Hiking with Friends!

June 26^th/27^th

Last week we advertised via Facebook to all our friends about the “Hiking with Friends” group hike, and I think the word is out not to go hiking with us. Only one person joined us on the hike and she isn’t even on Facebook! Really people, it only seems like a 9 mile hike, even though it’s 13 miles! And towards the last part of the hike, there are no more hills, just a steady downhill for a good half a mile.

Well the one person who joined us was our friend AJ. She loves hiking almost as much as we do. Saturday started off cool but warmed up once we started up the grueling hill of Moro Ridge. However, this time it wasn’t as grueling since Patti and I both are using trekking poles, also known as “Dorky Poles” according to her daughter, thanks Katie! The poles might be considered dorky (which I thought as well) until I purchased mine to help me during the long downhill ascent of the Gaviota Peak hike. What I found out during that hike was the poles actually helped on the up hills too. It’s like you have four legs! I let Patti try them during the Gaviota hike and she commented on how they made her feel like she was flying. So we both used our new trekking poles on the El Moro hike and they really made the hike more enjoyable.

Once we got to the top we added more rocks to the Lucy memorial. It’s becoming a home to a bunch of rabbits now. I think they like the safety of the stone walls. Well, the weather warmed up and we started off towards Bommer Ridge…We mentioned that it was warming up and chances were we would be seeing some snakes. It wasn’t long after that we ran across a garter snake. I really don’t think I’ll ever be able to catch one of them out in the bush cuz they are just too fast. Once they see you, they’re gone! I’ve caught them before, but it was in water. No water up there. Now AJ’s a little worried since she hates snakes. I think Patti is starting to get use to them. After we hit No Name Ridge I was thinking our chances will be getting a lot better in seeing and maybe even catching a snake or two. This 3 miles stretch of trail is crawling with snakes. Just about a half mile into it we saw our first snake, a gopher snake. I set my bag down and went running after it. I picked it up by the tail and this snake was really aggressive! It tried to bite me several times coming close more then a few times. I just could not get my hand behind its neck. After trying for about 5 minutes I finally put him down and he went off into the bush. Then about a mile after that snake we saw another one, and again this snake was super aggressive and came so close to biting me I actually felt his teeth on my hand, but managed to pull it away before he got me. I was able to pick up this snake and hold it long enough for a picture.

The rest of the hike was uneventful, snake-wise, but it’s the favorite part of the hike. The ocean breeze is hitting you in the face and you’re overlooking the deep blues of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a very nice part of the hike.

After we made it down and back to our cars AJ followed us over to the bluffs in Corona del Mar. We sat on our favorite spot over looking the beach and had tasty sandwiches that Patti made that morning. The perfect way to end a hike.

The next day, Sunday, Patti and I got a late start but managed to get to El Moro by 9:30am. It was warm/humid and a bit overcast. We again went the same way and once we added more rocks to Lucy’s memorial the sun came out and it was hot! We drank a lot of water trying to stay hydrated, which we did, but it was so hot we were hiking at a snails pace. We didn’t see any snakes during our Sunday hike, but it was fun anyways. After the hike, Patti and I ended up on the bluffs again eating sandwiches which she made that morning. She was so hungry that she ate her whole sandwich. After that we headed home a little tired from the two days of hiking 23+ miles. Sunday night we felt okay but Monday we both could feel our weekend hikes. July 3rd and 4th we’ll be hiking El Moro again, but we’ll be getting there earlier to beat the afternoon heat. July 5th I think we’ll be heading up to Mt. Baldy for a 10 mile hike. Should be fun!