» cedar falls
the drive to the cedar falls trailhead ended with a bumpy curvy dirt road that got progressively rougher and narrower during its long eight mile duration. there was dense fog most of the way so i was beginning to think that going on this hike was as foolish as megan thought it was...but you never know what you will experience when you explore the outdoors and as we descended into the the valley there was no doubt that the drive was worth it, because after all, it was megans car, not mine, that was getting ripped apart by the deep ruts. due to the excessive rain this spring, the waterfalls and creeks were rolling with water and the hillsides were covered with flowers. the trail headed down one side of the valley, wrapping around the curves of the hills with mildred falls cascading down the rocks in the background and with wildflower covered slopes ahead. we got a little lost and ended up hiking down to the san diego river, over to cedar creek, up to the falls, up the side of the falls, and back around.

above the valley, pools of water collect and feed the creek below. this tree looks like a victim of the 2003 fire.

entering the valley.

from the start of our hike, the 100 foot mildred falls could be seen in the distance behind us.

a closer look at mildred falls (there is an unofficial trail prior to the cedar falls trail which will lead you to this overlook).

ridge.

mountain.

the overlapping slopes of the valley.

steep slopes.

mildred falls is still visible in the distance.

the valley and some flowers.

looking back at the trail.

fields of flowers.

assorted wild flowers.

looking back at the valley.

across the valley.

wildflowers.

wildflowers.

left: the san diego river, at the bottom of the valley. right: a green stringy moss that hung in the water, pulled by the current, and covered much of the surface in some areas.

cedar falls (90 ft).

me on the rocks in front of cedar falls.

trees congregate in the valley floor, above cedar falls.

further up the valley.

we were there.

here is the path we took, courtesy of google maps.

» la jolla valley
our venture into the la jolla valley was rudely interrupted by a rattlesnake.although i calmly informed everyone of the snake in my barry white-like voice (come on now my sugar babies, there's a snake on this here trail and he's just a lookin' for some lovin'), it still sent everyone running in the other direction once the rattle started going. okay it wasn't the snake that sent them running, my barry white impression was really bad.it was a bright sunny day and either i or my camera suck at taking pictures in the sun so the pictures don't really do the scenery justice.

those things that look like large q-tips are actually plants that i forget the name of, but they are not yuccas as some would have you believe.

heading into the valley.

a waterfall and a snake in the pool below the falls.

deeper into the valley.

various views of the valley.

me, megan, geoff, cheryl. there are no photographic tricks going on here, geoff and cheryl are actually dwarves. they may have little legs but they have big hearts, just don't piss them off or they will come right at your knees. just joking, there is no way they are dwarves, they are not angry enough.

near la jolla valley, along the pacific coast highway, there is a big sand dune that we climbed.

» woodson mountain
the most distinctive feature of the woodson mountain area is the rock strewn slopes. i have no idea how they got there (god maybe?), but the huge rounded boulders are everywhere and are often big enough to present a rock climbing challenge by themselves.

from the top of woodson mountain.

heading down.

littered with rocks.

an interesting rock formation and dan using it to fullfill his childhoood dream of being superman.

me, megan, dan, alex.

» glider port, la jolla
i had been to the glider port several times but never explored the north side so this time i decided i would. there is a nice canyon on the north side that i couldn't help but hike up and i eventually ran into a 3-tier waterfall about 30 feet high that was actually flowing with water due to all the rain (or, the water is runoff from the golf course above the cliffs).

view from the top of the cliffs and the view from the beach looking back up at the trail down.

left: the bottom tier of the waterfall where the water glides across a near vertical cliff. right: the top two tiers of the waterfall.

the middle teir and looking from the ocean into the valley and from the valley to the ocean.

a peak in the ocean cliffs.

we were there.