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Summary of Spring Hiking
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- Time
- 03/01/2003 - 05/17/2003, Saturday mornings
- Place
- Orange County, CA
- Motivation
- Thanks to the abundant rain this spring, the natural lands of Orange County
displayed attractive greenery and provided a perfect environment for hiking.
We'd visited many places other than in southern California but have never explored
the local attractions. We wanted to grasp this good opportunity to get familiar
with our living surroundings. At the same time, we wanted to get some refreshment
from our routine lives, have some exercise and enjoy some moments with friends.
- People (24 participants in total)
- Average attendance: 6.7 people per event
- Participant composition: 12 gentlemen and 12 ladies; 3 seniors, 21 adults,
zero kids;
15 UCI students, 9 non-UCI students; 20 Chinese, 2 Americans, 2 Vietnamese.
- Schedule
- Please follow this page.
Achievements and benefits
- Increased familiarity of natural lands of Orange County.
- Increased knowledge of animals, plants, and the history of OC.
- Improved physical and mental health.
- Improved friendship and connections.
- Improved awareness of protection of environment and endangered species.
Experiences and lessons
- Schedule and confirmation: schedule event at least one week in advance;
call to confirm that a site is open on the scheduled day.
- Go by carpool: some sites have limited parking spots; less gas and parking
expenses; easier organization; improved communication; environment-friendly.
- Group of reasonable size: ideal size 5-8 people; smaller sizes raise safety
and security concerns (for beginners); larger sizes make the coordination
hard.
- Preparation: drinking water, candy or chocolate for more energy; outfit
wearing against coldness in early mornings; waterproof shoes.
- Ask the park info center (usually at the entrance) for free maps as well
as suggestions on selection of routes.
- Stay on trails: some plants are poisonous; dangerous animals (like snakes)
may be hidden in the grass.
- Hiking mileage: 3-5 miles each time is good for beginners.
- Pay attention to bikers on narrow trails.
- A high quality camera is a big plus; cellphones with sufficient power are
essential to communications.
- "Hikiette": smile friendly and say hello to other hikers and bikers
passing by.
- Summary of events (all ratings 1-5, 5 is the best)
- Crystal Cove State Park: web
info | our
pictures, 2
- Description: this place is usually recommended as a first choice
for hiking beginners. Moderate difficulty, good view of the sea shore
on clear days and friendly hiking crowd on weekends (can be good or bad)
make beginners like us easily excited and involved. There are multiple
routes to choose from. Loop routes are available so we can experience
different views all along the trails. Beautiful greenery and broad views
of PCH and the sea shore are the highlights of the hiking in this place.
- Notes: it is a popular hiking place so get there early on weekends
to find a parking spot. Distance to UCI:between 5-10 miles
- Difficulty: 3
- Length: 3 (length of trails that we actually traversed, same as below)
- Scenic view: 4
- Biological variety: 4
- Wildness: 3
- Overall (suitability for hiking and overall enjoyment, same as below):
5
- Turtle Rock Hill (presented here as a reference)
- Description: this place is not for serious hiking, but if you
want to get a fresh from school life, get up early on a weekend and come
here. Climbing to the top of the hill takes you less than 10 minutes,
but you'll have some fresh air and a good view of Irvine, and of course,
our school.
- Notes: park the car along the road or find an empty space in
the nearby residential area. Distance to UCI: about 2.5 miles
- Difficulty: 3
- Length: 1
- Scenic view: 2
- Biological variety: 1
- Wildness: 1
- Overall: 1
- The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: this place is a paradise for birds. Large wetland
areas are the homes for many species of birds. We visited here in early
spring, but we expected quite different views in different seasons. We
had more sight-seeing and photographing than hiking. Overall, this place
is a good escape from a routine life and is worth revisiting many times
in different seasons.
- Notes: the real entrance is NOT at the corner of PCH and Warner
Ave. That's their visitor center only. The real entrance is on the PCH.
A high quality camera or camcorder is very much desirable. Feeding birds
is prohibited. Distance to UCI: between 10-15 miles.
- Difficulty: 2
- Length: 2
- Scenic view: 3
- Biological variety: 5
- Wildness: 3
- Overall: 4
- Newport Back Bay: web info
| our pictures
- Description: this place features good views of the Newport Back
Bay. Best suitable for jogging and bicycling, not much for hiking.
- Notes: Distance to UCI: about 3 miles
- Difficulty: 1
- Length: 1
- Scenic view: 4
- Biological variety: 3
- Wildness: 2
- Overall: 3
- Santiago Truck Trail (in the Cleveland National Forest): web info
| our
pictures
- Description: the surrounding areas of this place are very beautiful:
mountain views and woods, fresh air and an atmosphere of exercise. We
saw flocks of professional bikers (at least from the look) along the roads.
The ramp off the main road towards the trails is very hard to find. On
the trails we saw much more bikers than hikers. The views on the top of
hills are very beautiful, but before reaching the top the views remained
unchanged almost all along the way.
- Notes: there seem to be many trails/parks/reserves, big and small,
in that area, worth further exploration. Distance to UCI: about 20 miles
- Difficulty: 4
- Length: 4
- Scenic view: 2
- Biological variety: 2
- Wildness: 5
- Overall: 3
- Whiting Ranch Wildness Park: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: the best hiking place we've ever been to. Most of
the time we walk through woods so we can escape from the burning sunshine.
There are several little streams along the way. We saw two wild deer about
50 feet away from us. Unlike in the other hiking places where the most
enjoyable moments are the ones you are on the top of hills, in here, the
most enjoyable part is on the way. You'll always have new perspectives
as you walk and don't know what you expect next.
- Notes: the trail length to the top is a little bit long. Better
warm up by some other hiking places before this one, otherwise you might
feel tired. Of course, you can choose not to get to the top, there are
several routes to choose from.
- Difficulty: 4
- Length: 4
- Scenic view: 5
- Biological variety: 5
- Wildness: 4
- Overall: 5
- The Huntington Library: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: a combination of museum, library and garden in a
noble community. Good knowledge source for plants, gardening and landscaping,
great relaxation and enjoyment. A place of plenty of artistic details
and natural wonders.
- Notes: not free on weekends. Distance to UCI: about 40 miles.
- Difficulty: 1
- Length: 3
- Scenic view: 5
- Biological variety: 5
- Wildness: 1
- Overall: 5
- Aliso and Wood Canyons Park: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: typical southern Orange County wild look. Good views
on the top of the hills. Best for bikers but not quite suitable for hikers
except those prepared to walk 6-8 miles or more. First several miles from
the entrance is flat hard roads without much to see but could easily exhaust
your energy. When you reach the fun part, you have to remind yourself
the return trail is still long.
- Notes: distance to UCI: about 15 miles from toll road 73, about
20 miles from I-5.
- Difficulty: 3
- Length: 5
- Scenic view: 3
- Biological variety: 4
- Wildness: 5
- Overall: 2
- Chino Hills State Park: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: typical inland wild look, drier and yellower than
in the coastal parks. High grasses with monotonous colors. Very few trees,
if any. Clouds are low. Because there are not many details to see, you
can walk pretty fast and climb over quite a few hills within one or two
hours, having ever-changing far-look views and an increasing sense of
achievements.
- Notes: distance to UCI: about 40 miles
- Difficulty: 4
- Length: 5
- Scenic view: 2
- Biological variety: 1
- Wildness: 5
- Overall: 3
- Riley Wildness Park: web
info | our
pictures
- Description: a good place for hikers with interest in animals
and other living creatures. We saw several kinds of ants (big and small,
in all colors), lizards, rabbits, eagles and some other kinds of long-tailed
birds, and snakes (the only chance in all our hiking events)! Also
we saw more kinds of plants in this area than in any other wildness parks
we've been to. The area has very colorful mountain views.
The hills are easy to climb. The length of trails is moderate and the
trail signs are clear. Good views all along the way. On the top we can
see far-away mountain peaks.
- Notes: some girls were kind of scared by the presence of snakes.
Staying on trail is actually safe enough. the Distance to UCI: about 15
miles
- Difficulty: 3
- Length: 3
- Scenic view: 5
- Biological variety: 5
- Wildness: 5
- Overall: 5
Reference links
- Feedback
- Participants are encouraged to summarize and submit your own hiking experiences,
feelings, stories or benifits, in any form, to jin_zhu@hotmail.com.
- Any comments or suggestions, please send email to dxli@hotmail.com.
-
- BACK to Dexin's personal
page.
Page updated: 05/18/03