Go With the Flow?

I tried a couple of times to get to Torrey Pines State Reserve for a hike, but getting a parking space along the highway seemed like a delicate operation and the price to pay to park in the lot was $20.

But I did eventually snag a space on a quiet morning and make my way along the beach toward the cliffs.  I knew there were hiking trails up there, but was unable to find a guide on my phone.  You can hit the link I've provided to avoid having the same problem!

I didn't see a path or any signs, so down the beach I continued, happy to admire the view.  People kept coming down the beach toward me so I figured I must be heading in the right direction.

The tide was a little high, so I wasn't able to search out critters, but I did spot shells in the sandstone.

And the colors in the stone mixed with the sea vegetation made for a nice shot.

Lo and behold, a staircase suddenly appeared! And everyone was coming down...not going up.  Yep, I was apparently doing the hike in reverse instead of going with the flow.  Oh well, never one to do what everyone else does anyway it did not bother me at all.  Most folks park where I did but then hike up the actual driving road to the top to avoid paying the exhorbitant parking fee.

I did make sure to turn around often to see the view everyone else was getting as they meandered downward instead of upward.  I was just in time to see this fool jumping over the roped off area right next to the sign telling him to do no such thing.

I guess he wasn't worried about the $400 fine.  Or the park workers who were about 500 feet away working on the trail.  Erosion, and in particular off-trail hiking, can damage sensitive natural features beyond repair which is something I guess he doesn't care too much about.

I had spent enough money getting to San Diego, I didn't need to run up my tab any higher so I was content to get my photographs from the correct side of the markers.

cactus blossom

The California Ground Squirrel didn't mind breaking the rules to eat his snack, but I don't blame him for staying off the trail as it was nothing but a conga line of humans.

There were a couple of spur trails out to the head of the cliffs, but since I had just had the up close and personal view of the beach I skipped those and continued my gentle upward climb.

Yucca Point...I think

There was some vegetation on the sandy headland, including this cheerful plant that I think is the Lanceleaf Liveforever which is a succulent.

Dudleya lanceolata

And finally I saw the Torrey Pine, which is our nation’s rarest pine tree.  In 1769, the Portola-Serra Sacred Expedition passed through nearby Sorrento Valley on its way from San Diego to colonize Monterey and establish missions along the way. The trail they used is referred to as El Camino Real. The trees themselves were referred to as Soledad Pines (Solitary Pines). The name remained until 1850.

Pinus torreyana

It was “officially” discovered by Dr. Charles Christopher Parry. This was the year that California became a State of the Union and Parry was in San Diego as botanist for the US-Mexico Boundary Survey. Parry was a medical doctor with an interest in botany: specifically, why plants grew where they did and how Indians used plants. Parry named the tree for his mentor, Dr. John Torrey, of New York.  Personally I prefer Soledad Pine but I'm sure the native Kumeyaay had a name for it as well and notice the Torrey Pines website had no information on what that might have been...

Yes, a few fools were running even though it starting to be very hot as it was almost noon

I didn't have time to hunt it down but here is some great information from Mike Connolly on their website: Prior to European contact, the Kumeyaay lived in Sh’mulq (clan) territories with summer and winter village sites. Territory was not defined in the same manner as the Europeans, who viewed all resources on the land as "property" of the landowner. A hunter tracking big game may travel through many Sh’mulq territories without trouble. 

Trade routes were used for communication. Runners could relay important information over great distances in relatively short time. When the Quechan at Yuma rebelled against the Spanish in 1780, the news reached the Kumeyaay at the Mission in San Diego that same evening, a distance of 120 miles. Astronomy was an important tool to time when plants could be harvested or when burns should take place. The calendar was probably used to determine when the Sh’mulq should move to winter or summer camp.

Visitor Center at end of trail - from there head down road to beach.
A few other trails of interest spur off road including pine groves.

From coastal marshes to mountain wetlands, the Kumeyaay practiced a sophisticated form of environmental management. Fire was certainly the greatest tool used by the Kumeyaay and other tribes in California. Fire opened up land covered with the dominant chaparral. This allowed the transitional plants useful for foods and medicines to become available. The opening in the chaparral canopy attracted game animals used for food, clothing and utilities. In the drier areas approaching the desert, drainages were dammed using rocks and brush to trap sediment. This helped to raise the water table and allowed the creation of wetlands.

Imagine that, the native population was practicing land management then in the way that we are "discovering" is the best way now! Sorry for the sarcasm there, I really couldn't help myself.  Next time I go out to San Diego I will have to seek out some tribal destinations to explore.  And the list of the things I want to learn continues to grow, as usual!

Noshing Nomad in North Park

My daughter was evil and sent me a link to the Best Donuts in San Diego when she heard I was headed out that way.

My cousin Chris recommended Peterson's in Escondido, and the donuts were good, I won't lie.

But I liked Nomad Donuts just a little better, and not just because it had Nomad in the name!

That blueberry lemonade icing was amazing!  And yes, I did eat all three within 24 hours and they were not small...

Down the block was this cool mural which I just now noticed has a Pokemon Snorlax taking a hidden nap.  I just found a link for 10 Sweet Spots for San Diego Murals which I will refer to on my next visit, and I'll try some of those other donut shops as well!

Linking up to Monday Mural.

Historic Mission San Diego de Alcala

One of the places I had a few memories of from my youth in San Diego was the church where I received my First Holy Communion.  Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded in 1769 and was the first of the Franciscan missions in California.  Now it is a National Historic Landmark and open to visitors though it is also still an active church.  My mom wanted to go to mass, but I was happy just to arrive early and take as many photographs of the grounds as I could.

Saint Serra statue on left - Mission constructed of Adobe bricks covered in mud plaster
 Cross at top made from original timbers

I feel some background history of this Mission is necessary here, bear with me and feel free to skip around!

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was an explorer commissioned by the monarch of Spain who arrived in San Diego Bay in 1542.  According to the Spanish tradition he named it San Miguel, after the saint whose feast day was closest to the landing. In 1602 Sebastian Viscaino, leading another Spanish expedition, entered the harbor and renamed it San Diego after Saint Didacus of Alcalá whose feast day was closest to the landing. 

Look at that ceiling!

From the Mission's website: After two centuries in Baja California the Spaniards knew that while soldiers might defend the country against foreign enemies, they could not transform the indigenous people of Alta California into loyal subjects.  The Californias were the most unattractive territory to the ambitious, success-seeking colonists of the New Spain and therefore Saint Junipero Serra and the Franciscan Padres were sent to undertake the conversion to Christianity of all the Indians living in Alta California, and to secure these converts as loyal subjects of the Spanish Crown.

High windows to reduce vulnerbility to attack.  Believe it or not, I remember that light...

The military, who accompanied the Friars, would protect and support them. Father Junipero Serra was chosen Superior of the Franciscan missionaries and Gaspar de Portolá, Governor of Baja California, was designated the leader in charge of the expeditions.  Five expeditions were dispatched from New Spain (Mexico) - three ships, the San Carlos, the San Antonio and the San Jose and two land expeditions. One of the ships was lost at sea, the land expeditions were slightly more successful in terms of casualties but just as difficult, leading mules and horses and carrying food, farming tools and seeds. The total casualties of the expeditions were high. According to a letter written by Father Serra and dated July 3, 1769, "The San Carlos is without sailors, for all have died of scurvy, save one and a cook."  Of the 219 who comprised the first four expeditions, slightly more than half survived.

Formal garden - Adobe cross at bottom right to commemorate Native Americans who died

From 1769 to 1774, only 116 Indians had been baptized... According to Father Francisco Palou's report ... 800 American Indians stormed onto the grounds about midnight on November 4, 1775. They pillaged the mission, burned it to the ground and massacred a blacksmith, a carpenter, and Father Jayme, who became California's first Catholic Martyr. He is buried next to the altar in the present church.  Survivors of the night long attack were one corporal and three Leather Jacket soldiers, one blacksmith, two children who were the son and nephew of the Presidio commandant, and Associate Pastor Father Vicente Fuster.

Wishing well presided over by St. Francis

In 1776, Father Serra returned to Mission San Diego de Alcalá to oversee the rebuilding of the mission. Fearing there would be further attacks, the padres rebuilt the mission within a 150 feet quadrangle, with adobe walls 9 feet in height, including 3 or 4 defensive structures of a military type, called ravelins. Reestablishing the mission was a long, difficult process. This mission was always one of the poorest. The land was difficult to till, the water scarce. Slowly, Mission San Diego de Alcalá became more productive. 

First Communion, 1975 - Statue of St. Joseph, patron saint of Father Serra's expedition

The mission land area encompassed about 55,000 acres, harvesting corn, wheat, barley, kidney beans and chick peas; vineyards produced enough grapes for wine and gardens yielded vegetables. Sometime after 1803, following a two-year drought, the mission Padres and Diegueno Indians built a dam across the San Diego River bed, about 224 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 12 feet high, approximately five miles east of the mission. From the dam, an aqueduct was constructed. It consisted of tiles, resting on cobblestones in cement, and carried by gravity flow a stream one foot deep and two feet wide to mission lands. It was built through the north side of a dangerously steep gorge, impassable on horseback.  The 1814 mission year-end report stated that about 3 1/2 miles of the aqueduct had been completed. It is believed that by 1817 the work was completed. By 1825 the mission owned 19,420 sheep, 184 goats, 8,120 cattle, 565 horses and 115 mules. These are amazing achievements considering that the area was arid chaparral with no livestock or large scale farming until the Spanish arrived.

Saint Bernardine Chapel in Quadrangle

In 1848, after the Mexican American War, the United States Army occupied the mission grounds until 1858. The Army made numerous modifications on the mission grounds, including the conversion of the church into a two-story building, and the establishment of a military cemetery. On May 23, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation returning to the Catholic Church approximately 22 acres of land, formerly utilized by Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Dieguenos. Following the Army occupation, the mission fell into ruin, and remained abandoned until 1891 when Father Antonio Dominic Ubach and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet moved the Saint Anthony's Industrial School for Indian children from Old Town San Diego to the mission grounds.

hummingbirds circled the blossoms

This is the fifth church on this site. The church was enlarged over the years to accommodate the growing population of neophytes (baptized American Indians). In 1812, as the fourth church was being built, a devastating earthquake damaged and destroyed several other missions and although it was spared, a decision was made to add buttress wings to secure the facade. 

After detailed historical research, in 1931 the Mission was rebuilt to what architects J. E. Loveless and J. Marshall Miller determined was what the 1813 church must have looked. Today it is an active Catholic parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, and every year is visited by thousands of fourth graders from throughout the state studying California history.

Notice the crown on the bell at bottom right of Campanario

One of the bells is original - it is one of the larger bells and it is distinguishable because it has a conan or crown on top of it and is dated 1802. When the King of Spain wanted bells forged for the missions, he required that they have a crown. The other large bell is made up of remnants from the original bells. The middle two bells are crown bells and all five bells are rung in unison only once a year and that is on the birthday of the mission. The large bell on the bottom (non-crown) is rung twice a day (at noon and at six) and before every Mass on Sunday. Bells were extremely important in mission days; they were used as clocks signifying when it was time to eat, pray, work or play. Different tones and sequencing were also significant.

And what do I remember? Believe it or not I have a memory of attending catechism class and the priest was taking apart a prayer to make sure we understood the meaning.  I think it was the Our Father, but what made the impression was the dissecting of the words and their meanings.  Not surprising, considering my love of language! I remember he was writing on one of those old standing chalkboards, I wonder if I had gone into the room labeled la escuela when we walked around if it would have still been there...

Hand carved replicas of original doors

And true to my promise the other day, here's a link to a news story that I came across yesterday from the Associated Press regarding the U.S. Army now discharging immigrant recruits in the name of "security". 


While on their website I also stumbled across an interesting post in their Fact Check section called "Not Real News: What Didn't Happen This Week" that points out actual fake news circulating on social media.  Someone needs to make it a regular thing and circulate that on social media often!

You Make Me a Believer

I try not to be political on my blog, mainly because I started this blog to document my travels but also because I didn't want to start controversy or alienate people, just maybe bring people together from different places who share a common passion.  But I’m starting to think that maybe I have backed off just a little too much from stating my opinion.  I just watched the documentary "Believer" on HBO about the lead singer of Imagine Dragons' efforts to organize the LoveLoud Festival concert in Utah to benefit gay rights organizations such as GLAAD and the Trevor Project.  Dan Reynolds is a member of the Mormon church whose strong message against the LGBTQ community a few years ago led to a spike in teen suicides.  The festival was organized in conjunction with his wife and with Tyler Glenn from Neon Trees in the hope that it would bring people in the Mormon community together with a message of love and he specifically states in the documentary that it had to be positive, that it could not read as "I am right and you are wrong...you are stupid, let me educate you".  And that's what I want to try to start talking about, not a specific issue, but this place we've come to in our country where people are afraid to speak, or where no one wants to listen.  Battle lines have been drawn and there seems to be no room for inclusion or compromise on any issue no matter how big or how small.

 I don’t want to live in a country where I'm half afraid to listen to the news, where news reporters literally now fear for their lives, where people of color distrust the police and their own government, where immigrants aren't welcome and where many are so angry that they feel hopeless and helpless.

Sunset at Harrington Beach

What we need is to re-learn, or learn in the first place, how to say what we want to say clearly and present facts instead of trying to instill fear, and then hope the other side can walk away with a little more information and perhaps a little more understanding of our position. We’ve lost our way in this country and even our politicians have forgotten how to negotiate and compromise to solve a problem. And that starts by listening to each other.

Goslings growing up fast in Twin Lakes

There is more than one way to be an American, there is more than one way to solve a problem.  Different regions have different ways of doing things, and as someone who travels a lot that is part of the rich tapestry of America that I love.

Probably Gypsy Moth caterpillars on the Ice Age Trail,
so says the ladies at Where the Wind Goes

We need to re-discover what we have in common. Our goals, our values, our idea of what we want America to be.  All of us want good jobs, our children to get a decent education, to not live in fear of persecution, to have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, and to be able to pursue our dreams.

Macy's on State Street atrium in Chicago

We need to stop the name-calling, the finger-pointing, the blaming. We need to stop listening to those who only want to inflame our fears for their own personal gain, or to get re-elected.  We need to take the time to seek out the facts to help us see whether or not those fears are actually real.

We're kayaking again!

Fear not (ha ha) I won't turn into a political blog.  But I am going to start providing links to things I find interesting- sometimes political, but not always- from reputable sources and you can read them or not.  But like the lead singer of Imagine Dragons I'm a Believer - a believer that people can come together and that knowledge is that spark that makes change happen.

Still Fighting

I'm going to toss up these photos I took at the Women's Museum at Liberty Station in San Diego for my July 4th tribute.

There has been a lot in the news in the past few years drawing attention to the war women are still waging to be seen as equals in this country.  In many places in our world women still do not have independence at all sadly.

I've been watching women comics lately on Netflix such as Michelle Wolf and Ali Wong, and whether you agree with her politics or not I really enjoy Samantha Bee on TBS also.  But I thought I heard her make a snide comment about adorable Justin Trudeau on a recent episode which reminded me that I want to start delving into Canadian news and issues (as if I have the time!).  Katrina and I went to see Kathy Griffin in Chicago last week, but I'll save that tale for another day!

Daily Walk at Daley Ranch

When I first arrived in San Diego I spent too much time visiting and next thing you know I was driving to Dixon Lake Recreation Area and had to set up in the dark.  Luckily I was driving very slowly or I would have gone right off precipice when I turned into my site! It was a little unnerving, but after parking my car between the drop off and my tent I was able to relax and enjoy this view of Escondido from my precarious new home.

In the morning I was amazed to see what I had missed as I puttered up the winding road in the dark!

I stayed there 4 nights, and while I can't recommend the seriously scary bathrooms or showers (many thanks to my wonderful cousins for use of their magnificent facilities!), the campsites were fine at a reasonable $25 and the campground has access to Daley Ranch which is a hub for hikers, bikers and runners.  And of course the lake is accessible to those who wish to go fishing.

I didn't see a lot of wildlife on my trip to the desert, just a few lizards and lots of what I assume were Desert Cottontails.

Silly bunny, sitting still doesn't make you invisible!

 

Somehow I spied this caterpillar on one of the flowering plants!  Maybe my friends from Where the Wind Goes will chime in with an identification in the comment section.  

Since I get notified of their blog posts by email they are one of only two blogs I have kept up on in the last few months.  To everyone else my apologies but I will be catching up soon, I swear!  I've turned into a blog binger, kind of like Netflix but with reading!

Speaking of flowering things, there was a lot of  Yucca whipplei to enjoy, also know as Our Lord's Candle and Chaparral Yucca.

The spike grows 1-2 m tall from the base whose spiky blades up close reveal lovely colors.

The Diegueno and Cahuilla used the fibers for sandals while the Chumash and the Gabrielino used it for fishing line. Whole or split yucca leaves were also utilized for rough tying of bundles of firewood, house frames, and for basketry. 

After it is done flowering cluster of green fruit capsules are visible which the Antelope Ground Squirrel will eat.  Eventually it will split open and release the seeds, though the plant also can grow from offshoots.

From the seed the plant takes 5 or more years to reach maturity, flower and then die.  It is worth the wait...

Taller than I was!

Hundreds of flowers put on a stunning show before the plant ends its cycle, and not only do the bees and moths love them, but they are edible after boiling and supposed to be sweet tasting.  Sadly I did not get to taste them, just enjoy their subtle perfume while walking under the bright California sun!

Hikers on Mount Woodson

This 12 x 70 mural painted by Rik Erickson is on the side of a fitness center in Ramona, Caifornia and depicts hikers on Mount Woodson.  The mural website says to look for the 5 animals in the mural but either they are well hidden or I cut a few out since it was so hard to get the whole mural in one shot!

In an effort to get caught up I'm at Starbucks trying to get a post scheduled for every day this week!  Linking up to Monday Mural.