Hiking in OC-2017

Hiking in the O.C (Orange County) 2017

 

Welcome back everyone! This is the latest edition of my posts, mainly centered on Travel, History or Leadership. This particularly post comes under the 'Travel' heading although not in the same sense as previous posts.

 

 

This post provides a sample of some of the hikes available in the O.C. I tend to do a lot of walking, mainly to try to keep in some semblance of shape plus I just like to get out and see new places and accomplish something, even if it means just making it to the top of a hill!

 

 

Just one thing...this is just an intro into what's available. I would suggest purchasing a guide book for more detail...I went with 'Afoot and Afield-Orange County, A comprehensive hiking guide'. I picked up my copy for something like $8 on Amazon, well worth the money.

 

 

So, let's start...the shocking news is that the O.C is full of hiking paths/trails of varying degrees of difficulty across around 18 different areas ranging from the coast to the Santa Ana Mountains. The county has also been able to integrate hiking trails within largely urban areas. For example, within a quarter mile of where I'm staying in Irvine is the San Diego Creek trail. The trail makes up part of the 'Mountains to Sea' trail that extends from Upper Newport Bay to Santiao Oaks Regional Park.

 

The county uses regional parks for hiking centers...generally really nice with washrooms, water and often camping facilities.

 

 

Heading Southwest along the Creek eventually, after 4-5 miles, takes you to Upper Newport Bay. Be forewarned, the San Diego Creek Trail isn't much to look at, The trail tends to be, mainly, flood control with a lot of cement and boulders placed to control flash flooding....so, you get some of this.

 

...and a bit of this.

 However, it serves a purpose and gets you to the Bay where there's a wildlife preserve and some very pretty views.

 

 

 

There's a nice lookout point just at the start of the back bay loop...perfect for wildlife spotting.

 

Once you are at the coast you can take advantage of the different types of hikes/walks available. I would suggest heading south along the coast from Back Bay and go to Crystal Cove State park. The park starts at Corona Del Mar, a nice little town which still retains some of it's 30's-50's feel with boutiques and even a Brit pub (although very pricey and not really that British :-) ). Once at the start of the park you have two choices...you can follow the cliff path through the park OR you can walk down to the beach and follow it approximately 4 miles to Abalone Point. The beach starts out rock but becomes very sand about 2.5 to 3 miles in...the views of the coast are stunning, definitely recommend this hike,

 

 

If you continue South'ish along the coast towards Abalone point you'll pass a number of old cottages and homes propped up against the hills. The Los Trancos area has an historic district where you can stop for a bite at either the Beachcomber café or the shake shack.

If you continue to Moro beach you'll find an underpass that allows you to access El Moro canyon which has a number of short, but steep, hiking paths (I've not done any yet, will update the post when I have :-) ). The area is also easily accessible by car with plenty of parking and picnic facilities available for hikers.

For those who want a little bit of a different sort of hike then there's plenty of choice. Most of the paths in the O.C, other than the urban paths like San Diego creek, tend to be a combination of semi-arid brush and forest. That means it will be hot, dry and dusty and there'll be a lack of shade in many areas. The point here is that most hikes require sensible footwear (trainers work in many of the easy to moderate trails but can be slippery on rocks and when crossing streams), plenty of water and sunscreen (especially March-late September).

The first area that we tried was Whiting Ranch. The ranch is located in Lake Forest, which is about 10 miles from Irvine. As with many such areas, there's parking available (either at start of Borrego canyon-across from market place or Glen Ranch) for $3 per day but no ranger station or facilities other than a water fountain. The park is 1500 acres with over 17 miles of trails. We started at Borrego and hiked to the end of Red Rock canyon (1240 feet) with a few short detours. The trail is slightly odd in that Borrego canyon winds through a housing area (on the hills over looking the canyon) before opening up into a 'wilderness'. The trails are well marked and are rated by difficulty.

 

 One thing to keep in mind. Despite the fact that the trails are in O.C there's still an abundance of wildlife. We usually see a lot of woodpeckers, herons, and lizards...and occasionally one of these..

 

 ...a harmless gopher snake. However, there are rattlesnakes in most parks, so keep an eye out. There are also cougars but, fortunately we've not seen any of those yet.

A similar park, but a bit bigger and more open, is Aliso and Wood canyons wilderness parks which is just off Alicia Parkway and across from Laguna Niguel. We followed Alisio Creek to the Wood canyon trail head then headed North. We branched off to the left, after about 1.5 miles, to the dripping cave trail. The cave was home to bandits in the 1800's and still shows the marks of their occupation in the cave roof. We followed the trail to where it branches off between the Car Wreck trail and Mathis Canyon trails. We took the Mathis canyon trail, rated moderate to difficult, up to the West Ridge trail. The trail itself is wide, the difficulty is the steepness and the lack of shade...oppressive in 25c weather.

We managed to make it to the West Ridge trail, turned right and hiked another couple of miles to the Lynx trail, rated difficult due to steep decline and narrow path (Bikes are banned), following it to the Wood Canyon trail which lead back to Wood canyon then to Alisio creek.

 



 

Dripping Cave....

 

 

 

The entire hike of 12 miles took us approximately 4 hours.

 

Note: Mountain bikes and dogs are allowed on most trails..bikers tend to go fast without regard for hikers so keep on the right and keep your eyes open.

 

 

Note: The main parking lot has toilets but no water fountains, come prepared with adequate water supplies.

 

Another nice park is Casper Wilderness Park. The park is similar to Alisio with the exception of there being a very good ranger presence (entry fee of $5) with ample parking, toilets (the cleanest I've ever seen at a recreational area), camping and ample water. The park is some 8000 acres, so it isn't small, with a number of longer trails.

 

We parked near the old windmill which was 1/4 mile from the trailhead. We took the Bell Canyon Trail for approximately 1.5 miles to the Oso Trail then took a right where the trail T-junctioned. To get to the junction, we had to cross a few streams which was a bit difficult for my partner as she was wearing trainers and the rocks were slippery. We then hiked up a rather steep incline to the East Ridge trail. The hike up was rated moderate and that isn't a lie....seemed like it was almost straight up!

 

We managed to make it to the top to some fabulous views of the valleys on either side. A two mile hike brought us to the Quail Run trail, a short drop, that takes us back to the trailhead. The entire hike was approximately 6 miles, taking us around 2.25 hours. The difficulty was that there wasn't much shade on the trails that we took and it was hot the day we went...good job we took enough water!



 

 

 

 

I'd like to close by mentioning that O.C, and SoCal in general, are well suited for walkers. Not only can you hit the trails like those mentioned above but you can, literally, walk from one city to another following the coast on the beach. For example, we walked the 11 miles from Seal Beach to Long Beach. Other than the initial first few miles which are through urban areas the majority of the walk is along the beach.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beauty of such walks is that you get to see sites like the Queen Mary at the end of the walk, and maybe a cold one.

 

 

 

 

I hope this motivates you to get out and about more...I'll add more trails as I do them.



Band of Brothers - Bastogne 2016

Welcome back readers (and, hopefully, fans) for my blog...

I am writing this post on the 26th of December which is somewhat appropriate as it is just a few days past the 72nd anniversary of the 'Battle of the Bulge'. This post isn't a tour of Bastogne that was covered a few posts back, in 2014, when I toured the area with my friend, and author, Ian Gardner (from the 3rd Battalion perspective mainly). This post covers an opportunity I had to join in the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Band of Brothers being released. Being a big fan, as anyone who knows me will tell you, there was no way that I was going to miss the chance to meet some of the actors from the show!!!

As this was a 'quick' trip, that meant an early (0-dark thirty) departure for Luxembourg City and the drive to Belgium. Given the popularity of the anniversary, on top of the normal celebrations that the town put on every year, it was always going to be busy. That being said, we managed to book a room at the Hotel Du Commerce which is in Houffalize. 

Those of you who know the history of the battle of the bulge know what occurred in Houffalize and the pivotal role it played. It was also very convenient in that it was a 15 minute drive straight down the N30 to Bastogne, passing through Foy. For those fans of BoB you'll, no doubt, remember the scene where Speirs charges through the Foy.

 

 

 

 The photo above is the view of the church from the bridge on the N30 in the town.  The Tiger, in the following picture, was recovered from the river after the battle.

After checking in to the hotel, and the compulsory Belgian beer (be warned, 8% very strong)...

We headed for Bastogne and some quick sightseeing. We managed to have a quick coffee in the 'Nuts' café (Icon for all Bulge history fans) and took in a few of the town center sights.

The evening was dedicated to a VIP reception hosted by WW2 Foundation head, Tim Gray, honouring the vets of the battle of the Bulge and celebrating the 15th anniversary of Band of Brothers. The event began with a Q&A session involving the BoB actors and two vets of the battle, Vince Speranza and Bob Izumi. hearing the vets, and the actors, speak about what the battle meant to them was a unique opportunity that will stay with me for a very long time...

Following the Q and A session, we had a chance to meet the actors and to get some pictures and autographs...Obviously, some of us were better at getting the chance to meet and greet the guys than others. :-)

Nadia with Doug Spain...

Nadia with Rick Warden and James Madio....

Nadia with Rick Gomez and Ross McCall...

Although Nadia was more successful with the photos, I didn't walk away empty handed! I managed to meet the legend that is Captain Dale Dye. The Captain was a seriously nice guy who spent a lot of time with the fans..

The night was also about meeting some of my Facebook friends (Yes, some of us actually meet those we connect with on social media).

The photo above is me with Linda Cautaert and Chris Langwah. What is great is that Chris is the grandson of Doc Roe, played by Shane Taylor in BoB, and an all round really nice guy. I am honoured to have been able to meet both Linda and Chris. I also had the chance to catch-up with, and say hi to, a few other friends that I've met before including Joey Van Messen. Now Joey is definitely worth knowing as he produces one of the best WW2 history VLOGs out there, specialising in metal detecting across Europe, the kids a star!

The following day, we decided to take a break from Bastogne and head out into the countryside. We drove North from Houffalize for about an hour or so into the Netherlands to visit the American cemetery at Margraten. The cemetery is the final resting place for over 8000 American soldiers and airmen, many of which were killed during Market Garden.

Whilst visiting the cemetery we paid our respects to an Easy Company member killed during Market Garden...

After paying our respects, we drove East for 90 minutes into Germany. We found ourselves at Remagen. Specifically, the bridge at Remagen where US were arguably the first to cross the Rhine in force. The Western remains of the bridge have been converted into a museum which houses some interesting relics from the battle.

After visiting the museum, we drove back past the Eiffel Forrest skirting Luxembourg and back to Houffalize, Belgium...three countries in six hours which has to be a new record for me!

The following day, our final day of the trip, saw us heading back to Bastogne. The first stop was at the Bastogne war museum which is co-located with the Mardasson memorial and is a few kilometres from the town. The museum is a new, modern facility with interactive displays and three cinema style shows. The museum has quite a few displays including a battle damaged Sherman and a Jagdpanzer. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in Bastogne.

The war memorial is just outside of the museum. The memorial is imposing and gives a fantastic view of the surrounding area including Bastogne....

After visiting the museum we headed to the Bastogne barracks. The barracks are an active Belgian army site which also contains two museums and a vehicle refurbishment center. The barracks are a must see, containing one of the finest collections of military vehicles I've seen. The collection includes a British centurion tank, a number of panzers, armored support vehicles, etc...go see it before they succeed in closing it for good.

We were also pleasantly surprised to run into some of the BoB actors again...

After visiting the barracks, we headed for our last stop which was the Hamm American Cemetery in Luxembourg, just a few kilometres from the city airport. The cemetery is another fine example of the memorials erected to the losses of American forces during the war.

We also had the chance to pay our respects to three Easy Company members who were killed during the Battle of the Bulge...Alex Penkala, Skip Muck and John Julian.

 

 

The final part of the visit was to pay our respects to the most well known of those buried at Hamm, general George S Patton.

It is a common misconception that Patton was buried at the head of his troops. However, the reality is that his gravesite originally had so many visitors that it was causing the surrounding graves to be desecrated. An agreement was reached between the government of Luxembourg and the family to move his grave hence it's current location.

All in all, another great trip with a number of firsts. I hope that this brief glimpse into it entertains you and encourages you to get out and search for history...