Silver Sunday

We finished the coffee, ate our oatmeal, and got in the car before ten. Almost early. Rather than taking the short drive to the East end of La Habra Heights, Mary and I drove west to Whittier, Turnbull Canyon, and Cloud Peak, the highest point in the Puente Hills. Turnbull has become a surf spot for mountain bikes. Dozens of 4wd pickups, and SUV's jammed up the small roadside parking area, and spilled over into the neighborhood below. It reminded me of a Sunday morning at Huntington Pier. Surf's OK, but not great. Conditions are good, but there's over a hundred people out there sniping for waves. How much fun do you want to have? Only this was with bicycles instead of surfboards. Anyway.

We drove up to the top of the canyon. There's another entrance to the preserve up there. Nobody around. Go figure. We hiked up the trail that goes to Cloud Peak. Although it's the same range of hills as the La Habra preserve, Turnbull looks a lot different. Turnbull grows less brush, and fewer trees. You see some pretty dramatic erosion of the cliff faces, and hillsides here and there. That's because Turnbull has burned to the ground several times in the last few decades. La Habra has never burned.

The trail around Cloud Peak is Pretty steep, and once you're at the top every direction is downhill. With gravity on your side the first half of the walk is a little too easy. Then you have to turn around. Again, we're having that classic silver weather that defines Spring out here. Today I was grateful for it. Marching up hill is easier when it's cool.

Mexican Food is mandatory after walking in the hills. We Stopped at La Chiquita, right around the corner from the house. Their version of chile colorado is a spicy beef, potato, and chile stew. It's one of my favorites, and you can get all you can eat on the buffet. Along with chile rellenos, Menudo, rice beans, and warm tortillas. And fresh mango, strawberries, and cantaloupe to round it off. And home. Plug the pictures into the PC, and call it an adventure. Oh, yeah- Look closely on the horizon in the first picture. You can barely make out Downtown Los Angeles in the haze.

JWM