January 12, 2002 Whiting Ranch Trail Run
Standing by the Whiting Ranch entrance.
Whiting Ranch wilderness preserve is a brand new scenic experience for Sierra. First time here ever. Michelle hasn't hiked or biked this once favorite location since six months or so before Sierra was born. Two and a half years now!
Entrance sign to the park. The main trail is a six mile loop. A couple of miles of gradual up followed by steep section to the top, then steep down and a couple of miles of gradual descent. Good workout. Warm in the sun and very cool in the heavily shaded areas. We jogged along as best we could while pushing Sierra. A couple of miles of the trail is along a stream bed and is very bumpy from all the exposed rocks. Have to be careful. Sierra likes riding through the bumpy sections and on several occasions was yelling "Whee". Crossing a bridge over the now dry stream. Grandpa Doug's Rock Art! Another nice photo op location. It got too steep to run with the baby jogger! Ended up taking turns pushing it and fast walking the trail. We took a 10 minute break at a wide flat area on the way to the top of the dreaded hill.
Sierra loves to explore! As soon as we let her out of the baby jogger, she took off.... in the wrong direction. Zoom. Zoom! (The top of the dreaded hill where we are headed can be seen in the opposite direction.)
View of the far off canyons. Michelle, the healthy Mom! Love that long auburn hair! We told you it was a "Dreaded Hill"! Getting closer to the top. Note the big clump of cactus in the background. Looking way down. Here comes a mountain biker. The "dots" in the center of the picture are the hikers and bikers congregating in the same flat area where we took a break. We are getting pretty close to the top. Whew! Almost there! At this point one gets a great view of the Foothill Ranch area. We are already past the half way point and are heading back on the far side of the loop. Afterwards, lunch at Chili's. Some fries for Sierra and a cold beer for Gramps.
