A Pre-Valentine's hike

We designated Saturday for a long hike. We haven't been on one in far too long, partially because the weather hasn't been favorable and Dom and I have both been sick. Now that both of those obstacles have cleared, gorgeous 80 degree weather on Saturday set us up for quite a day. We started later than we had planned, since we were out late and I had drinks the night before. We first drove to a hike we've previously done but it was too full and there wasn't any parking. Dom looked through the hiking book and we were off to the Monrovia Canyon Park. We first decided to hike 1.5 miles (round trip) to the Monrovia Canyon Falls. That's what these pics are from.

What a perfect day to be outdoors. There were lots of little stream crossings like this along the trail. I love the sound of water.

Edgy.

And here it is, the waterfall.

We took a short break to enjoy the falls and cool off. Roxi is always on alert.

No, that's not my new boyfriend...Dominic shaved off his beard and left only a mustache! He looks like a different person, it's pretty funny how some facial hair can make such a change. It probably also has to do with the fact that he hasn't been without his goatee in 12 years. I've never seen his naked chinny chin chin. He's still handsome...and still a goof ;)

After we hiked back to the parking lot, we drove to a higher lot to hike the Ben Overturff Trail. It unfortunately begins with the mile long Sawpit Fire Road that got pretty steep at times. A shorter dirt road continues and then the trail finally begins. Now, it could have been because of the drinking from the night before but MAN parts of this hike kicked my butt. Usually, Dom is the one to slow down first but he was ahead of me and going strong up the steepest parts of the trail.

Along this trail, you come to the top of the Sawpit Dam, but gates keep you off the grounds. Another sight off the trail is the Trask Boy Scout Camp. The trail is very scenic and takes you along mountain sides and into the woods along creeks and under large shady trees. We got hungry and stopped to boil water in Dom's new JetBoil and then poured it into a freeze-dried meal pack. Mmmm Louisiana Red Beans & Rice :) Just pour, seal it, shake it up and let stand for 13 minutes and it serves 2. It was surprisingly GOOD!

At one point I thought I had to quit because I felt blisters forming on my heels and sharp pain was building up. Dom helped my carry on by putting mole skin on my heels and tying my laces a bit tighter. On our way back we came across a little salamander in the middle of the trail. Down the one mile paved road we went, our knees hurting because of the steepness. Almost 6 miles (round trip) later, we're back at the truck. With the waterfall hike, we completed about 7 miles that day. This was the workout we've been looking forward to.

Dom's got more pics on his camera, I'll post em soon :)