Great Outdoor Day # 13- Lake Cachuma-Godda Bless

If you sneeze you will miss the entrance to Lake Cachuma Recreation Area midway between Santa Barbara and Los Olivos on Highway 154. The sparkling man-made lake flanked by the Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains fills a valley that was once a sacred meeting place for the Chumash people. Resting in the Pacific Flyway, (read more here at Examiner)

Solstice Canyon - A Spring Bouquet

Solstice Canyon has several trails with varying degrees of difficulty that take the hiker to one of four year-round waterfalls in the Santa Monicas. Follow the path tracing Solstice Creek and take the track on the right side of the bridge to Sun Rising Trail. After a quarter-mile ascent, you see a bright pool of sunshine glowing on the shimmering blue ocean far below. After winter rains the canyon is bursting with blooms that include Indian paint brush, pink morning glory, blue diks, and purple evening night shade. New buds lift their faces to the warming sun eager to join the spring bouquet. The Chumash understood nature’s ways and set fire to the hills clearing the way for new life. The recent Malibu fire that destroyed mansions has a silver lining that can be witnessed here in the form of wildflowers

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Great Outdoor Day in L.A. #8 – Satwiwa, Where the World is Safe and Warm

When humans could speak with animals and the world was “safe and warm,” the Chumash Indians came up Big Sycamore Canyon carrying bounty from the sea to trade with the Indians that lived at Satwiwa, aka Rancho Sierra Vista. Once a year the tribes of Gabriolino, Tongva and Chumash would meet in the vast meadow at the top of the 8-mile climb to discuss the hunting and ceremonial plans of the year. Today the meadow framed by Boney Ridge, a volcanic bluff that shelters the canyon, is honeycombed with hiking trails.

Read more here; http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-travel-in-los-angeles/great-outdoor-day-l-a-8-satwiwa-where-the-world-is-safe-and-warm