditors away from the nest... very effective! I know I was distracted!! The bird will leave the nest and do a "broken-wing" dance, fluttering his wings, going in circles, pretending he can't get off the ground...we fell for it at first but I've got your number now baby!!

Crazy yard in Long Beach!

I was out one day and stumbled across this! The guy has his *whole* yard covered in succulents that are blooming with these beautiful purple flowers.... the whole thing!

I actually got a chance to talk to the guy and it was amazing!! I love hearing stories about what made him decide to do something different and the process (there's *always* a process!).... very cool!