SoCal Spring Adventures

Spring has finally arrived at Astrocamp! The lilacs are blooming, the black oaks are getting leafy, and my nose is tickling with all the pollen. I see almost as many lizards sunning themselves as I do squirrels scampering around. Unfortunately all this nice weather also means that the rattlesnakes will be making appearances soon, too.

We had a bit of a heat wave a couple of weekends ago, so a few of us decided to head off the mountain to La Jolla Beach to cool off. Boy, did we cool off (Mom always says "be careful what you wish for"). If I didn't know better, I would've guessed we were closer to Tillamook than San Diego! Since we were there, we all decided to run out for a quick polar bear plunge. After that, we checked out the nearby tidepools....which were AWESOME!

Forget what Hollywood says. This is the real California coast. It's *almost* as cold as the Oregon coast.
(r-l) Christina, Bobby and Bob check out life in one of the tidepools.

The Incredible Mr. Limpit....and Mrs. Limpit, Junior Limpit, Baby Limpit and the rest of the Limpit family!
Don't be crabby! Even with grey skies, the beach is awesome. :)


Cosmic phenomenal beauty....itty-bitty living space.

The following Sunday, I joined a few of the astro-experts for a Messier Marathon. **Warning: Teacher Mode commencing NOW** Messier was an 18th-century comet hunter who found a lot of other awesome things in the night sky besides comets (nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies, oh my!). A Messier Marathon is an insane attempt to stay up all night and view all 110 Messier Objects in one go.

I failed. Miserably. We started at 7:30, and I was already falling asleep on my feet by 9:15. Before I called it quits, I did get a few nice pictures of the evening sky.

The bright spot in the center left, just above the eastern horizon, is Saturn. I have really enjoyed showing the kiddos this amazing planet through the telescope, though many of them think it looks too much like the pictures in books and online to be real. 

Here's a couple of old favorites...Venus (r, just between the trees) and Orion in the western sky.

That brings us to my most recent adventure....Expedition Tahquitz Peak, Take 2. I succeeded in rounding up a couple of hiking buddies (as well as a ride up the forest service road to the actual trail head), and yesterday we kicked that mountain's booty!! With an 8.2 miles round trip, and a 2,000' elevation gain from the trail head (finishing at 8,800'), this is definitely the hardest hike I've ever done.






My hiking companions Joe and Bob pondering the meaning of life and the existence of the universe...or maybe just when we should stop for a snack.

 

This strange-but-lovely flower is called Sarcodes. Evidently it's a parasitic high desert plant that thrives on the fungi hanging out on tree roots...um, eewww.

Good day, Sunshine! It was a little overcast, but these cheery little flowers lined part of the trail.

Bob sez: I got this, guys. You go on ahead, and I'll hold these rocks up.

We had an amazing 360 degree view from the top. Here's a peek from the peak looking south toward Gardner Valley and Lake Hemet.

This is a cloud. This particular cloud snowed on us as we approached the top. Rude? Why yes, yes it was, especially considering all three of us were in shorts and tee shirts.

I'm in the home stretch of this grand adventure. Less than three weeks, and I'll be back in Portland for good. As much as I'll miss this, I'm looking forward to being with friends, family, and humidity once again.