Continuing the little sojourns begun in my last hiking diary - A Pleasant Photo Excursion Into the Foothills - I've been enjoying regular hiking jaunts out to the North Etiwanda Preserve and environs in the foothills of Mt. Baldy, and have gone much deeper than before into quite beautiful areas. Today, I also took a pleasant little trip out to Monrovia Canyon Park, although it was lighter on photographs since it was my first time there.
First, let me tell you a little something about the North Etiwanda Preserve: The trails are mostly composed of loose, wobbly, ankle-twisting rocks that require some attentiveness to navigate, and after you're done for the day, you will go home with sore bones regardless of how fit you are. In other words, they can be unforgiving on the skeleton even where they are relatively straight and level. They can be a bit treacherous on downslopes as well, so a hiking pole or two is worthwhile.
In addition to that, the Preserve is essentially desert foliage, so there is no "ambiance" to imbibe - the air is dead as dirt through most of the place, because desert plants are usually reserved with their scents. The vast majority of what you find are impenetrable thickets of thorny bushes, although dotted here and there by a shoot of something else, an occasional flower, a eucalyptus tree, etc. The only notable fauna I've ever personally seen there was a hare and a weird-looking bug that seemed like a cross between a grasshopper and a wasp, but I frankly don't find that kind of thing interesting enough to photograph. Some new pics of the Preserve:
These views aren't directly available from the trail - you have to scurry up a ridgeline to the crown of a hill:
There is a trail that branches off from and technically goes beyond the Preserve - a trail that leads to Etiwanda Falls - and its various branches are truly a mixed bag. Much of the way up is even worse than the main part of the Preserve, because it ascends relentlessly, unlike many wilderness trails in general that are made to give people's muscles a balanced workout between up and down so they don't get tired going either way. I usually have to just stop dead in my tracks and wait for my leg muscles to unwind when going up the main branch of this trail.
One offshoot is relatively compact dirt instead of loose rocks, so it's easier on the bones and offers a better vista in general. For some damn reason I neglected to take pictures of that part of it, but it's a very cozy trail that snakes in between hills and short little sheer rock faces. There aren't many plants here, but as I say, it's a nice and cozy rock environment. This branch crosses a dip in the ridgeline that leads to the views above. As I noted in the earlier diary, I stupidly tried to climb the other side of the ridgeline and ended up sliding back down on my ass - an event that caused me to take good advice and buy a hiking pole.
Another offshoot leads into a lower area of the stream fed by the falls, and is marked by a sign at the trail fork. It's a descending little two-track path overhung with weeds, and everything is a desert plant in the most annoying ways, with tons of dangerous-looking, brightly-colored, probably-stingy insects buzzing around them. Once you get to the bottom, it's a pleasant enough scene, with some spindly trees creating a crosshatch in the sunlight and the water trickling over rocks. Of course, mosquitoes are everywhere, and the dirt surrounding the stream is kind of boggy here, so it's not entirely a place you want to hang out for any length of time:
But there is a pretty interesting rock face visible on the other side of the stream:
Continuing up the main trail toward the Falls, some of the views range from intriguing to simply breathtaking:
Just short of the Falls is a humble-looking track on the left that leads off on a ledge into the unknown distance, and I couldn't help following it to see where it led. It's one of those two-track, overgrown affairs that will scratch the shit out of your legs if you're wearing shorts. Anyway, for some reason the air was quite pleasant along this narrow little track, and it gave some interesting views along the way - although also some precarious footing as you have to climb over fallen trees at points. Eventually you come to a cool, spongy little patch of sheltered grass high up on a slope with a trickling stream nearby, and it's like one of those little nooks that inspire storybook settings (notwithstanding the damn mosquitoes). The air is quite fresh here though:
I felt so good coming back from that side-trail I was actually unconsciously whistling something or other. Anyway, a short ways continuing up the main trail, you start descending again and come eventually to Etiwanda Falls - a series of broad, slab-like rocks over which the stream cascades. The trees don't look so different from the ones at the lower part of the stream, but the air is very different - quite refreshing, actually. Part of it is that the area is well-drained, and the other is that it's at a significantly higher altitude. The water in many places looked good enough to drink, although I didn't:
Still, I wasn't satisfied with having reached the falls - there is some ineffable wanderlust in me that is sometimes kindled by going out into nature, and I just didn't want to stop. I wanted to find a path to go further and higher, so I followed every little false-trail to its end before returning to look for another one, scrambling over rock fields and deadfalls trying to go that one extra iota into what for me was the Unknown. In retrospect, this was very stupid - I am no outdoorsman, and I hike alone. But I yearned to go further, so I was able to continue for a bit, although it was tenuous going. As I say, mostly rock fields and deadfalls - monotonous enough that I only bothered taking one picture - and it turned out not to be in focus!
The point where I finally stopped, satisfied, was when I came upon something you might call dumbfounding: A tree trunk hanging suspended in mid-air over a ledge. Apparently it had fallen into the branches of another tree on the ledge above, and just hung there. This is actually a famous phenomenon, and is known as the "A Tree" because its shape in association with the supporting tree forms the letter A. It's not very clear from this photo - another accursed focus malfunction - but it's quite a distance over the ground and about as much removed from the rock face:
That was a few days ago. Today, I went to Monrovia Canyon Park to check out the trail leading to Monrovia Canyon Falls, as well as the dam across the canyon. This area is very different from North Etiwanda Preserve and Etiwanda Falls - the trees are ubiquitous, the air fresh and fragrant, and the trails are far easier on the bones. Supposedly there are deer and bears in the area, but I didn't see any fauna larger than mosquitoes: