On Saturday, July 17th Jenn and I went on our 5th hiking excursion of the summer. We were joined by my bestest friend in the whole wide world Thuy as she was the first person to join us for a hike. Since that weekend was easily the hottest weekend of the summer so far (probably around 85 degree's or so at the time we started our hike) we wanted to try and start a bit earlier but we ended up starting around 10:50am. Below is some information about this hike.
The hike we went on was at Crystal Cove State Park in Laguna Beach, CA. This was actually the first hike we went on that cost money but one reason we chose this one on this particular day was because it was the closest hike to the beach so we were hoping to get some of that ocean breeze while on the hike and we figured it would be better to be closer to the ocean and out of the canyons where it tends to get much much warmer. The cost was also due to it being a state park which in turn allowed for free parking at the beaches as well which if I might say so myself were crazy packed on this day.
The hike started off by walking to the north end of the parking lot and from there we encountered the trail starting point. It started with an immediate gradual incline with ocean views to the right of us for a good 1/4 of a mile. As we curved around the left of the incline continued for about a good 20 minutes or so where we came to trail sign and pulled out the map to confirm where to go. Our hike was slated to go down the poles section so that is where we headed.
As we descended down for the first time on the hike we followed the "poles" which turned out to be telephone poles and the trail became more narrow, narrow enough that we had to head down single file like we were in kindergarten again, haha. There were thick weeds that surround us for a very short length of time and it was moderately steep to the sides of us but not too bad. It didn't take too long to get down to the bottom of that one section where we ended up crossing paths with a much larger path.
The larger path was not steep necessarily but continually descended downwards for a good 1/4 of a mile or so. It was not too incredibly hot down in the canyon area as I expected it to be and off to the left and straight ahead there were numerous different trails that could have been taken for a longer hike. As we reached the bottom of the large path we got out our map to confirm where to go and after talking with a few fellow hikers we confirmed that we were to take El Moro Canyon, the lower trail which would bring us back around to the parking lot and where we started our hike.
As we headed down our path back to the parking lot I saw a very small dark colored snake, no more than 5 inches long in the brush next to me while walking. I got closer to get a better peek and took a picture or two but could not get a clear enough one to post. It was pretty small so it was difficult to spot in the brush. As we continued down though I did see another snake but this one was dead. It was even smaller than the live one I saw earlier but this one was silver and probably only 4 inches long. Below is a picture of this snake.
The path back down El Moro Canyon was pretty easy but did have a small incline towards the end before we reached the parking lot. We finished this hike in approx 1 hour and 25 minutes which was pretty short but it also seemed very short as well. For a 2 mile hike it went by pretty quickly and although the hike did have ocean views as advertised they were all at the beginning of the hike and this wasn't the most scenic hike we have gone on. Still it was a very nice hike and we have exceptional company so it made it very fun!
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