Ice House Canyon

HIKING ICE HOUSE CANYON AND TIMBER MOUNTAIN
9 MILES ROUND TRIP
ADVENT HOPE CHURCH CREW!

At Ice House Saddle...after gaining a couple thousand feet in elevation. Anybody else sore?

A steep climb up...calls for a dip in the river!

Brrr...defiantly coming from snow-melt!

On the way up they were all awake...them being the lady bugs that have turned this tree red....they were in our hair, our clothes, and up your nose! On they way down we were glad to see they had all picked the same tree to fall asleep! Shhh...don't you dare wake them up!

Top of Timber Mt. the crew thinned out a bit...but the view was defiantly worth the extra mile!

Sister Time

Ahh....the joys of Mt.Bbiking California's deserts can only be enjoyed with a good biking buddy!

Chaco with his momma...his favorite past time is Mt. Biking as well...or at least we enjoy the fact that it's the only thing that gets all his puppy energy out!

Sage brush in bloom...you couldn't get a better back drop :)

A perfect day with a perfect ending at the river that winds through the desert. Chaco especially enjoyed the cool off!

Home Sweet Home

The First week in May found me in WA for Alumni weekend, the fields are alive with vibrant greens, violets, and yellows...nothing beats the good ole' northwest!

Mom and I took walks every mornings enjoying the cool morning air and the antics of our dogs, Faith and Ginger.

The Quest for Joshua Trees and Boulders

Saturdays outings are always a great way to get to know new people. This last Saturday I piled into a care with some newly found friends from the church we go to here, Advent Hope. This saturday adventure found us headed towards the desert...Joshua Tree National Park to be exact. It was a beautiful sun-shiny day with a little bit of a breeze. Soon it felt like we'd known one another for ages...funny how hiking in the desert can do that to you. We hiked up to an old abandoned Gold Mine and then headed back down to do some bouldering. There we couldn't resist playing with the shadows on the rocks and proving our ability to be conquers of the boulders. We ended the day sitting on the pavement and on some gallon buckets singing and basking in the glory of Gods creations.

Claudio and Elizabeth posing with the Joshua Trees

Anybody want a warm BP+J?

Elizabeth climbin' high

Larysa and I finding shade in the Joshua Trees

African Safari

Okay let's be realistic, it was an African Safari in San Diego but we still had a wonderful time. Mom and Dad came down to visit at the end of January for a good friends wedding and in the mean time we headed off to the Wild Animal Park. It was a little cool for Africa but we managed to stay warm walking the paths that connected all the different animal exhibits together. We spent time having competitions with the giraffes and just a general time enjoying being together. At the end of the day we headed off to see where daddy had grown up in Ramona CA...a picture of his childhood home is below!

Bikin' n' Campin'

Brrrr...never thought I'd end up camping in January...but it's possible in California. While WA is burried in 2 feet of snow, we're campin'. Mind you it's cold...but still it's camping :) God has brought some great outdoorsy (is that a word) people into our lives...and as an added bonus they only live a block away! Tristan and Jessica Stone are alway's up for an outdoor adventure and this one was a 9 mile mountain biking trail close to Mt. San Jacinto. Tristan is in Kyle's dental class and Jessica teaches PE at Loma Linda Elementary their only child is their dog Oreo who's 11 months old...him and Chaco are wrestling, playing, and mt biking buddies! This weekend found us setting up camp Friday night, trying to keep the dogs happy tied to trees, cuddling up close to the fire, and trying to figure out how to serve the potatoe soup with only teaspoons! Why do you always forget something camping...I've got to make a list!

Saturday morning dawned sunny and cold, we took off on our bike with snacks for the morning ride. The single track trail starts out with a lot of uphill and some technical rocky pathes. Then you hit one flat field area, a couple more killer uphills and then it's down hill bolder dodgin' fun from there on out! Riding with two dogs can set up for some interesting times...such as if you get to close to Chaco you'll get a mouth full of sand from his little claws. Oreo will just plain cut you off and send you flying...but they both are learning and run most of the 9 miles with the boys! At the end of the trip, Kyle was carrying Chaco in one arm and steering his bike with the other after we hit the pavement...his little paws just wouldn't go anymore. But he recovers quickly and is soon chewing on either your biking shoes, Oreo, or any available stick!

Whiteout on Mt. San Jacinto

Presidents day dawned raining and foggy but our enthusiasm wasn't dampened. It just meant more snow on the peaks! Little did we know it meant snow and wind. Loaded up with our snowshoes and base layers we drove to Palm Springs...how backwards does that sound? Since there's probably never been snow in Palm Springs before :) Fortunately within 10 minutes we were in a complete whiteout surrounded by whipping snow...the tram ride straight up the jagged mountain peaks fixed our "no where to snowshoe in Cali problem". We exited the lodge heads down and noses buried in our coats. The snow pelted our faces stinging you noes causing you to burrow in deeper and almost run into the person in front of you. They said after we got down into the valley the wind would be better and then we could head off into the woods and begin our snowshoe exploration! (The Peak of Mt. San Jacinto is at 10,800 feet) But you must remember we just left Palm Springs and it's still very apparent as we are surrounded by Hispanics and Caucasians wearing only jeans, sweatshirts, rain boots, cotton gloves and ponchos...it becomes obvious that most of them have never been in snow before. We checked in at the Ranger Station and received a permit for snowshoeing into the back country. The wind had slowed a bit, but the snow was still falling they were expecting a good foot of snow that day. We hiked under the snow laden trees following the rapidly fading tracks of those who have gone before us...we weren't going to be able to stay out long until our tracks were covered as well so we found a big bolder burrowed out the snow under the cliff hanging edge and settled in for a quick lunch of burgers and sun chips mixed with snow. Have you ever tried eating sun chips with Mittened Gloves...don't! Just crush and pour! After only a couple hours of hiking our tracks were almost completely gone but enough was left to get us back to the station from there we stayed nearby but found boulders to jump off of into the snow. Maybe we'll end up on Warren Miller next year :)