Hiking: Etiwanda Falls

Yeah, that's what happens when I try to take a selfie with nature... haha! One of my favorite activities to do, (that will probably be posted about periodically,) is hiking! I feel as though it's what brought on my love for adventure, exploring, and travel. I'm always looking for a new place to hike! It's super peaceful and on top of that, you're exercising! Definitely a win-win! What more could you want? This particular hike I found on Google doing the search of "Hikes in the Inland Empire" Voila! North Etiwanda Preserve Falls Trail! My friend Ashley and I decided to have a girls day here! The drive was super simple, basically just taking Etiwanda Street all the way up!

One thing I loved about this hike is that there was a section where you could park. Most hiking places, you have to either pay for parking, or find parking along the street (all the while trying not to get a parking ticket!) We thought that our hike started right there from the car. We were wrong, after walking for about 10 minutes we got to the mile maker 0. We gave eachother that look of "What? Barely? This is going to be a long hike!" Near the mile marker there was a little gazebo that provided information of the elevations, plants, animals, and surroundings. When we finally got over the 0 Mile Marker we began our "official" hike. Almost right away we hit a sort of fork in the road. Luckily there was an elderly man coming down one of the paths and he told us that was the correct way to reach the waterfall at the top. (If I'm not mistaken, I believe the other way was to do a loop.) We just knew we wanted to reach the water!

The hike itself was not that bad. It had parts of incline, where we could definitely feel our but and thighs burning but there was also some level ground. This is where I wish I could have known I'd be making this blog so that I could show the beauty it is being surrounded by the mountains and the vast space! I'll just have to go again! (Not that I'm complaining!) There wasn't much shade, so despite the chilly morning, we ended up with our sweaters wrapped around our waist. 

When we finally made it to the top, we did not find what we were expecting! We were expecting a full waterfall with space to swim in, and that is not what we found! Their is a section of rocks that sort if made the waterfall, but it was quite small, and you were standing above it. What we did find that we weren't expecting was a running stream. The path ended when we reached that "waterfall" but there was plenty of boulders and bigger rocks so that we could walk through and follow the stream. We thought we could find something if we followed it. After playing leap frog and limbo through the rocks and trees for 30 minutes, we decided that it was endless, so we decided to turn back because it was getting late and we still needed to eat breakfast! The running stream was without a doubt our favorite part of the hike! It felt as though we were in a jungle or on a true adventure especially since we didn't run into any people. That stream is what would convince me to go back!

Trail: North Etiwanda Preserve Falls

Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Length: 5.7 Miles (There and back)

Level: Easy-Moderate

Season: Summer

As always, questions or comments just let me know!

Enjoy Your Day!

♥ A 

Follow @allieecatt_

UPDATE!

So, as you can see, my blog is brand new. I am also in the process of getting a new camera (I know which one I want, but feel free to leave me suggestions on which you think will benefit me) I already have a few trips in mind that I will be taking and how I will be taking the pictures and also which pictures I will be taking. Unfortunately, it's probably going to be about a month until I am able to to get that all complete, so until then, I will be posting some "Throwback" posts of trips I've taken in the past with pictures I took. They also will be used for me to get the hang of this 'blogging stuff' and to find out what direction I want to take this! So feel free to leave comments/ suggestions!

Enjoy Your Day!

❤ A

    Follow @allieecatt_

Bike Ride at the Beach

One of the best parts about taking trips to the beach is not just walking the pier and sunbathing, but getting exercise as well. During the summer, my best friend Ana and I, last minute (as all our plans are made) decided to take a morning off and take the 40 minute drive to Huntington Beach for a bike ride.

 We rented 2 beach cruisers at a hut near the pier. We found them to be reasonably priced, with different options depending on how long you were planning on renting them for. Don't quote me on the price, but I believe we got ours for like $10 for 6 hours? There was a cheap option also to have the bikes for the whole day, but seeing as I had to go to work in the afternoon, 6 hours was more than enough for us. Plus, I don't think we were in shape to ride bikes for a full day!

We started off our trip at the heart of Huntington Beach, and just followed the road. It was interesting to see how different your surrounding areas look even when staying on the same path. We moved from the crowds near the pier to the section that was full of surfers catching waves, to a section of dogs! We really didn't know where we were going we just decided to keep at it. When we finally stopped, we THINK we were at somewhere at the end of Bolsa Chica, but we were not entirely sure. The thing we were sure of was that our legs were tired! We knew we'd be needing more trips to improve our condition. From there we turned back around thinking we were very far from the HB Pier, and feeling like it was getting late.

It wasn't. And on top of that, the day was beautiful. We regretted not bringing swimsuits and beach towels.

                

It definitely didn't stop us from going into the water! Even if we had to hold on to our socks and shoes and were only able to submerge our feet. After wading in the water for awhile, we trecked on over to the pier area, leaving our bikes locked up to a fence in between the sand and sidewalk. We didn't have to much time left so we just took our usual walk through main street, bought some Jamba Juice and took some pictures with some lovely locals ;)

We haven't had the chance to have a bike ride at the beach since then, but it is definitely on the top of our to do list! I'll keep you posted if we do! Let me know of any suggestions you have regarding bike rides at the beach or Huntington Beach!

Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Bike ride level: Easy

Season: Summer

Enjoy Your Day!

❤ A

  Follow @allieecatt_