South
on Clinton Keith
(appointed Riverside County Surveyor,
1945)
Road
to
storied
Santa Rosa Plateau,
with its largest stands of
Engelmann Oaks anywhere.
More
wanderings
Southwest
on
Tenaja
(past
recent
burns)
and
Volcano
to the southwesternmost area of the
Ecological Reserve --
the Vernal Pools Trailhead --
then
a
meandering
reverse
course,
in
the
Heraclitian
tradition,
distant
views,
down
poetically-appelated
Slaughterhouse
Canyon,
to Murrieta
onto
I-15
North,
exiting
at
Lake
Elsinore,
blitzing
west
up
into
the
Santa
Ana
Mountains,
spectacular
views
north
and
east to the San Gabriels, San Bernardinos, and San Jacintos.
Over the summit to
Cleveland National Forest and
Trabuco Ranger Station,
and
a
long
winding
way
down
canyons,
into
Orange
County
amid
impressive
peaks,
delightfully
all
the
way
to
San Juan Capistrano.
From
here,
an
even
longer
way
homeward --
415
through
Los
Angeles,
ascending
via
Sepulveda
Canyon
into
the
Santa
Monicas,
declining
to
the
old
haunts
of
San
Fernando
Valley --
Victory,
Roscoe,
Devonshire,
188,
Rinaldi --
approaching
the
Santa
Susanas,
via
Sylmar and
the Aqueduct,
back
up
and
down
Weldon /
Gavin
Canyons
and
the
Badlands and
Cliffs
towards
Santa
Clarita
Valley.
After
a
bit of
sustenance --
the
major
climb
up
Violin
Canyon
to
Paradise
Valley,
Piru
Gorge,
the
Ridge
Route,
Hungry
and
Peace
Valleys,
Gorman,
over Tejon Summit,
down
into
Kern
County,
miles
before
we
sleep...
131st day of summer, high 95 (ABA of 95-91-95 last 3 days)
Murrieta, 91
Los Angeles, 84
Pleasant Hill, 81
Pinole, 62
Vallejo, 82
