What we (Karen, me, & Thorne) thought we were doing: A quick 30 minute hike through Eaton Canyon. Our friend had said we could hike up one side of the wash to a bridge, then hike back on the other side of the wash. A fifteen minute hike up and a fifteen minute hike back. Easy.
What we did do: Wandered off the main trail and realized we did so when we looped back to the main trail (we did this twice). I then did what I had feared doing ever since Thorne was born. While wearing Thorne in the Baby Bjorn, I tripped on a tree root and fell forward. Fortunately I missed squashing my baby like bug by a few inches. My right knee took the brunt of the fall and came out of it with only a scrape and a bruise. Did I mention that poison oak is prolific in this area? The maps and brochures all warned of this insidious plant and we had noticed it on either side of the trail. So, my next fear was that I had planted both me and Thorne straight into the noxious plant. How we missed it must have been an act of God. As you know from a previous post, the more one is exposed to poison oak the worse one's rash will become.
We continued our hike and reached the bridge area and a lovely stream of water. We then took what we thought was the trail back along the other side of the wash. We were walking along the river bed with me high stepping over rocks to avoid twisting an ankle or cracking Thorne's head on a rock. After the obvious trail shriveled we scrambled around looking for another. We followed some footsteps in the sand and that brought us to another semblance of a trail. We picked our way across the dry river floor for some time, but then finally admitted to ourselves that this couldn't possibly be the trail our friend was speaking of. So we hacked our way through some brush, scampered up the rocky bank and rejoined the previous trail. The beauty of our exploration through the riverbed was that it felt like we were off roading it, that it was us against nature but with the security of knowing a real trail was within easy access. I recommend Eaton Canyon if you want a rustic ramble with the potential of "safely" getting lost and the assurance of muddling your way back to civilization.
Total hiking time was 1 and 1/2 hours.
Eaton Cayon is located off the 210 at the Sierra Madre /Alta Dena exit. Take Alta Dena to the end and the entrance will be on your right.
2 comments:
haha nice!
we are intrepid. no one can fault us for our lack.
our friend is silly and must mean that in 15min you can run the length of the canyon easily at a 12/15 minute pace which involves running, jogging and nothing like strolling at all... and then our other friend said there was a deer leg on the trail. a perilous adventursome place indeed.
in this picture, thorne looks like her aunt autumn!
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