Posts Tagged ‘California’

Exploring Downtown LA

Monday, February 27th, 2012

Kelvin, Maria and I set out on Friday for a photo adventure downtown.  I haven’t been taking many pictures lately, and I’ve been feeling pretty rusty.

It was fun to explore downtown.  It’s crazy how much you miss zooming by in a car.  The whole area around 1st and Hope Street is really nice.  I didn’t even get a chance to shoot the Disney Concert Hall, but the LA Department of Water and Power Building and the Music Center/Dorothy Chandler Pavilion kept me busy.

Kelvin at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with the Civic Center in the background.

Loved these street lights at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

These rainbow fountains outside the LA Department of Water and Power Building (aka the John Ferraro Building) are absolutely gorgeous.

 

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Snowshoeing San Jacinto – Round Valley Loop

Sunday, February 26th, 2012

Kelvin and I bought snowshoes earlier this year so that we could continue hiking through the winter.  We’ve been waiting for a good opportunity to get out to the mountains.  On Saturday, we drove out to Palm Springs to snowshoe San Jacinto State Park.  After a 10 minute ride up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, we arrived at San Jacinto State Park, covered in 1 foot of snow.

Snowshoeing turned out to be a lot more work than I imagined.  It’s definitely a lot of fun though.  Although I felt like an oaf walking through snow with my giant snowshoes on, it felt awesome to be able to basically walk right over powdery snow without falling in.

For our first showshoeing adventure, Kelvin and I hiked the Round Valley Loop.  The Round Valley Loop is a 5 mile loop with fairly level trails, short climbs, and ranked moderately strenuous.

A very relaxed Australian Labradoodle we met on the way to the wilderness.

The snow covered trails

Kelvin putting on his snowshoes

Ready to adventure

My snowshoes

Made it to Round Valley!

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Mishe Mokwa Trail to Sandstone Peak

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

Sarah, Kelvin, and I headed north up PCH past Malibu to hike to Sandstone Peak today.  This gorgeous hike was well worth the drive.  The hike gives you unexpected views of southern California’s gorgeous wilderness.

Hike Basics

Miles: 6 miles, loop

Elevation Gain: 1400 ft.

Duration: 2 Hours and 45 Minutes

The address of the trailhead and parking area is 13500 Yerba Buena Rd, Malibu, CA 90265.

For the hike, we used this map generously provided to us by a park ranger in the dirt parking lot, but it can also be found through the NPS website on Circle X Ranch.  We took Mishe Mokwa Trail up and the Backbone Trail down, taking the back and out trail to climb up to Sandstone Peak.  The trails are very well maintained, however watch out for the occasional poison oak along the trails.  There are some shady areas on the Mishe Mokwa Trail, but for the most part the trails are uncovered.  Definitely bring plenty of water and wear sunscreen.

I loved the views of these gorgeous green mountains throughout the hike.

There were tons of pretty wildflowers all along the trails.  Sustainable plants can totally be beautiful.

There were lots of large boulders scattered along the mountains.

Sarah!

The Balanced Rock.

Kelvin in front of Split Rock.

This rock looks like an elephant/hippo.

I’ve been really into succulents, and I was super excited to see a healthy one in the wild!

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West Coast Road Trip: The Bay Area (Day 6)

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

After visiting the Redwood National Park, we stayed in Eureka, CA and set out early to drive to San Francisco to get brunch with Sammie.  We had brunch at the Butler and the Chef Bistro, and then tried to give Kelvin a proper tour of San Francisco, but the weather was very gloomy and wet.


We stopped off the side of the freeway to catch a few pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.

My little ugly doll vinyl toy.

Bi-Rite Creamery! Yum.

Sammie and me at Bi-Rite.

Stopped by UCSF to tour Sammie’s lab.

Love her!

Then, we headed down to Mountain View to hang out with Maddie!  Kelvin and Paul playing Kinect.

Maddie and Paul!

We went out for sushi.

And then got some beers at Whole Foods.  I was excited to see that they had Hitachino!

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West Coast Road Trip: Redwood National Park (Day 5)

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

After we left Portland, we headed down to Redwood National Park.  On our way down, we decided to stop at Toketee Falls in Oregon, a waterfall that I was set on visiting one day.  Toketee Falls is pretty close to Crater Lake National Park, but we weren’t able to make it to Crater Lake because the roads were so icy.  We only had a few hours to explore Redwood National Park before sundown.  I would love to go back another time.

Toketee Falls, Oregon

Just your typical Spring Break trip.  Kelvin braved the snowy/icy roads on our way to Redwood National Park.

Howland Hill Road, an old stagecoach road in Redwood National Park.

Redwoods are the world’s largest trees!

Going for a stroll at Stout Grove.

We stopped to get a picture of the coast.

Our faithful rental HHR.

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Wonderful Los Angeles

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

From Best Made Shop.

I’m loving these maps of Los Angeles (top) and SF (bottom) from Best Made. Don’t tell LA, but I like the colors of the SF map better.  They also have Mt. Rainer, Yellowstone, Mille Lacs, and Yosemite. (Spotted at jchongdesign)

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CicLAvia

Sunday, April 10th, 2011

My boyfriend, Kelvin and I went to check out the CicLAvia, an event in LA where they closed down 7.5 miles of roadways to car traffic and opened it up to bikers, walkers, and runners.  We went for a 6 mile run at the event, stopping to take pictures along the way.  So many people were out on the streets biking.  It was a fun way to explore the city.  Everyone was super friendly, and it was a beautiful day in LA.

I only brought my phone, so all these photos were taken with my camera phone.

Near City Hall there was a bike stop for people to check out the sponsors of the event, get their bikes repaired, and eat food.

We ran through Little Tokyo, and on our way back, we stopped at Daikokuya for lunch!

6th Street bridge.

View for downtown from 6th Street Bridge.

 

There were tons of cool street art.

More street art.

CicLAvia outside of City Hall.

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griffith park: hollywood sign hike

Monday, April 4th, 2011

A group of us went hiking at Griffith Park last weekend.  We went on a 7 mile hike up to the Hollywood sign.  Because I am training for a Mt. Whitney backpacking trip we have planned for this summer, I packed up my backpack and brought it along on the hike with me.

Hike Basics

miles: 7.0, out and back

elevation gain: 1032 ft

duration: 3 hours

For the driving directions, I went off this map provided by the Department of Recreation and Parks Griffith Park website.  Head north up Canyon drive.  You drive through a good length of a neighborhood before you hit the park gates as you drive up Canyon Drive.  We parked in a lot after you pass a playground but before Camp Hollywoodland off of Canyon Drive.

For the trails, I used this map provided by Dan’s Hiking Pages.  We headed north up the Brush Canyon trail, then turned left onto Mulholland Trail, and then turned right on Mt. Lee Drive.  Mt. Lee Drive ends behind the hollywood sign.  We wanted to catch a better view of the Hollywood sign, so we followed Mt. Lee Drive all the way back down the mountain.  After we took some pictures, we headed back up until we reached Mulholland Trail and then followed the original route we took back.

You can shorten the hike to the hollywood sign by parking off of Beachwood Drive and starting the hike on Hollyridge Trail, making a left at Mulholland Trail, and a right at Mt. Lee Drive.  The shorter hike is a 3.0 mile hike.

At the intersection of Brush Canyon and Mulholland trail.

Sunday is a busy day for Griffith Park trails.  There were trail runners, hikers, horse riders, and a military group.

The view from the top of the trail.

The back of the Hollywood sign.  Not the most photogenic view of the sign.

The girls.

View of the Hollywood sign from the bottom of Mt. Lee Drive.

Me and Kel.

One of the things I don’t like about Griffith Park hikes is how dry it usually is.  I was surprised to see lots of greenery and yellow flowers this trip out.

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day trip to big bear: snow summit mountain resort.

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Although I grew up going to Big Bear with my family, I sometimes forget that Big Bear is so close.  Saturday gave us 24 inches of fresh snow on the mountains, so Isaac, Kelvin, and I headed up to Big Bear.  With the road conditions being slightly icy, it took us around 2.5 hours to get to there from LA.

This was the first time I’ve been to Snow Summit (I usually go to Bear Mountain).  I decided to pick up skiing again after a 10 year hiatus since my snowboarding skills are terrible.  Snow Summit has a lot of nice long runs, and since it had just snowed, most of the slopes were powdery.  It was actually a lot of fun skiing!  I think I might be better at skiing than I am at snowboarding.  I’d love to go back soon!

On our way to Big Bear, there were lots of mountains with snow on them.  I love the distinct snow line that looks as if the mountain was painted.

Getting ready to head to the mountains!

Isaac, me, and Kelvin

Kelvin and me on the top of the mountain.  Look at those trees!

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