Admiring the view from the top of Wildwood Park. The landscape is pretty impressive too.
Originally uploaded by BroAndDonna
Monday, January 3, 2011
Admiring the view from the top of Wildwood Park. The landscape is pretty impressive too.
Admiring the view from the top of Wildwood Park. The landscape is pretty impressive too.
Originally uploaded by BroAndDonna
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The lone tree
The clouds were amazing as I began the hike back to the car. I though they made for a perfect backdrop to a lone tree on the one hillside.
Another view of Paradise Falls
"Paradise" might be a bit of a stretch but you have to understand, waterfalls aren't exactly common in Southern California - especially ones like this that sit only a mile or two from a parking lot. I don't exactly envision a group of early settlers coming to the falls and claiming to have found 'paradise.' Of course if the falls sat 20 miles from the nearest parking lot, I imagine the setting would be much more serene.
The view from above
A well-groomed trail allows you to access an area above the waterfall very easily and the view is equally as impressive as the one from below. We used to mtn bike in this park all the time but it's a very popular park which can make it less-than-desirable for bikers, unless you don't mind stopping every minute to deal with other trail users. Everybody of course has the right to be here, it's just a little crowded for my taste. Today I could barely even find a parking space at the trailhead - and it's a pretty big parking lot.
Paradise Falls, in all her glory
Today was a great day to catch the falls at Wildwood Park - not so much water that I was at all dangerous but enough that the falls actually looked like falls, instead of trickles.
A river runs through it
Well, the body of water that cuts through Wildwood Park is really more of a creek, but when the rains come it gets roaring to the point that they close the park. Last year a hiker died in the park after being caught in the raging waters. While I was there today, another hiker asked if I wanted to see video from the water fall last week. He showed me a short clip that he shot on his phone and I couldn't believe it - it looked like the Colorado river. Turns out the park was closed and he 'snuck in' because he really wanted to see it - not the brightest guy in the world but at least he lived to tell the story.
A little wilderness in the middle of the city
I think what I love most about Wildwood Park is that it more or less sits right in the middle of Thousand Oaks, but the dramatic landscape makes you feel like you're miles away from everything - assuming you can avert your eyes from the sprawling subdivisions that are consuming the surrounding area.
One last afternoon of sunshine
The weekend (Sunday & Monday) forecast isn't looking so good so when this afternoon was turning out to be such a nice one, I couldn't justify spending it indoors. I wasn't planning on taking a lot of photos so I didn't have anything more with me than my iPhone - which I think did a great job with the snapshots I got while hiking through the park. The hike down to the valley seemed like a great idea, as it appeared to be all downhill. Of course what goes down must come back up.
The downside of thriving vegetation
While the hillsides are much more picturesque when they're green, there are a few plants that I'd rather not see thriving, like these guys. They're great on a hike but they're taking over sections of the park and they can make a few of the trails a bit more challenging when you're rolling through on a bike.
An evening stroll through Wildwood Park
As my week of vacation continues, I found myself with a lot of spare time this afternoon after Donna went to work. I left the house with intention of heading to Best Buy and ended up at Wildwood Park. It would seem to vegetation is really enjoying all the rain and cool weather.
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