Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
I went on a hike today, up in the coastal hills near Los Angeles. I took a trail along a (dry) streambed up through a canyon, which is variously known as George F. Canyon or Georgeff Canyon. No one knows who George (or Georgeff) was – they just found it on an old map when they dedicated the nature preserve.
There was SO. MUCH. POISON OAK. You really do not want to stray much from the path here!
A walk through a seasonal marsh that’s out of season. (We’ll see how much rain we get this winter.) And a virtual hiking buddy.
#nature #hiking #butterflies #flowers #bridge #path #PokemonGo #MadronaMarsh
Coastal hike at Vicente Bluffs Reserve, on the peninsula southwest of Los Angeles.
#nature #ocean #california #hiking #flowers #cove #coast #florespondence #photo
Some wildlife I spotted on a hike today. It was really nice in the shade, but it was also very hilly, and uncomfortably warm in the sun. I ended up staggering back to the car at the end.
The yellow and black bird is some sort of oriole. The black and white one is a black phoebe. I think the rabbit is a desert cottontail.
#nature #birds #rabbits #animals #wildlife #hiking #photo
Some of the local wildlife spotted at the gardens.
I didn’t have much luck photographing #birds this time, but I did catch some good shots of this one. Though I’m not sure what it is. Maybe a warbler?
This #squirrel was one of three that scattered as I approached a trail junction. The other two hid. This one froze. It blended in very well!
And while I *saw* lots of #butterflies, this mourning cloak is the only one that held still long enough for me to get a #photo.
Finally made it out to the botanical gardens up in the hills for a hike. They’ve actually stayed open this whole time by requiring reservations to limit the number of people on the grounds at a time. (Also face masks, distancing, and closing off benches and some sections.)
Ironically there were more people there than I usually see. The limits must be against an increased demand due to the fact that they were actually open!
#nature #signs #bench #trail #closed #hiking #mask #photo
Wait, *is* that a trail? There are a lot of branching trails in #HahnPark, and I took one that was steeper than the others because I wanted to make sure I had as much time as possible on top of the ridge before sunset. But after a while I started to wonder. By the time I got here, footing was tricky, and there was one point where I needed to use a hand to brace myself.
It wasn't a problem going uphill in daylight, but when I came back down after sunset, I made sure to take the shallower switchback trails instead!
#hiking #trail #steep #nature #hillside #California #LosAngeles
One of the (many) weird things about #LosAngeles is that there are fragments of wilderness scattered throughout the suburbs. (Mostly where it was a pain to build, or someone owned a lot of land & decided to donate it.)
I had two photos of this #trail junction and #fence. I liked the colors in one, the composition in the other, and I just couldn’t get the balance right on the second. On a whim I desaturated it. Turns out it looks better in #blackandwhite anyway!
#nature #hiking #photo
I could just imagine the squirrel proclaiming, “Turn back, traveller, and do not cross the shadow of these woods! Turn back now, while you still can!”
Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center
Dried-up marsh. In May this was a pond. In August it was grassland. Now it’s just the trees, waiting for winter rains to flood the landscape again.
#marsh #madronamarsh #dry #torrance #california #fall #hiking
Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center
Found some green!
