12/21/16
Distance Hiked: about 10 miles
Slept way in after our late night of poker and beer. Had a huge sandwich at Jr Sr’s and then left to the trail at noon. I have accumulated an extra day into my schedule by having larger mileage than expected days so now I’m slowing down. I’ll only be hiking about 5 hours today and then getting a hotel, leaving me with about 12 miles or so tomorrow to the Pacific Ocean.
Finally off of utility roads, the trail heads almost directly west towards the coast from here. It rained last night so the ground was moist and the air was full of planty smells. Some of the trail was also very eroded by the water. But it’s sure nice to be on single track!
Sweet single track
Offices and shopping centers in the distance!
Prickly pear flower!
Nobody is licking any white dog turds!
Costco is just a half mile or so from here!
The castor bean. This plant grows all over subtropical parts of the world as a weed. It is also the source of the toxin ricin. Ricin is one of the most toxic chemicals produced by any plant. A few grains of salt worth of ricin is enough to kill a person. It’s also been used as a chemical weapon. In World War I the United States looked into coating bullets and bomb shrapnel with ricin so that even a normally non-leathal wound would lead to death by poisoning. Thankfully this never made it into any battlefields. More notably in 1978, a Bulgarian dissident and writer was assasinated by Bulgarian secret police who had modified an umbrella to shoot a small pellet laced with ricin into the man’s leg. The man died a few days later, unaware that he had even been shot by a pellet, which was found upon an autopsy. Humans are always willing to find new ways to kill each other.
Under the highway
Eucalyptus flowers
So ummm, where ya hiking?
One of the great things about urban hiking is that you have many opportunities to get to food from stores. This leads to very lightweight packs and warm food and sugary soda all day 🤓
7-Eleven food and Dr. Pepper break!
The evening went through wet meadows
Near the big bridge was a little memorial area with rocks with people’s faces and names on them.
Ran into a bunch of teenagers hanging out under the bridge, many had climbed way up on the arches. Typical hangout places
Some of the bridges have been washed out. Is a bit of a jump to keep dry feet.
After I got about half a mile past the highway overpass, I was able to walk up to a road that meets up with Mercy rd. a busy street next to neighborhood. I got an Uber and within 10 minutes I was on my way to the hotel for the night! And just in time too as it began to storm and downpour all night long. A Carl’s Jr. right next to my hotel became my feeding grounds. Next I slumber.
Woody's Adventures 