Them thar Hills II - Fullerton - California — Abandoned Places, Gold Rush & Route 66 Travel Photography

That side was made for you and me.

So I was back up in the hills, and the hills do have eyes. Strange sights to see as well. Only my second time to visit and ran across some neat stuff. It was a late Saturday afternoon, the weather was perfect and the small flies were abundant. Oh, and the cactus. Make sure to hike well away from any cactus plants. That is really second nature for me, but I went home with some unwanted souvenirs…..

Perhaps my favorite California Pepper Tree along the way (also known as the Peruvian Pepper Tree, or to get stuffy about it, Schinus molle). Did you know, it’s a member of the cashew family? They can grow up to a height of around 50 feet and almost always seem to have a nice, shady area underneath their wide-spread branches. Their fruit, the little round things, are sometimes used in beverages and medicines because of their hot taste and aroma. I personally do not recommend trying anything like that at all, unless you know what you’re doing. This particular specimen, I call the “Chair Tree.”

An assortment of old pipes, under a Pepper tree. This area is where I found my new friends: teeny, tiny, micro barbed cactus hairs that like to burrow into clothing and skin.

I plan on making it a point to hike this area on a very clear day, as the elevation really opens up some grand views. A little hiking about leads to viewpoints all around the compass.

Luckily, this was down a small hill with no easy way to get to, the temptation to see if the valve would turn might be too tempting to some….

Lots of similar cliffs in the area, the afternoon sun really lit this one up nicely.

And of course, most things that don’t move get graffiti from local idiots. I’ve checked my list of ten essentials for hiking, and paint is not on it.

Not sure what this once was used for, perhaps it is half of a storage tank of some kind. Now it’s full of dirt and has some young trees growing in it.

All in all, another nice late afternoon hike. My thanks again to Peter, a fellow exploratographer who lives nearby, for introducing me to this part of our town. It’s great to get out and get a little exercise and chat with other hikers you pass on the way. Let’s go see what we can find.