There are not a whole lot of options regarding how to celebrate your birthday in a pandemic, so I went for a hike with my favorite people. We walked down the La Orilla trail which ran along the back part of the San Elijo lagoon.
On the way back up the trail, I surprised a bobcat, who dashed into the vegetation and then stared at us. It was dark so I had trouble getting a good photo, but you can barely make out his pointy ears and yellow eyes looking out from the bushes.
We all kicked off the New Year with a rugged hike along Lake Hodges. The boys have fun trying out their new (to them) camera. On the way back, we saw a beautiful coyote.
The hike up to the top of our local mountain was nice and the views were breathtaking. You could even see the ocean in the distance.
The county preserve was much nicer than its name sounds. The hawk overhead didn’t think it was too bad either.
We spent our first afternoon in Joshua Tree learning about the geology and wildlife at the visitor center. Then we did a short hike to Barker Dam, getting some up close experience with joshua trees and meeting some friendly ground squirrels.
A cool desert iguana greeted us at the desert oasis we explored to kick off our second day of the trip. Then we headed further into the park, to hike amongst and climb around the boulders. Somehow, no bones were broken in the process.
We finished off the day at Keys View, admiring the dust storm and smog filling the Coachella Valley. Before Los Angeles had so many cars, I’m sure that the view was amazing.
We bid Joshua Tree farewell while visiting the Cottonwood Oasis in the south section of the park.
While I was out for a hike at Lake Hodges, I decided to take some shots of the wildflowers and a few of the birds.
A beautiful day for a hike along the bay, and to learn about the big guns that defended it during WWII.
It was a long hike to the top of one of the area’s tallest mountains, but the views were worth it. A gopher welcomed us at the very top.
