hike

I think we are all somewhat out of shape after a long winter, the mile long paved path up the hill was the most tiresome, it was nice when it started to go downhill again.

First quarter of the trail was pretty easy, first water break before the steep climbing started;

Some thoughtful soul had put up ropes for an easier hike, it was some serious climbing, not an easy hike!

We made it to the Escondido Falls, time for a beer and fruit break!

Where does all the water come from?

While climbing up I thought it’d be even worst going down, but it was actually not that bad. The ropes definitely helped though!

We stopped by Malibu Seafood on the way home, how come I didn’t know about this place? Amazing food and “bring your own booze”!

I had fried scallops and fries. I wanna come back for more!

It’s winter and it’s supposed to be nice and green, but we are still in a serious draught.

As we stood there making up our minds a few other hikers passed us by and we decided it was for the better to ask for directions right away so we wont get lost like on pretty much all the other hikes we are doing.

Turned out, it was pretty much straight up and it looped around. We said we’ll see if we’ll loop around or just hike straight up for an hour or so and then just turn around home.

Brilliant solution if there’s a bunch of people who need to have access to a locked gate, just bring your own lock!

We were a little confused as to how long the hike would be as some sources said 2.5 miles, and others said 8 miles.  It came clear to us quickly though that it was gonna be uphill the entire time until it was time to turn around back home.

After about an hour of hiking, we decided that it was an 8 mile hike. It was nice and shady for the most part and the uphill part wasn’t that difficult at all.

It was a great hike, we didnt quite make it all the way up to the top, but did a good 2 hours and 45 minutes uphill before heading back down.

We saw this ladybird at the biginning of our hike, thinking it was cute, but isn’t it too cold and rainy for ladybirds?

It’s been raining a whole bunch lately, so the trail was muddy.

We had to cross a stream a few times, I dont know what I was thinking cos I knew we were supposed to see a waterfall, but I was not prepared for water…

We bumped into a bunch of ladybirds, and thought it was kind of cool.

Then we looked around and realized we were in the middle of a ladybird invasion, they were everywhere!

I thought it was a little freaky and got uncomfortable after a while. Now I think I understand why Americans call them ladybugs.

We asked the ranger later and it turned out the ladybirds migrates here every year to hang out.

I think it was around here that I slipped and got a wet foot.

They were everywhere, I’m serious!

Except for my wet foot, we all managed to stay clean and dry up until the very last stretch!

I had Friday off so I thought it was a good idea to hike off the turkey dinner I had last night.

A few months ago when we did this hike it was super hot, today was nice and chill!

We made it to the loop!

Snack break at the top before the descend started.

View over the Santa Monica Bay

Malibu

It was really a perfect day for hiking today, sun was shining, but it was not so hot! Fall hikes are the best!

It started out as an easy hike with not a lot of elevation gain, and the lush trees helped us stay away from the sun.

It didnt take us very long before we reached the waterfall, there’s probably more water during the winter and spring…

Once we found the waterfall, it started to get a lot trickier, with a narrow and steep path, a little bit of a challenge.

Yup, it got pretty steep after a while!

We could have hiked all the way up there,

but everyone was not comfortable with it, so we went back down instead and decided to go back one day without telling anyone…

Detours are fun!