Took my first semi-real hike since moving to the OC two weeks ago. Went to Silverado Canyon. There's a visitor center there (pretty small but nice volunteer) and a fire road that goes up the canyon. Didn't know it, but the fire road is open to the public. So, we played "dodge car" through out the hike. Uh, this route not recommended. But there was some cool stuff. And I had a really rad hiking partner.
I was actually fairly impressed with the number of Douglas Firs down in the canyon.
The vegetation and terrain reminded me of some kind of a cross between the Sta Monica Mountains and the front range of the San Gabriels.
There was even some fall color.
There were some good views off to the north once we got up higher.
More on those views under separate cover.
HJ