This weekend I went camping to Los Angeles National Forest with four friends who are also exchange students in Long Beach, California. I have been in Long Beach for about 6 weeks now, and this was the first time I was going to explore some nature since I got here. I am used to the forests and the greenness in Finland (during summer, in winter everything looks like a black and white film) and I was so excited to finally get out of the city.
Even though we only spent about 20 hours in the forest I took hundreds of photos of the mountains, the trees and the squirrels so I decided to share this journey in two posts since I did not want to leave out anything.
You can read and look at the photos from part one here!
After having strolled around in the forest for a while, first looking for a waterfall that did not exist and then looking for a crystal lake that we did find but that was anything but crystal, we decided to go on a small hike and look for a place where we would have a beautiful view of the mountains and the valleys. Since we did not know of any hikes we drove to Crystal Lake Campground to ask for a map and some directions.
At the campground we found a small cafe with a bear welcoming us in to buy some coffee, and a small visitor center with a very friendly man who told us everything about the hiking routes around. Since we did not have a lot of time before we had to head back to Long Beach to attend a small music festival in a friends garden we chose to do a short route that was still supposed to have a beautiful view of the closest canyon and the mountains surrounding it.
Before we left for the hiking route we asked the man if we should be aware of some wildlife and he told us that there is a bear walking around and that the rattle snakes are coming out to sunbathe, but that we should be fine as long as we do not put our hands into any creeks under the stones where they might be hiding (yes, the rattle snakes - not the bears).
I am NOT a big fan of snakes and as we started walking I pictured them everywhere and got startled anytime something would move close to me.
Suddenly even before we got out from the camping area there was something that moved only a few meters away from us...
...I turned my head and saw...
...A SQUIRREL!
(Yes you should have expected that in case you read the previous post!)
Relieved we continued our journey, but soon found a interested sign that required further exploring:
A amphitheater in the middle of the forest? How peculiar.
Now the only amphitheaters I have ever seen before were ancient Roman ones, and I could not comprehend how one of those would have ended up in the middle of the forest on a mountain in California. When we went to check it out it became clear that this was not a ancient Roman amphitheater but still a very cool one, with space for a bonfire in the middle it was perfect for organizing small plays or concerts.
We finally found the entrance for the hiking route, and started walking in a line on the small path. I was walking first with my eyes as open as a hawks, looking for snakes and jumping high up in the air anytime I would see a lizard running close to the path. The forest was a lot different than the forests I am used to in Finland, it was a lot less green and there were fewer trees, but it was still beautiful!
As we got higher up in the mountains the trees dwindled, and the surroundings began to look more like a dessert. There were still plenty of threes underneath us but there was hardly any shade where the path was and the sun was really warm. I felt a bit worried about the rattle snakes since I thought that this must be the perfect place for them to sunbathe on, but all the animals we saw were some lizards and butterflies that I did not manage to catch in the photos.
When we turned around and looked back to the campground we could see the amphitheater between the trees. We saw a tree stem that had beautifully striped colors and we also found a bush with berries that the grizzly bears like to eat (I can not figure out the name of the berry - do you know what it is called?).
After a while we arrived at the bench at the end of the hike, and the view was beautiful! There are not a lot of mountains in Finland so being surrounded by so many mountains was really breathtaking for me. We could see the road that we had been driving up the mountain on disappearing into the distance, and I enjoyed the contrast between the greenness of nature and the brightness of the road. It is also cool how it seems like the mountains go on for days when it actually only took us one hour to drive from here to the end of the mountains and into the closest town.
After enjoying the view for a while we walked back to the campgrounds while enjoying the view of the mountains and exploring some trees and other interesting things we found on the way. According to my friend the trees up here are nothing compared to the trees in Sequoia National Park as you can see from the gesturing he is doing with his hands.
When we got back to the campground we began our drive back to Long Beach immediately, it was only 2 pm but we still had to prepare some food (and ourselves) for the pot luck slash music festival in the evening. We still got to enjoy the view of the mountains on our way home and I just had to stop to take on last picture of the view at this place, it was way too beautiful for letting it go unnoticed.
This was the first time that I have ever experienced a national park in the USA, and even though this is one of the smaller not as popular ones it was still an amazing experience. The nature is so different here from anything I have ever seen in Finland and I cannot wait to go on more adventures like this one!
Thank you for reading!
mialinnea
Great photos and looks like you had a great time haha
You say it's smaller and not as popular as many of the others in the US but it's bigger than anything we've got in Australia haha but Australia has its own natural beauties like Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef
I wish to go to the USA someday!!
Thanks for sharing :)
I always wanted to go to Australia! :) It's been a dream of mine since I was around 13 years old I think. Hopefully both of us get to fulfill our wishes one day!
Yes! Australia is great, has everything you want!
You can go to Sydney if you're into a bustling city with cool architecture and culture/history
If you like the natural world (personal preference) you can go to places like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru!
If you like sports and entertainment, Melbourne is awesome!
Good luck fulfilling your dream :)
I'm more into nature than city, but want to go to all of those places! :) what places in America would you like to go?
great post
Thank you! :)
I'm almost feeling the call of the mountains too :D Looking forward your future adventures now that the proper autumn is finally here in Finland: it rains, it's cold and it's dark.
Oh no, I don't miss the cold or the dark a bit! Here it's still full summer :)
I bet you don't haha. Last weeks abundance of the sun was too good to last forever but at least I realized to enjoy it while I could.
The vast nature is really magnificent there! Thanks for sharing your camping adventure.
Yes it is so beautiful! Thank you for checking in :)
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STOPSuch a beautiful place and wonderful adventure! :) Followed
Thank you!
Beautiful
Thank you! :)
These camp photographs look so great!
Thank you! :)
Looks like you really had an awesome time.
I'm glad you finally got to get out of the city and explore the mountains! Nature is pretty much nonexistent here in Long Beach, so I'm right with you. Getting out of the city is like a breath of fresh air.
Yeah we did have a great time! I am so used to being close to nature that I definitely need to get out into nature every now and then. Luckily nature isn't too far away 🙂