Tag: San Elijo Lagoon

Finally Getting Out…San Elijo Lagoon

A million things have conspired against my getting back out on the trail the last two months, but I finally kicked all their asses to the curb (yes, pneumonia, I’m talking about you) and put my hiking boots on yesterday. Of course, it’s in the mid-90s inland, so we headed to the water. I hiked San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve a little over a year ago. It’s not a long or hard hike, but there’s birds and a breeze, and what more could you ask for when you are totally out of shape and panting in the Southern California heat?

Yup.

You could ask for pretty flowers all over the place…

Mar 15 15 003 small

And a cooler breeze than was found in the inland valleys…

Mar 15 15 014 small

And sure, that’s probably a lot of pollen that is keeping my nostrils all stuffy today…

Mar 15 15 015 small

But there was almost no one else on the path…just a dog and a horse and a small number of people…

Mar 15 15 018 small

And birds…

Mar 15 15 020 small

And long vistas of green and watery bits…

Mar 15 15 021 small

And this egret with a couple of ducks…

Mar 15 15 025 small

It was definitely warmer on the side east of the freeway…

Mar 15 15 029 small

And it’s always a surprise to see pines down in these areas…but there were supposed to be mule deer too, and I’ve never seen them out there…

Mar 15 15 031 small

More pollen for noses. I also have two bug bites and a weird triangular-shaped bit of sunburn from where I didn’t slap sunscreen on my white winter body.

Mar 15 15 033 small

Shady tree-lined paths for part of it…but yes, also some sand to slog through.

Mar 15 15 034 small

Lots of lizards of all types…

Mar 15 15 035 small

And a few big monstrous trees…

Mar 15 15 038 small

Blue skies…and lots of ducks…

Mar 15 15 040 small

Back to the beachy breezes on the west side…

Mar 15 15 045 small

Even a few sandpipers…

Mar 15 15 048 small

5.75 miles from North Rios in Solana Beach to El Camino Real, traveling under Interstate 5…

Mar 15 15 049 small

Yes, the muscles are talking to me today, a day later, and I’m quite glad about that. I feel much better having been out there and used them. Now to keep it up…

San Elijo Lagoon

This is another one of those…is this really a HIKE or a WALK? I think the latter, although it’s a very nice walk at that. We did about 7 miles…there’s a group picture somewhere, but only my arm is in it (not quite on purpose, but you know how I am about pictures). Here’s the trailhead in Solana Beach (California, by the way…I often forget most people reading have no idea where I live)…

Feb 2 14 001 small

I’ve always wanted to do this walk…driven past the lagoon on the freeway and said to myself that I should go do it, but it never happened…I mean, like for YEARS I’ve been saying this. It is a long drive from my house. That doesn’t help. I can’t just pop up there after work and do a quick walk, although many people are using it for a quick run.

There are many birds in the lagoon, including this Great Blue Heron…who posed…

Feb 2 14 006 small

Yes, I am beautiful. And then flew…

Feb 2 14 008 small

But not very far…just enough so we could get his/her good side.

Feb 2 14 011 small

I do not know how to sex a heron. Sorry. Apparently it’s by size. Well. There we are.

The walk was mostly flat, with only a few minor hilly bits, nothing challenging. There were also some rocky and narrow bits, especially going under the freeway bridge, but most kids and seniors could handle it.

Feb 2 14 012 small

There were about a million ducks.

Feb 2 14 013 small

This is the view towards the freeway and housing areas that surround the lagoon.

Feb 2 14 014 small

This is the view back towards where we started.

Feb 2 14 016 small

And the lovely view under the freeway.

 

Feb 2 14 017 small

It’s strange to hike with all that freeway noise, but eventually we got out into THAT below, and the noise faded away.

Feb 2 14 020 small

There’s less water in this section, fewer birds as well, and still lots of flat.

Feb 2 14 024 small

That’s the thing…it’s 7 miles, but a flat 7 miles, so we hiked it in less than 2 hours.

Feb 2 14 026 small

And it wasn’t very challenging. Sometimes that’s OK…apparently I felt like I needed a bigger challenge? Who knows. I spent most of my time walking with a Russian yoga instructor who had saved a turtle in Malaysia by massaging it. We talked about the mind-body connection, even in turtles, and lots of other enlightening stuff, from kids, to travel, yoga, Seattle, college, financial aid, self-employment, art, and men. It was entertaining at times, depressing at others. She and I walked fast, ditching the strollers. Again, walk? Or hike? Or run?

There were Torrey Pines about…

Feb 2 14 027 small

And it was definitely a beautiful day for a walk or a hike…

Feb 2 14 030 small

San Diego is great this time of year for such things. There were many flowering plants, even in the “dead of winter”…I sucked at taking photos of most of them (moving too fast), but got this acacia…

Feb 2 14 034 small

And a view of the clouds reflected in the water…

Feb 2 14 036 small

I bet this is a really popular walk during the summer, when East County is unbearable.

We made it back to the trailhead quickly and finally gave up on the rest of them…which was probably a good thing, because they stopped to take a bunch of group photos.

Feb 2 14 038 small

I’d do it again. I might run it though. Put it in the file for summer evening walks…