FYI, hiking

Will be scarce online until my laptop comes back from the repair shop, or, worst case, I acquire a new one.)

Due to the combination of President's Day (no classes), the cancellation of the thing I had planned to do today, and the impossibility of working without a computer, I am going to put together a picnic and go commune with nature. For safety purposes since I'm going by myself, it's the Santa Inez/Trippet trail at Topanga Park. (Don't freak! It is well-marked, well-populated, and I am a knowledgeable hiker.)

I briefly explored it yesterday, after passing the sign every time I went to coach one of my students but never having time or being there at a good hiking time. But since it was spur of the moment, I wasn't properly shod and couldn't get on the waterfall trail at all, as it was too slippery/muddy. The trail criss-crossed a rushing creek, helpfully laid out with strategically placed stepping stones or logs. It was very green, and branches and vines met overhead for much of the trail, so I seemed to walk through a low, narrow tunnel made of trees.

The trail was also, alas, lined with poison oak (leaflets three, let it be), green edged with red and glistening as if dipped in oil. I kept my arms tight in to my body and threw everything in the wash, and myself in the shower, as soon as I got home.

I didn't spot much wildlife, other than hikers, but the calmer pools of the creek were full of water skaters, tiny feet dimpling the clear water.