Friday Hike At Towsley Canyon

Today was a beautiful day in SoCal. We've been in the middle of a winter heatwave so I thought I'd take advantage of it and take my dog Hiker on a hike to Towsley Canyon here in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Towsley is across the valley from us and is one of my very favorite spots to hike and take photos. We had not been there for quite a while.

Approaching the burned oak tree just past Ed Davis Park

You can see that it was a gorgeous day

Approaching The Narrows

There was a little bit of water in the creek. We stopped to rest in The Narrows.

Heading back down the canyon

Three Hikes

Christmas week of 2013 was beautiful here in Southern California. Our temperatures were in the mid 70s and the was a stiff breeze blowing so the air was crystal clear and the sky was dark blue.

Hiker and I took three hikes during the week.

Our first hike on Monday was at Vasquez rocks:

Our second hike was on Wednesday, Christmas Day when we went to Elsmere Canyon:

Our third hike was on Thursday. This time we hiked in Towsley Canyon:

Morning Hike To The Towsley Narrows

This morning I wanted to take my dog Hiker out for a walk. Originally I was going to take her over to Placerita Canyon to hike but got to thinking how muddy the trail would be from out last rain storm. Most of the trail is in the shadows of the canyon walls so it stays wet and muddy longer, plus we'd have to cross the stream several times and Hiker would have gotten muddy doing that. So I decided to take her to Towsley Canyon again because the trail there is mostly out in the open and in the sun. As usual the parking lot was full. We started up the road toward the trail that leads to The Narrows. As you can see it was a beautiful morning.

I noticed Hiker was limping so I checked out her paws and there was s sticker in one of her front paws. That was the first time she's gotten a sticker but once I took it out, she was fine. So we headed farther up the trail.

There was some water in the stream this time, not like the last time when we hiked here and it was pretty dry. When we've had a really wet winter, this canyon is covered with wildflowers, but so far this year I have only seen a couple of Blue Lupine bushes.

We hiked into The Narrows where we stopped to rest for a little while and enjoyed the sound of the water rushing over the rocks.

Then we headed back on down the trail. We did a total of 3.55 miles this morning. Good hike.

Another Day In Towsley Canyon

Hiker and I like to hike in Towsley Canyon. We love taking the trail up to The Narrows. It was such a beautiful morning, around 70 degrees when we got there a little after 9:00 am.

It never matters what day we go to Towsley, the parking lot there is always full, even on week days.

Hiker saw two cotton tail rabbits run across the trail ahead of us. She didn't try to go after them, just stood there and watched them, then when we got up to where they had run across, she stopped and sniffed the ground.

Our total hike was about 3 miles which is about our average when we go out.

Second Hike With My Dog Hiker - This Time Towsley Canyon

It was a beautiful morning here in the Santa Clarita Valley this morning. A few clouds in the sky and not to hot/not to cold. My friend Linda came over and she and I, along with my dog Hiker headed over to Towsley Canyon to hike up to The Narrows. It was a 2.25 mile hike and Hiker seemed to really enjoy her walk. The creek is not flowing this time of year. Once we get some rain, it will be back to full flow. Seemed to be quite a few hikers out on the trail today. Looking forward to the spring when the wildflowers will be blooming.

Morning Hike To Towsley Canyon Narrows

I had not been able to get out on a hike since February 3rd of this year. As most of you know, my husband Ben had complications from a colonoscopy and then had emergency exploratory surgery and ended up in the hospital. He was there for over 3 1/2 months and had to have a second emergency surgery of which he was never able to recover. Sadly he passed away on June 15th and I miss him so much, but I know that he would want me to go on with my life. He knew how much I loved to get out in nature and hike. Today was the first time in 4 months I was able to get out and hike with a couple of friends. My hiking partners were RuthAnne and Linda. We did about 3 miles in Towsley Canyon.

In The Narrows

Tadpoles (Polywogs) in the creek

RuthAnne and Linda along the trail

RuthAnne, Linda & Me

Looking up from The Narrows

Darkling Beetle

On the other side of The Narrows

Towsley Canyon

Hike To Towsley Narrows With My Friend Linda

Since I met Linda in person last December (actually knew her online longer), we have been going on hikes together around the Santa Clarita Valley. Linda had not hiked this area before. I had been hiking alone, but it is so much more fun having someone to hike with. So far we have done four hikes and today we went on our fifth. One of my favorite places to hike is The Towsley Canyon Narrows. There are many rock formations and a creek runs through The Narrows during our "wet season". Towsley Canyon also has areas where oily tar seeps up through the ground. The area used to have oil wells many years ago. We did about a 4 mile hike and had a lot of fun.

Entering The Narrows

Me and Linda

Linda snapping photos

Linda "Queen of the mountain"

Seeping Oil

This stuff is thick

Linda and Me