We hiked up to Echo Mountain to watch the fireworks.  In this case, "we" is a group of 12 people I mostly don't know who are mostly in Abbie's boyfriend's lab.  We met around 4:30PM to head up the trail, probably getting started around 5PM.  Today has been hot and humid and we were quite hot going up.  Eventually we were stopping for every bit of shade we could find.  We ended up about the first up of those aiming at seeing fireworks.  Most people came as it was getting dark, but we all got to watch the sunset and look around the place in the light.



As the day was humid, visibility wasn't great.  This manifested itself mostly in a layer of dingy air over the cities, but it didn't go up very high.  The valleys were quite invisible, but mountains sticking up out of it from time to time seemed perfectly clear.  As the sun faded and the lights went on the distant lights became just a uniform smearing of bright.  Fireworks popped up everywhere.  For the most part they were actually hard to see nearby because the city lights were just as bright.  Some shows were backed by nearby mountains so easy to see.  The Rose Bowl show was not bad to see, and was the main object of attention for the crowd of people also on the mountain top.  More distant shows were easier to see because they also were less likely to seem set against ground lighting.  To some extent it was a strange experience in that we could hear the booms but they were all so far away that the firework that generated the boom was only smoke by the time it could be heard.

I rather liked the fireworks over the random spots that were in the area so distant the lights had become a uniform blur from the heavy air.  The largest of these were the only ones we could see.  They popped up sharp in that field without clarity rising far above the indistinguishable ground.

Generally unrelated, over the last week I have put together pictures for Upper Solstice Canyon, which I think I neglected to mention I'd gone to on the 21st, which seems like a good day for it.

mood: happy happy, joy joy tags: hiking, sketch

When I had a pick up truck that would rumble on down dirt roads, I had a bead snake made in Brownies wrapped around the gear stick.  It's little googly eyes jingling away.  But now I have a gear stick with some leather thing around it and the little wire bead snake doesn't quite stay on because it doesn't quite go all the way around.

This one will definitely fit around at least once.

mood: chipper tags: knitting

There seems to almost always be a bright and distorted flower just outside the bathroom window.



Playing with watercolor is good for you, even if not properly taking advantages of the fact that it is watercolor.

mood: usual tags: art, painting

I decided to hike up from Upper Big Tujunga Road at Alder Creek up to Loomis Ranch some unknown number of miles away.  I didn't notice the writing on the post that supposedly puts it at 3.5 miles, the person who did also notes it's 3 miles as the crow flies and the hike sure isn't that straight.  My rough estimate off the forest service map using my thumb is about 6 miles.  I made this estimate at the top of the saddle with the wind blasting past making it hard to fold the map, so there wasn't a lot of interest in getting it right.  I made it about halfway for the afternoon.

The post that marks the trail has an added small sign saying to please "avoid use of the stream and streamside area" to protect endangered and threatened species.  This might be why the reported parking is now missing.  The closest area is just over a quarter mile from the trail.  This did not entirely stop people as a dozen cars were parked in this area and yet I met absolutely no one on the trail.  I only saw footprints other than my own in the dirt of the utility road for the short section the trail followed it.  I did see one bike track, too, which was undisturbed except for small prints and probably wasn't too old.  Perhaps they were all hiking downstream.

Anyway, the trail itself drops into the canyon, quickly crosses the stream and just as quickly climbs back out the other side.  As I was walking down the road, I was able to spot this trail on the far side of the canyon giving me confidence that I actually was headed toward a real thing.  Once it had climbed, it stayed up there.  When it hit the utility road under high tension wires, no signs bothered to indicate which way to go nor was there anything to help the returnee find the trail again.  Turning right made sense and turned out to be correct because at the end of this road there was more trail.  Many footprints in the soft dirt built up at the end of the road but few still seen on the trail.

The trail wiggled in and out of the folds on a generally southeast slope.  This would usually have been far too hot to do in the afternoon of a June day, but the two weeks of overcast weather has paid off.  Although I bet that side of the mountains hasn't seen as much cloud cover.  Eventually it got to a saddle in the ridge line and dropped back down to Alder Creek.  The trail shrank a little at the saddle and shrank a lot at the creek.  Some of it was marked by thinning, rather than removal of, rushes.  There were various campsites near the creek bed.  I could see a couple houses in the distance that likely included the ranch.

This was probably near 4 miles along if it's really 5.5-6 miles all the way.  It was more than 3, which I guess is what I expect from a hike.  I drew some of the alders along Alder Creek, ate some apricots, and turned back in order to get back before dark like a good girl.  Sure, I could have made it but there probably wasn't all that much point.

mood: cheerful tags: hiking, sketch

It has been far too long since the watercolors were out.



I have had the plan for this fish sitting in my head for quite some time and kept not actually doing it.  I have all sorts of watercolor paper around and the tubes are just sitting there separating when not being used, there's no excuse not to.  I'm rather happy about the way it came out.

mood: cheerful tags: art, painting

I am being negligent. Yep.

Abbie wanted to go hiking and I suggested the one I've been wanting to go on. She said okay even though it's a bit long. We made it the whole way up Icehouse Canyon to the saddle at the top. It's less than 1000 feet/mile elevation gain, it can't be that strenuous. We found the steady uphill to be a bit more than we're really in shape for. And yet we came down the long way by the little campground. Started stiff and sore, ended stiffer and sorer. Really need to make stretching part of the day. Also really, really need to get new boots or at least equip these old ones with new insoles.

And after hiking on Sunday, just been working through the week finishing the day with some knitting. I finished off my weird hat two days ago. I shall call it a four cornered round hat and when I wear it I can talk about things I know nothing about.

mood: calm tags: hiking, knitting

Some Los Padres NF locations now are ready for the viewing public.  At least those who know where the pictures are.  Both short ones: Upper Rancho Oso and Nira.  Looks like there's four or five still left undone plus most of Alaska.  A week in Alaska sure can constitute a lot of photos.

mood: rushed tags: pictures

There are more hiking pictures up now.  A set for Fish Creek and a set for the second trip up Monrovia canyon.  Fish creek has the bigger waterfall going at least twice as high with three tiers and even with a little afterthought.

mood: happy tags: pictures

I knitted another washcloth in swirly garter stitch. This time I used a #6 cable needle. There are certainly a few lengths that just aren't convenient for that setup. Also, I ended up having to find something useful as stitch markers because it was too easy to try doing the yarn-over just one stitch too soon. There's one mistake I didn't catch until after I was finished displaying itself in the photo.

mood: alright tags: knitting

None of the stuff I planted weeks ago has come up.  There were a couple of leaves that implied a basil was breaking the earth but then they vanished again by the next day.  This place is too shady to get things going, really, although they will grow if they're started elsewhere so I bought some.  Herbs were half off, so I had to get twice as many as planned.



I did sort of suspect I might get two basil and two mint before going.  The real impulse buys are the "curry" plant and cilantro.  Timmy took a good sniff of each one going around and decided that the only thing he rather wanted to try was the cilantro.  I managed to find a place for everything without ripping out his "salad" of wildflowers.  One planter had a single parsley in it which I cut back significantly to have room for oregano and cilantro.  There's all sorts of other parsley anyway and it's where the old oregano was.

The spearmint and peppermint are both pungent when touched and quite delightful.  Other than that, I also have a sage again (which will be growing by itself) and the basil was in sweet and something calling itself "Magical Michael" and doesn't mention why you would want it instead of the sweet basil.

mood: yummy tags: garden

I can also complete another snake.  This yellow and blue make green snake has already been given away to Abbie.



This one seemed to coil a little tighter.  It's only goes about two times around.  I actually read the instructions for the head this time and found they weren't all that clear and were approximately what I did anyway.  Colors swapped at every row so that it just swirls around leaving no jogs.  The start, which is also not covered in the instructions, used three stitches for the cast-on.  Each stitch was increased to three by knitting into the stitch, looping the yarn over the needle and knitting into the stitch again.  Then one yarn over was placed after the first stitch in each row without decreasing until there were twelve stitches.  When there were twelve, I started decreasing by knitting together the middle two stitches on the second needle each time.  This doesn't make a small hole when I do it.  I have no idea how it might although I've never tried to decrease by twisting one stitch and leaving the other which I've seen in some patterns.  I prefer to keep it all flat.

mood: cooling tags: knitting

It looks like there can be more pictures.  A second page of Switzer falls pictures have joined the "bridge to nowhere" pictures in the electronic scrapbook.

mood: accomplished tags: pictures

There's a new set of hiking pictures up in the usual spot.  Maybe there will be even more soon?  We shall see.

mood: accomplished tags: pictures

There seems to be some sort of snake hiding high in the living room.



The instructions are here.  I suppose it's more like the worm below the snake, though, since it's only 12 stitches around.  I got the right handed coil by starting with the increase and then decreasing in the middle.  I could get the left handed coil starting with the decrease and increasing in the middle so not sure why she says you have to change directions and change the order to get it to coil the other way.

mood: asleep tags: knitting

The OCTOPI...



they're MULTIPLYING!

mood: sleepy tags: knitting

I have another knit octopus for another kitty.  Won't know how she likes it for a few more days yet, though.  I wonder if there's any other kitties who need a knit octopus?  Hum.

And I wonder if someone's figured out what she wants her hair made of.

mood: cheerful tags: knitting

I hiked up to the "bridge to nowhere" today, although didn't actually get started down the trail until after 2PM.  This has resulted in a little more pain than really expected of a 4.5 mile hike with only 1000 feet elevation gain.  I started off with a yellow jacket coming in the window, banking off my hair and dropping down the back of my shirt resulting in a bite soon after.  I stopped immediately to figure out what had bitten on stung me and found it, rather worse for hitting the window and popping into the car.  One of the extreme number of people by the side of the road gave me a few ice cubes for it.

Walking up the trail, I found that it actually crosses the river.  About six times.  You can get away with four crossings and a wading around a rock (and the deep bit next to it) plus two tributary crossings, but those don't actually require getting your feet wet.  I pulled my shoes off for the first one, hoping there weren't many.  Scraped the top of one foot as I went leading to a bit of pain.  Crossing swift water is not easy without shoes.

I asked if the trail would do much more of this and was told it would, so the next time I just grunted and plunged in with shoes.  Much easier to find footing with my shoes protecting my feet but then had to deal with the consequences of that instead.  I had grabbed the boots that are great for crossing creeks even to a few inches of water over the rocks.  When it comes to water coming in the top, though, they just don't drain well.  My pants were dry before the shoes stopped sloshing water out, although to be fair, they are quick drying pants.

But I did make it to the bridge.  The sketch was quite sketchy today since I did want to be back across that last river crossing with enough light to see how deep it was.  I did not want to have to try that by lamp light, but the start was quite late.  The bridge isn't especially surprising since it is a continuation of the road the trail mostly follows the old bed of.  There are times when you even see blacktop.



And I did most of nine miles with shoes much heavier than they usually are.  Of course, it takes a bit more to move those heavy shoes and some seven miles in, I was feeling it.  Still managed to get there and back at a pace sufficient to get though the crossings before the shadows were too very long.  Scrapped a knee here and there doing it.

Incidentally, it seems the bridge and the area around it are privately owned these days.  They still let people go to it, but they also let them bungee jump off the low side (the bridge was on a curve in the road and banked).  The guys in charge had just finished putting their stuff away shortly before I got there.  The bridge is way up the gorge, so there's a fair bit to jump.

Meanwhile, the whole area is crowded with people panning for gold.  There's probably a little in there.  I only got some pyrite when I bumped my knee during one of the later crossings.

mood: pained tags: hiking, sketch

I have finally been sailing again.  I seemed to remember a bit, but some things needed reminding.  The boat was only a little different from the ones we used in sailing camp.  A foot longer and had some of those annoying clam clamps instead of all cam clamps.  Two wenches on the sides instead of one in the middle for the jib sheets to get to.  A bit more jib to it too.  Biggest difference was that this one actually had a motor and a port-a-potty, if anyone needed it.  And a lighter keel so the statement "you can't capsize it" was never uttered and a traveler on the main.

The day wasn't very good for it, unfortunately.  The wind was dying as we started but we had been predicted 20 knot winds so we went out.  It wasn't until we had given up and were almost back that we finally got some wind.  So we went out again and did a little sailing around the area, but as we turned back, the wind died again.  We tried to sail back in and actually got a few more minutes of wind but then it changed directions again and died.

mood: tired tags: sailing

One more geometric critter to go with the others from quite a while before.



I let the geometric clouds have a little geometric shading.

mood: blank tags: painting

A new little mouse toy for the big Timmy cat.  The nose came out looking a bit like a pig snout but I assure everyone it's a mouse.  Making it was... complicated.  I looked up various ways people do various things, and then completely ignored it and did my own thing as usual.

Later, I think I'll do a few little spirals for him.  Maybe he'll like them almost as much as the milk cap rings.

mood: devious tags: knitting