Hike! Leo Carrillo Ranch

So, I've been here in San Diego for 4 weeks now, and though I'd joined a gym, I felt like I was missing something.... Like - THE SUN!

Well, the other day I met my dad for lunch at a place described as a "cool and nice outdoors area" by an old friend. The place was Leo Carrillo Ranch. According to the google map, it just looked like another housing community, with just a little extra space around it... It looked like that driving up to it too...

The park ended up being closed on Mondays... so we had lunch at a picnic table we found, by a day care just off to the right of the picture above. Afterwards, I was going to go to the gym, but on our way back to our cars we noticed a sign for a trail - saying 2-mile loop. Exercise AND SUN! Perfect! So, I said goodbye and changed my clothes in the car!

At first, I was really confused... You start down this very steep hill, and there are a few forks in the road - but there are no signs telling you which way to go. I took all rights, just to be consistent, which led me to a main road. Again, there were no signs to where to go, so I just headed up the hill to the left, thinking I could loop around eventually. After following the road to the left again (so as not to cross the road), eventually I found another entrance to the trail. At this point the trail was nice, partially paved, partially packed sand/rock. Again though, there were more forks... and not many signs... I actually popped out onto roads many more times, but these times, I just turned around and went the other way on the previous fork.

After 40 minutes, 2.4 miles, and a bit of help from my smartphone's google map app, I found my way back to the entrance. The hills were STEEP, and frequent. There isn't much shade. But its pretty, and though according to the map, you are surrounded by houses and business, you stay blissfully unaware.

I will definitely go back. Its a very nice, varied, workout, with lots of pretty all around. Also, the trail is awesomely dog friendly. Though there were no directional signs, there were TONS of poop bag/disposal stations. Also, parking is super easy. I recommend not going on a Monday, so you can explore the whole area. 

Here's the address:

6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Lane

Carlsbad, CA 92009

Have fun!

Taking Advantage of a Beautiful Day Off

I woke up this cold, November day, and I couldn't believe my eyes: It was Sunny. It was not only sunny, but it was my day off too! A sunny day off in November!!! What a treat!!

 

Did I mention it was cold! There was snow like frost on the roof across the street!

After a cup of coffee, some delicious leftover Thanksgiving stuffing and eggs, off we went! Just Milli and me - we were on our way to the Olympic Peninsula. The goal was to hike. I put two destination on our agenda - we were gonna visit the Dungeness Spit and Railroad Bridge Park.

Since Chad and I moved up here, people have been telling us to visit the Dungeness Spit. Its the longest naturally occurring Spit in the US at 5 miles long. I read on one of the interpretive signs that the spit is actually growing around 19 inches a year. At the end of the five mile long hike, over rocks and drift wood and birds nests, there is a lighthouse.

There is the slightest white dot in between the two pointy foreground trees... thats the lighthouse...

 

I didn't actually walk the 10 mile round trip spit... we drove along the coast to see most of it. Luckily, I had read before we left that since the Spit is a wildlife refuge, dogs are not allowed to hike on it. I figured Milli and I would just pull over somewhere and have a walk - what I didn't expect was that JUST as you turn into the Dungeness Spit property, there is a hunting ground.... and along that hunting ground there is a trail - a DOG FRIENDLY trail! A beautiful trail that travels along the beach for most of it, and allows you glimpses of the spit and its surrounding campsites and what not. The trail actually takes you straight to the entrance to the Spit trail (where we had to turn around). It was the perfect 3 miles hike.

 The first half of the dog friendly trail - it was so pretty.

The second half... along the water with the spit in the background.

 

Once we got back to the car, Milli passed out, so I drove around, back to the Spit trail entrance. Leaving Milli in the car (which I think she was totally grateful for) I walked down to the beach/Spit. Just to warn you - there is a $4 entrance fee - totally honor system and the money covers four adults. Once I got down there, I realized I had no umph whatsoever to actually walk ANY distance on the Spit itself, but I took a few pictures and walked along the beach a bit. It was amazing. The wind was blowing, it was cold but not TOO cold, it was beautiful.

The beginning of the Spit. aka, as far as I walked down it...

After my little hike, we got back on the road and went to the Railroad Bridge Park. This place was cool. The park is centered around an old railroad bridge (duh) - that was built long ago to allow trains to cross the Dungeness River for a railway between Port Townsend and Port Angeles.

The park is small and it includes the Dungeness River Audubon Center, a small picnic area and a mile or so long trail. The old bridge is beautiful. The river below is even prettier. Luckily, the hike was short cause Milli and I were tired.

 Dungeness River

Milli and I finished the day up with a cup of coffee (for me, water for her) and a nice drive home.

Looks like the perfect end to a perfect day, to me :)

 

There wasn't a drip of rain. There was no traffic. Almost no people at either place. The day was wonderful. It was the perfect day off.

Collins Campground

Let me just start this off with - Holy goodness Collins Campground is by far the coolest place in the world.

So, last weekend, Chad and I finally got the opportunity to go camping in Washington. The whole trip was a little haphazardly planned - so we hadn't made a reservation anywhere or had a specific plan in mind. Luckily, Chad had randomly been given that Friday off and with a little help from a friend, I had found a couple first-come-first-serve campsites.

We hit the jackpot. The first place Chad went, he got a spot (the last spot, the best spot). It was in the Collins Campground and it was at the joining of Collin's Creek and the Duckabush River. Literally, creek to the left and river at the front. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Duckabush River

Collins Creek 

Easy to get to, take the 101 south on the Olympic Peninsula to Duckabush River Road, drive about 5 miles and you're there. Once you get there, pick one of the 14 spots (just drive up to an empty one) and its $14 a night ($5 extra for each car over 2). Bring cash (small bills so you have exact change) or a check. There are two vault toilets - very well maintained - and a picnic table and fire pit with grill at each spot. Dogs are ok. The place totally clears out on Sunday morning, so if you can, do a mid-week trip and you'd have the whole place to yourself.

The river was COLD! Which didn't stop Chad and our friend from going in and submerging themselves! Didn't keep our friend's dogs out either (Milli however kept her sweet distance). I got in to about my thighs at one point... the current wasn't too strong along the shore, but it was too cold for me.

Another great feature was the waterfall. It wasn't at our camp, but about 2 miles drive farther up Duckabush River Road, then a mile hike. It was wonderful! The hike was nice, a bit of hill, but well maintained, huckleberries EVERYWHERE (Little Man K and I munched on those the whole way up)! The trail ends at Marhut Falls. A beautiful waterfall with a pool of calm-ish water at its base. The lookout point is high, about halfway down the falls, but you can walk down to the falls... or climb down.

I couldn't have begged for a better first camping spot in Washington. I would literally fly across the country to camp here each year! Enjoy!!

Anderson Landing Preserve

Sometimes I feel like I neglect my dog when Chad isn't around. See, when Chad isn't here I have no trouble justifying sitting on the couch, doing sitting-on-the-couch things, like finishing a season of House, or knitting a scarf, or researching cheese making, or updating my blog. Unfortunately though, this means Milli sits on the couch with me... Usually she sleeps, but every once in a while she just stares at me. She stares at me with those "awww.... mom.... come onnnn...." eyes.

"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom..."

Yesterday, I decided not to neglect her. I decided to make the most of the day. Heck, it was over 40 degrees and it wasn't even raining, I really didn't have any excuse.

After a little research I found a promising little trail out towards Seabeck. Anderson Landing Preserve, a 68 acre park, parts of which precariously perched on a cliff overlooking Hood Canal.

So, I packed up Milli, and off we went. After a few errands, it was just a short 15 minute drive down Anderson Hill. It was easy to find, yet far enough off the road to escape most car noise. It even had a little parking lot and a map at the entrance.

This little preserve was amazing! There were meandering streams thoughout. Moss covered trees that increased branch diameter 3 fold. And mud... oh my goodness, there was mud. It was not a good day to wear my DCs....

The trail was a perfect intermediate trail - a real hike at times. Three quarters of the walk was up and over hills - extremely steep and slippery with mud at times. I would not recommend this trail if it were raining. Though it hadn't rained in 36 hours, there was standing water everywhere and in places mud so deep it went up over Milli's feet and made a sucking noise as she walked. There was this steep downgrade (would've been up if we had done the loop in the opposite direction) that had bona fide switchbacks. At another part the trail was less than a foot and a half wide, with a steep hill to one side and a sheer 100 foot drop to the other.

This was the skinny part of the trail. It seemed to have been paved at one point and the cliff was eroding out from under asphalt.

 

The scenery was downright awe inspiring. It was like being in another world - with you being the sole inhabitant of an alien landscape full of tall fuzzy green trees and huge mushroom chairs. The ground was littered with fallen trees, huge ferns and tickle waterfalls. This is not a place that gets much sunlight. It was gorgeous. The best part was it was tucked back far enough from the road that for most of the walk you were protected from the road's traffic noise.

At two points the trail gets pretty close to the Hood Canal. The first you could only see it through the trees, but then later on there was a wood landing with a bench that over looked it.

The whole loop took exactly 45 minutes - and that was walking at a slightly faster than leisure pace and with one slight bush-wacking detour. By the end of the walk, my heart rate was slightly elevated and Milli was downright pooped. We will definitely be visiting Anderson Landing again!