Peak Hike and Beyond - Sunday 7/6/2008

It was 48 degrees on the front porch when we started off on our hike at 5:55 a.m. Our house is probably in the clump of trees behind my head.

Straight out of bed and onto the trail. Gorgeous.


First peak. This is after a long steady slog up the back side of our neighborhood, which is cupped in a horseshoe of old volcanic cones.

Yeah, I'm feeling confident about saying that after really thinking about the rocks we see up there, which include quartz intrusions, etc.

Hydra and I agree that we would have been up on top of this hill playing around these rocks. They're a perfect miniature of a large formation. He would have played with his military figures. I would have trotted horses around through the little canyons.


Hydra demonstrates the usefulness of a walking stick on a steep slope. I always have this camera in my hand, or I might use one too.


Green fruit of the yucca. I don't think I've ever seen it at this stage before. Maybe because it's right after rattlesnake baby season and we avoid the hills a bit at this time.



Looking down upon the 14 as it winds its way toward Santa Clarita where it ends about 20 miles away, at the 5 .

Atop another peak, looking down over the large burg of Acton. Downtown is just to the right of arc of two curving lines that mark the railroad track and Soledad Canyon Road.


Massive mansion that is right below the peak I took the last shot from. Rumored to have been built by a prominent musician, it went up for sale for $5 million within about six months of completion. The real estate listing said it has an indoor pool with a swim-up bar and a music studio inside.

There are no windows on the top floor! Are those high ceilings or what?


An abandoned trailer high on a hillside. The view is great from here.


I love poking around abandoned places. Hydra pointed out that something dramatic must have happened here. There are still mugs sitting upside down on a towel next to the sink.


It's hard to say how long this has been here or when it was abandoned. The license plate is of the black and gold style that was used in the sixties. The place has been empty so long that the power lines have fallen from the poles leading to it, and haven't been fixed.

There were lots of paperbacks around the bed and some more stacked in the main room. There were chairs on the deck and a grill. Someone must have loved it up here.




See the little critter trail we followed around the side of Sundry's Mountain? This is a flat version of it. There's also the type that is barely cut into the steep side of a slope, and we spent a lot of time on those too.


Comin' around the mountain (Sundry's.) That's Hydra's Mountain we're headed toward. He picked it before we climbed either of them, and thought it was the highest.

Ha! When you stand on Sundry's Mountain--which we don't very often because it is a bear to get down off of--we look down upon the pretender. Then again, we discovered that we gave the tallest peak to our friend Trueness when he was here a few years ago. Harumph.

Anyway, that green is part of the 154 homes that make up our neighborhood.


Just as we arrived back on our Homeowner's Association land, down by the RV storage area where our trailer lives, this strange contraption came flying by. It was circling Acton Valley. Looks like fun.


It really is an oasis. Our house is up the road to the right.



But we didn't take the easy route. This is known as the home stretch. The tall narrow pair of trees (that look like one) sticking up on the left are at the end of our front porch.


Aaah! Shade and Gatorade after two hours of hiking and exploring. Dodger has been wanting to "go outside" all weekend, so finally he had his chance.

He's sharing the Gatorade even though he didn't hike.