#14 - hiking

august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind, and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  i am going to start with ten positives and ten negatives, alternating back and forth each day.  concluding with my top ten things about life in pasadena.

#14 - hiking

we didn't take advantage of this often enough during our time here.  there is incredible hiking within a very short distance of pasadena - much of it found in the san gabriel mountains. 

on the edge of the world

on a recent hike we bumped in to some mountain bikers taking a break from their morning ride.  from this vantage point, it looks like they are perched on the edge of the world.  don't you think?

more skywatch friday photos can be found right here.

fading to the horizon

our internet has been a bit shaky of late...  sorry for the late post. 

the hike less traveled

our thanksgiving celebration involved an early morning hike.  our original plan was to follow the path to millard canyon falls, but unfortunately that route was closed off to the public. 

our alternative hike ended up to be just as enjoyable as we were originally anticipating.  while we didn't get to see the falls, we did get some breathtaking scenery and beautiful images.  the photo below shows the scar that still appears on the mountains from 2009's station fire.

walking back to the waterfall

just a small glimpse at some of the path to get back to the eaton canyon waterfall.

heading out for a hike

we're hitting the road this evening for a long weekend trip with some friends to the grand canyon. we've never been and we're pretty excited! i'm sure i'll have plenty of photos to post when we get home, but until then, enjoy a few pasadena photos.

this is southern california?

the landscape on our mt. wilson hike was much more "northern" than we expected. a lovely change of pace from our daily lives.

another from our mt. wilson hike

it was a warm day, but also a beautiful one to be out hiking. at that elevation the air was a little cooler than down in the valley.

pasadena from mt. wilson

i went with a group of friends yesterday to take a 10 mile hike around mt. wilson. although this picture is pretty hazy, we were pretty impressed with the view of our city from above.

4.7 miles back down

from the top of inspiration point we headed back down the mountain, and as you can see from the sign, we had a significant walk back down.

i hope you enjoyed journeying through echo mountain with us over the last few days.

yucca in full bloom

such a strange plant. spiky and green on the bottom with a massive trunk that blooms brilliant white flowers.

look here.

inspiration point includes a helpful system to locate significant landmarks in the valley below. here we see tim demonstrating the system - simply pick the destination of your choice and take a look! unfortunately the cloud cover meant that every tube pointed directly into the marine layer.

remains of yesteryear

the top of echo mountain contains the remnants of the mount lowe railway and the buildings and hotel that used to exist on top of the mountain. little remains beyond the foundations and some old machinery, but it is still worth checking out if you are in the area.

it is an incredible place to walk around and take in some local history.

unknown planet

compare this image to yesterday. can you believe this is the same hike? sure, the marine layer is still hanging in the air, but the terrain looks completely different. awesome.

echo mountain and inspiration point

on saturday we journeyed to the top of lake avenue and spent the day hiking in the mountains. the marine layer (or may gray if you please) stayed with us for most of the day which made for really pleasant hiking weather and really fascinating photography. over the next few days i'll share more images from our trip.

vivid sky with mountain

more from our hike