December 20, 2011 - Hike 32

Castaic Lake State Recreation Area - California

5.0 Miles













2011 Christmas present for the family was a trip to California. For the kids, well actually adults now, the highlight was Disneyland. We spent December 18th, and 19th at Disneyland. We have not been since Lindsey was 12 and Brian 15. Now they are 18 and 21. We love Disneyland, but after two days, I was definately ready for a hike. Since the kids wanted to ride the extreme roller coasters at Six Flags, I felt it was a perfect day for Ken and I to get our hike on!

All I did was look at a map, found Six Flags and then picked the closest natural area to go hiking. It was a perfect day for a hike, probably about 67 degrees outside. That temperature is way too cold to be outside for most Californians so we nearly had the park to ourselves. We only ran into one other person on the trail and he was dirt biking. The trail was fairly steep so I started to work up quite a sweat and was able to pull off my over hiking shirt leaving me with a tank top. I am sure my skin just soaked up the vitamin D. It felt glorious to say the least. I think I even got a little pink on my cheeks and nose from the sun.

At one point, Ken and I found a nice spot to sit and absorb the sun, relax and just be with nature.  After hiking high above the lake, the trail dropped us down to the lakeside. It was beautiful. On the lower part of the trail, we did run into a couple of people fishing but the trail was otherwise devoid of people. Our round trip hike put us at a little over 5 miles. Not a bad start to the day.