May 28, 2007
-
Up All Night, Gas Leak & Exhaustive Hike
I’ve had a long day. Ended up going to a midnight movie last night with Walter and about 9 kids that were under his charge. After the movie we went to Canter’s Deli. I got home at about 4:30 AM and as soon as I opened my door, I was overwhelmed by the smell of gas. Turns out, my stove wasn’t turned off all of the way after I made spaghetti for dinner. It had been on for over 8 hours! Thank God, nothing happened. I felt dizzy almost immediately and opened all the windows and the patio doors, and turned the air conditioning and all the fans on. Then I grabbed my laptop and sat on the patio as the sun was coming up. I researched how harmful it is to breathe natural gas, and found out as long as you get oxygen quickly you should be OK. I had a headache though, but stayed outside until about 7:30 AM when the smell was finally gone.
I then went to bed, and slept until 9 AM as I was supposed to meet Donna & Mica for breakfast at 10:00. I had a splitting headache, and didn’t think I would be able to go hiking with them as planned. In the end though, I gave in, and we drove to Pacific Palisades to hike at Temescal Gateway Park which is one of the Top 10 hiking trails in Los Angeles. Now, I’m not really a hiker, and I’m certainly not a good hiker with only an hour and 1/2 of sleep! The trail was long, and pretty steep, but I made it, and felt good about it afterwards. (Not sure how good I’ll feel tomorrow!)
Temescal Canyon Loop 
Highlights:
Great views of the ocean, small seasonal waterfall, densely wooded canyonNear: Pacific Palisades, CA Scenery: 
Distance: 4 miles round trip Elevation Gain: 1000 ft Hike Time: 2.5 hours Difficulty: Moderate Trail Condition: Well maintained trail HikeType: Loop
Summary: This is a very popular hiking spot with great views of the ocean on clear days, a seasonal waterfall, and a densely wooded canyon. The loop starts out on Temescal Ridge Trail, climbing almost 1,000 feet in the first mile. At the intersection with Temescal Canyon Trail, you can either take a half mile side trip to Skull Rock (staying on the ridge trail) or head down into the deep Temescal Canyon. At the bottom of the canyon, you will cross a bridge with a lovely waterfall. If you are careful, you can do some rock scrambling upstream to see some additional small waterfalls. After crossing the bridge, the trail drops through the canyon at a mild pace, through a pleasantly dense wooded area.
If you skipped the ridge trail, and just walked up the canyon and back, this would be a great easy 2 mile family hike. Note that my rating of this hike was a bit low compared to other guide books.
It was a pretty hazy day, so my pictures weren’t great, but here they are anyway. After the hike we hit Pinkberry (again) to reward ourselves and Trader Joes for some wine. Then we came home and sat by the pool for while. All in all a great day. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and I plan on resting. Hope you all had a good weekend! –Carey
I thought it was bad that people carved graffiti into the cactus, but took this picture for Mica, even though it was spelled differently than her name.
Look at the bags under my eyes. That’s what 1 1/2 hours of sleep and a gas leak does to you!
These are my new favorite indulgence from Trader Joes. If I’m ever on death row, about to be electrocuted, I think I might want these as part of my last meal. They are yummy!
Song of the day
Comments (4)
Your eyes look…..tried. I have no idea how’d you make it on top. You are good. : )
BTW – we got home after 5 and I was still able to getup before 9:00 to make the kids breakfast. This younger generation just doesn’t seem to have the “juice” my peers and I had at their age (even granting many of my old classmates are now living in rest homes.
Big Dub!
RYC: No, the little girl was just someone who tag along that day.
ryc: thank you…i’m sure the original is real but the remix isn’t haha..nice pictures…where is that? it looks like the deserts in nevada