Nice Morning Hike At Vasquez Rocks County Park

Decided to get up early this morning and take Hiker up to Vasquez Rocks County Park for a hike.

We left the house at 7 am and by 7:25, were were there, however, the entrance gate was closed. I thought the park was open from sunrise to sunset, but I was wrong. They didn't open until 8 am. So Hiker and I took a morning drive over to the little town of Acton and back to kill time.

By the time we got back, the gate was open and so into the park we went for our hike.

I didn't have any specific trail I wanted to take this morning, so we just headed anywhere Hiker decided we were going. I was looking to see if there were still any wild flowers, but most of them had wilted and died and all of the green grass that was there the last time we were there hiking had dried out and turned brown.

There were a lot of docents there cleaning up the area, so we tried to head out in areas where they were not working.

Found a few spots where there were a few wild flowers still growing, but not many.

Did find a few Yuccas that were bloom and they were pretty, but even most of those were drying out and dying.

Hiker seemed to be enjoying our hike. I think Vasquez Rocks is one of her favorite places.

We did almost 2 miles and I took lots of photographs. All in all, it was a nice morning and a great hike.

Hiking The Old Corriganville Movie Ranch

Yesterday, my neighbor Jean and I headed over to the Santa Susana Pass near Simi Valley, CA to hike at the old Corriganville Movie Ranch. Back in the 1950's, Corriganville was one of the first "Los Angeles/Hollywood Western Movie Studios". It was owned and operated by Western Movie Start Ray "Crash" Corrigan. There was a western town movie set where every weekend, families could visit and watch stunt men have staged gun fights.

Many movies and television shows were filmed at this famous movie ranch. Movies include "Fort Apache", "Mysterious Island" and "Swamp Thing". TV series that were filmed there include "The Lone Ranger", "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", "Tarzan", "Robin Hood", "Emergency" and "Star Trek".

In 1970, the town of "Silvertown" in Corriganville was burned and the rest of the structures were burned in another filer in 1979. In 1988, the city of Simi Valley, CA purchased the land and it is now Corriganville Regional Park.

We walked the Interpretive Loop Trail which has many signs along the way telling you about the landscape of the park and also what movies/TV shows and what stars filmed there.

Corriganville Regional Park is located at: 7001 Smith Road, Simi Valley, CA 93063

Beautiful Wintertime Hike In Whitney Canyon

After we have a raining day here in SoCal, the day after is usually beautiful, especially here in the Santa Clarita Valley. The rain washes away any pollution that may be in the air. The sky is dark blue and the clouds are white and fluffy.

Fall, Winter and Spring are the best times for hiking here. I try to avoid Summer hikes due to the extreme heat and the rattlesnakes.

Right now the hills are green and everything looks so lush. Have not seen any wildflowers yet, but I'm hoping to see some blooming soon.

This afternoon, Hiker and I went for a 2 mile hike in Whitney Canyon.

The trail ends at a waterfall, but I have never taken Hiker as far as the falls because the weeds are high and I don't want her to get ticks, so we usually hike in about 2 miles and then hike back out.

The trail at first is nice and wide.

Eventually you enter several coastal oak groves.

It's always a good day when I spend it hiking with my best buddy.