Jen is Trayning: 30% to $195! (hiking all stars cont.)

So we're now $58 in to our $195 spend on the California State Parks Annual Pass. Mind you, this is $58 in 11 days!!! Something tells me we're going to FAR exceed our $195 into the pass (and have many awesome stories along the way).

Added parks to gush about:

Topanga State Park (http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/topanga.htm):

Topanga is beautiful. Actually, that's an understatement. The miles of views looking toward the ocean are breathtaking and the terrain is that of a hike in Arizona. The paths are paved just enough to make you feel comfortable - but not make you feel like a weakling. There were definitely times we were "off roading" on some unpaved paths and even came across a section where there was a mountain lion trap (we're so badass). It was the first time on one of these hikes my heart skipped a beat a bit. It was 4:15 PM and we were 1,000 feet down - in which we trail ran to get there. We had a long ways to go and the sun was looking to disappear, so we hiked it! 1,000 feet up to be exact. Over a mile and 1/3 straight up. We were sweaty and defeated, as we saw no waterfall but felt SO good about the work out we got, the photos we took and the awesome time we had together.

Lots of cool photos to be taken!

Gorgeous views for miles and miles...

LOTS OF INCLINE!!

Not so amateur any more!

Crystal Cove State Park (http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/):

How lucky am I? I return from a hair appointment early in the am on Saturday to a pre-planned state park jaunt w my SPPIC (state park partner in crime) for a lovely Saturday afternoon. Now we've hit El Moro many times (the upper canyon a bit farther south from Crystal Cove) but never hit the lower trails by the beach. Ian really knew how much I wanted to get my "steps in" because with all this state parkin'...I'm on a 9 day streak at this point (and now, writing this - up to an 11!) The lower trails were very nice, flat and really good for a recovery day - meaning a day in which you finish Topanga State Park less than 24 hours prior and your booty needs a bit of a break. The trails are DOG FRIENDLY because they're paved and you can use the stairs down to the beach very easily. There are beautiful tide pools to climb over, awesome places to take photos and had we had a packed lunch - we could have found great places to hang out and just enjoy the scenery. We saw a California seal pretty close up on a rock right next to us which was very cool. The entire trail from parking to end, down to the beach and back up was about 2.5 miles. A shorter one than we're used to but one of my favorites so far for it's simplicity and ease.