Hiking Figueroa Mountain
Our friends convinced us to hike a six mile trail up Figueroa Mountain to see the spring wildflowers. While I'm not much for exercise for the sake of exercise, things like this are easily agreed to. If only they were easily done...
The drive there was longer than expected, so I hit my inhaler a bit too early. Plus, on the way, we kept seeing fields and hillsides covered in gorgeous carpets of flowers. We couldn't resist pulling over to take photos. As we pass the shorter, paved hikes, we enjoyed mocking the people gathered, calling them "Sunday Drivers" and the like. We kept going, to the big hike, expecting to be met with rich rewards for our persistence. Boy were we wrong. Karma is a bitch. The hike we had chosen was dry, rocky, and uphill for miles. UP. HILL. I thought I was going to die. It's a good thing I took the inhaler out of the car with me, because that early shot left me hyperventilating five minutes in. We felt like we were lost in the desert, and in a way, we were. We had no idea where the "good part" of the hike was, and we plowed forward, our feet creating trails of dust in the air, our shoes full of spiky little pebbles, sure that each new bend or crest would provide us our prize. There was no prize. Unless you count that one time I led, and everyone wondered how I could hike so fast. That was pretty cool, for a wimpy asthma kid.
After several miles, we gave up, ate our picnic lunch, complete with wine, right in the middle of the rocky trail, and went back. Since it was all downhill from there, we moved quickly, and then drove back to the wildflowers we had mocked people for stopping to see. Sometimes, following the trail most taken is very good advice.
The lower parts of the trail did have some flowers and greenery, and you'll see that in the photos. But all of the lush fields of flowers are, unfortunately, from elsewhere. Honestly though, it was a great day. You know what T-Rex says... "The worst that can happen is Adventures!"
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