ALISO WOODS WILDERNESS...can't get enough....

Sunday Sept 27th was an easy bike trail to Aliso Woods, 3 hour ride; well 3 hours total with stops along the way when we wanted to! No agenda, no waiting for anyone else, just a great ride before it heated up. We met up with Edward and Chris and Jeff and Ed coming and going. I passed Michelle Barton and said hello. We stopped under my favorite sacred sycamore grove, stopped at the bottom of Choya, stopped to chat..it was one of those kinds of rides. A Sunday ride in the park. I did a bit of racing on the bike trail and that got the heart rate up and running!

This morning we hiked up on West Ridge again and did record time....4 miles in 59 minutes...oh yeah. I was feelin' so good all morning....................

Finally, stepping down STAIRSTEPS, Aliso Woods

Sunday Sep 20th, I finally hiked down and up Stairsteps; hike/mtn bike trail in Aliso Woods Wilderness Park. We have ridden and walked past its entrance hundreds of times for over three years and kept repeating..."One of these days...."......Well, Sunday was one of these days.

We started late; 8:30 am. way late for getting started. Al and I are always out on a trail by 6-7am and on what was a hot day, we were sucking down the water before we even got to the trail head...

Anyway.........Stairsteps is a very sharp drop down the side of WestRidge fire trail. And yes, it looks just like a staircase.......big sandstone steps down a singletrack with sharp turns and all kinds of rocks and ledges and drop offs. Technical? That's not saying enough. It's technical all right and only the very experienced mtn bikers, with full face helmets and body armor of various kinds looking to spend some accumulated testosterone should bother taking it on.

We had our hiking poles and I kept repeating, " I LOVE MY POLES!" We got down to the bottom and rested in some shade before finding out what it was like CLIMBING UP Stairsteps! It was not a long hike, maybe 30 min one way.

On our return we kept ears sharp for bikers shooting down the steps. Instead we saw a couple wannabes stopped up at the easy spot, thinkin' and wishin' they had the kahunas for the real thing. But they turned back up with a weak story they'd ridden Stairsteps...NOT!

Wilderness Access Day LIMESTONE CANYON, Trabuco, CA 9-12-09

What a beautiful ride in Limestone Canyon, off Santiago Canyon road this past Saturday. Irvine Conservancy Wilderness Access Day from 8am-1pm. The group was ready to ride at 7:59am! It was a 1o+ mile ride with more hills then expected! We climbed about 1200' in the first 3 miles. I was so strong climbing this day, beat Al up one hill. Oh yeah! Even kept pace with a couple other guys. I only saw two other women mtn bkrs out there. The views were amazing.

IRC always does a great job of hosting these Open Access days. They have sign ins and extra water to share and very friendly staff; very well organized and efficient. The weather was a bit warmer than expected so there were many times I rested in shade spots and doused my head with water. My challenge is always keeping my head cool on these hot days. It doesn't breathe! I keep my bandana around my neck, wet, and just pour on the water over head as needed.

The Sinks was a beautiful sight, a giant sinking spot along the fire road everyone stops to see.

There were a few downhill spots I walked down, especially near the end...I was tired...ok, exhausted after three hours...and when I have used it all up, my technical downhill skills are kaput soI don't even try; way too risky. So I scrambled down a couple rocky intersections with bike slidin' next to me all the way.

The guys I ride with, Al, Steve, Bob, Phil, Ladera Dave are so helpful, patient, funny as heck. They seem to like having my company too. Whatta know!

Would definitely return to Limestone Canyon...................