Alta Vicente Trail

Kyong-Mi has gone to Palos Verdes peninsula, which is outside of San Pedro and Long Beach, California.  She couldn't remember the name of the trailhead she was on the last time.  She decided to just wing it with her GPS to find any trailhead at Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The trip was worth the drive.  It was scenic and the roads were under construction.  Because it is a Sunday, the roads were not being worked on, and the recently paved roads were windy and bumpy.  Some areas felt like going down a roller coaster.  

They found the parking lot to the trailhead at:
30940 Hawthorne Blvd
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
90275

The trailhead is a rocky path on the side of the parking lot and takes you down stairs.  Once passed the stairway, the trail takes you near a Canary Island palm tree.  There are plenty of flying bugs, the occasional lizard, squirrels and rabbits running away into the shrubbery.  

At some point, the trail inclines and you can see a beautiful view of the ocean and lighthouse across the street.  There is a steep trail going up the side of the hill.  Good hiking boots would come in handy on the hill.  Kyong-Mi learned the hard way by wearing an old pair of beat-up running shoes.  

At the summit of the hill is an amazing view of a lagoon below.  There is a parking lot and a cove where water pounds the side of the cliff.  You can spot a lot of tourists checking out the water.

Continuing on downard, there are old, defunct farming machinery.  Following the Alta Vicente trail down, it leads you to the street.  The "sidewalk" is paved like the trail, with sand, gravel, and rocks. Trevor and Kyong-Mi walked along the street until they came upon a church.  The church has a parking-lot that ends at a cul-de-sac.  To the right, in the cul-de-sac, is the trailhead that takes you back up toward the stairs they initially walked down in the beginning.

Kyong-Mi did not time their hike, and they stopped a lot to check out the view, and so she could snap pictures of the plants and scenery, and even talk to a couple ladies about the trail.  

Alta Vicente trailhead marker

Lantana flowers

Milk Thistle

Canary Island date palm

Snails on fennel plant

Fennel

Trevor to get a picture with the lighthouse behind them

Prickly pear cactus flower

View below us as we began ascending

Rocks aligned part of the trail

Sour fig succulent

Crown Daisy

Early 20th Century pull grader

1930s row crop tractor

The trail deadends at the street.  They continued down the street and around Alta Vicente.  The trail back to their car was found via a church parking lot while following the road.

Sea lavender

 

Peter's Canyon

Kyong-Mi told Trevor she wanted to go hiking at Peter's Canyon.  She remembered it being a pretty place.  She knew there was a steep hill, but genuinely enjoyed her previous hike through there from almost ten years prior.  Before they went on the hike, they stopped by Jersey Mike's for mini sandwiches, which they ate in the car before heading to the Canyon.

When they got to the parking lot of the trailhead, it was fairly full.  Lots of families as well as cyclists use the trail.  Kyong-Mi remembered how to find the trail and wasn't even thinking about how hot it was and that she hadn't exercised for real in a long time. She used to be fit, like hiked every weekend, went jogging 4 miles a day, etc.  

Trevor asked if she wanted to go up the hill, and being the competitive person she is, she said, "Yes."  She started up that hill and was hyperventilating half way up. By the time she got to the top she was having a stinging cough, dizzy and nauseated. She sat on the bench on top of the hill for a few minutes trying to get her normal breathing back and let the nausea wear off. 

 Trevor went downhill and she followed behind, deciding to walk the flat trail, but after about a hundred feet, Kyong-Mim wanted to vomit. She was dizzy, her right knee wanted to give out, and she was salivating with a runny nose. She even thought her body wanted to pee but she didn't have the actual urge...it just felt weak down there. 

She has never felt that way from any exercise before and she had walked that hill before. She thinks she was dehydrated from overexertion, even though she was sipping on electrolyte water.

Fields of yellow

White flowers

The reservoir had water in it, as opposed to the last time Kyong-Mi hiked this canyon

Prickly pear cactus

The grueling hill (not Kyong-Mi's photo)

Silver Falls

After work, Kyong-Mi's co-worker said she was going hiking at Silver Falls in Oregon.  She wondered if anyone was down to go, and few coworkers said, "yes." 

They all went home to change into their summer weather hiking gear, consisting of shorts and tanktops, backpacks with snacks.  Kyong-Mi took Trevor's K-Bar, a neck knife, a taser (you never know), granola bars, peanut butter sandwich crackers, pineapple juice, and water, a second cell phone as she knew she would be using one phone for pictures and the second phone could be backup in case of emergency.  She also brought rubber sandals and a hoodie.  She comes prepared for the worst sometimes. 

Kyong-Mi had never hiked in Oregon, so this was her first and she had not researched the trail.  It's a loop trail, thankfully.

Enterance to the trail head.  There were different forks in the trail but it is a loop trail, so easy to follow.

Dani, Aveline and Hannah.

The first fall they came across.

Kyong-Mi and the first waterfall

Zoomed in

Behind the waterfall

The first of a few breathers.  The water was great.

Jackson playing in the water 

A toy snake.  

They saw a few garter snakes, many chipmunks.  Kyong-Mi didn't think she'd ever seen a chipmunk in person before, so she was surprised at how small they were.  Everyone waded in the water, and it was shallow and cold.  It felt good on bare feet.

There were few steep switchbacks, but benches greeted them a few times so they could cool down and relax before finishing the loop.  The trail is highly trafficked, but has many beautiful views.