Hiking the Mt Wilson Toll Road

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, I decided to take a drive up on Angeles Crest Highway (Route 2) through the San Gabriel Mountains and ended up at Mt Wilson.  The mountain is famous for its observatory and telescopes (this is not the iconic Griffith Park Observatory that you can see from metro LA).  The drive was a lot of fun - although there are always a lot of cars and motorcycles on a sunny Sunday, I was lucky to cruise along in a pocket of open road, which is a lot better than wedged between tailgaters and nervous minivans :)

I took a hike on part of the Mt Wilson Toll Road.  This fire road goes down from Mt Wilson to Altadena - the total length is 9 miles, but I only hiked down for an hour (and then back up!).  It was very green and lush, and the ceanothus and manzanita were still blooming along the trail (they finished blooming a month ago at my house).

I haven't hiked much this past year - I only have Sundays free and they tend to fill up pretty quickly with other activities.  I'll have to schedule more outdoor days in the future.

LA basin from the trail.

Ceanothus (California lilac).

Yucca.

More ceanothus.

Trail with ceanothus hedge.

Ceanothus buds.

Pointing the way.

Indian pink.

Solar telescopes.

Twisted branches.

More blooms.

A lot of these little guys running across the trail.

Mahonia.

Tiny flowers.

End of the trail - back at Skyline Park.

Hike's reward:  Moroccan vegetarian stew and bulgar salad in a spinach wrap. Yum!

Passover in Montreal 2013

Once again I went to Montreal for Passover.  Most of my sister's children were home for at least part of the holiday.  It's fun being their cool aunt :)

The weather was pretty cold for this SoCal gal, but there were a few days in the middle that were sunny and a little warmer  - maybe in the 50's (F)!  Since most of the days I was there were either holidays, Sabbath or the prep days before them, we didn't go out and about much, but I still managed to take a few photos.

Here are a selection: mostly portraits, but a few scenics thrown in for good measure.  Enjoy!

On the waterfront.

Nossun

Kaila and Yosef

Mushka

Estie

Estie and Mushkie

On the town.

Kaila and Mushkie

Old in the new.

Reflections.

Little bit of nature.

Seeing things from a new angle.

Field of flowers.

Illusions.

Out of hibernation

Busy, busy... the weeks have just been flying by.  Do you feel the same way?  I've had lots to do at work, along with Jewish holidays and fun events with calligraphy.  I think about posting, but somehow I haven't gotten around to it lately.  My apologies :)

Here are some random photos from the past week or so.  Hope you enjoy them.

Oil wells in Baldwin Hills.

I see calligraphy everywhere!

Objects may appear more beautiful in the rearview mirror.

Cloudy skies over LAX.

Unusually intense sunlight at sunset.

Mysterious!

Walking the dog at the crack of dawn

Having a dog means being more on a schedule - dogs wait for no man, or something like that.  Maya needs a walk first thing in the morning, which for me is around 6 am (before heading for the treadmill). Lately, that's about the time that night transitions into morning - I've seen some very pretty sunrises in the last few weeks, which I guess is some benefit from those early morning walks!  A lot of homes on my route leave their porch lights on all night, and I find those glowing entryways romantic.  Here are a few illuminated portals for your perusal.  Enjoy.