Maldives Round 2

For my spring break, which oddly enough starts way earlier than other schools, I went to the Maldives (again) with my family. Our main objective this time was to dive our hearts out!

Like seriously, last time we went my mom was just interested in snorkeling. I was doing the Discover Scuba Diving like crazy. Asked her if she wanted to do it with me or not, and she kept saying that she's too old to do it. Then she went back by herself and decided to try out the Discover. Loved it. And got the advance even before me! Fancy that!

When I went back this time I was still just a regular Open Water Diver. I thought I would just dive a couple times and relax on the tropical island of paradise. Oh, but, nooo. I was talked into getting my advance diver during my time there (in less than a week!).

Man, was it tiring. And fun!!!

I did the mandatory navigation and deep dive. Not to mention the fact that they used the metric system there, not the imperial like in the US. I learned everything with the imperial so that kind of confused me for a little bit. But you get used to it. In the Maldives, they also use bar instead of psi to measure the amount of gas left in a tank, so I had to relearn that also.

Definitely learned a lot more about my the functions in my dive comp. Especially because we were also diving with Nitrox the whole time.

Back on subject, other than the navigation and deep dive, I did Nitrox, wreck, and night! They were sooo much fun. The wreck was at an old Korean fishing boat with lots of coral growth on it already. The night was incredibly intimidating and exciting. I saw many lion fish then.

But nothing can beat the Manta dives, which was my Nitrox dive. Oh, it was just awesome! I rented an underwater camera for the Manta dive so I actually have pictures of them. This one ray came up real close to me it was actually kind of scary. Such a beautiful and majestic creature. :)

Swooshing by.

Safety stop photo op. :)

Playing among the bubbles.

Look at all those people in awe!

Coming over the reef.

Om nom nom. :3

Mmm, let me show you ma belly!

Okay, a little close there buddy.

Seriously within a few feet.

So freakishly close I swear I could have touched him.
That's my bubble, by the way.

Bye bye, old friend!

So yes, now I am an Advanced Open Water Diver. The dive center there were cheering me to become a rescue diver after this. Still thinking about it, hehehe. :)

Topanga Eagle Rock Loop

I did this hike the day after I did the Mt. Wilson falls hike, so you can probably guess how dead I was after that weekend, hahaha! Anyway, it took me some time to actually blog about this hike. Even though I date this post to the day that I did the hike, I am now writing it literally two months later. So bare with me as I try to recall the experience as best I can.

If all else fails, I still have the pictures to show for it! :)

We started the hike at the Trippet Ranch trail head/parking lot on Entrada Road. Following the Eagle Springs Fire Road for about two miles we reached the Eagle Junction. Unlike last time when I went with Tony, Malia and I got to hike the loop this time around.

Luckily, the weather was perfect and clear!

We rested for a little bit at Eagle Rock for photos and just some chitchat with people who were there.

There was a group of kids at the rock when we arrived.

The view from Eagle Rock! Pretty sweet!
There's a little cave off to the right of this picture, under the arch.

Me and Malia!

Because I'm strong, like BULL! (not really)

It was a beautiful hike. On the way back, we took the Musch Trail instead of the fire road, and that was just a bit rougher because it's an actual hiking trail. Plus, it's kinda fun to say the name of the trail. :)

I wouldn't say that it was strenuous, but it definitely got out heart rates up. And that's probably because we were hiking a little faster than the average hiker (2 miles/hr). The whole hike should be around 6 miles. It took us 3 hours. And I would say that we took quite a bit of time on Eagle Rock just talking and taking pictures.

A really good hike when the weather's clear and pleasant! :)

An idea of a part of the trail (probably the steepest of the hike).

The map provided at the beginning of the trail at the parking lot.

Mt. Wilson Falls Hike

It's been a while since I've been on any adventure, huh? That's kind of sad. But I have a legit excuse, for realz. School happened. I'm only taking three classes really. I don't know how, but those are keeping me way the hell busier than I thought initially.

For one, I'm taking a novel writing class, so I'm trying to write a book in less than two months (I'm only required to write 50 pages, but I just want to aim for the star you know). One step closer to one of my dreams! :)

Second, I have to read a lot, and I mean A LOT, for my Victorian novel class. Do you have any idea how thick those melodramatic stories are? Let's just say I can probably kill someone with them.

And I just hate my third class. It's a GE requirement.

Anyway, after giving sufficient reasons for my absence in having a fun life, let me move on to my most recent hike.

We actually wanted to do the actual Mt. Wilson where we hike in from Chantry Flat to the summit. But, as things go, we didn't leave early enough. Left at like 10 in the morning. Again, with a reasonable explanation. We went to bed at like 1:30am last night. Tony was working until like one, and I was beating my brain up writing (I wrote like 1,000 words yesterday, yay!).

So when we got there we decided to do the falls hike instead.

First of all, the trail and the park itself was just beautiful. Probably helped that it was also a perfect day for hiking. :) One of the warmer days during winter: like 80 degrees outside. We were going for Hermit Falls first. I was so worried because the whole time we were walking downhill. And any sensible person would know that to get back, one must hike back in the opposite direction: uphill.

But man was it a pleasant hike.

The trail down to Hermit Falls.

The scenery, just amazing.

Hermit Falls!

Too bad there were graffiti everywhere.

Doesn't that just look cool?

On the rock over the falls. <3

We were actually on top of the falls. Kinda scary to look down from the rock actually because it's one of those marble, slippery rocks. And surprisingly there were a lot of dogs on the trail, big and small. I saw a couple of German shepherds. A Rottweiler. A Collie. Boxers. And surprisingly Chihuahuas.

Who friggin' take Chihuahuas on hikes?! That's animal cruelty right there. Not to mention how irresponsible it is.

Moving on. We went to Sturtevant Falls next. There were a lot of water crossings (on rocks). And to counter the Hermit Falls, going to Sturtevant was mostly a slight uphill. Not too bad. We passed a lot of cabins along the trails. Some of which I suspect people actually live in. I love the idea of living in the middle of nowhere. But honestly, having people hike around my house everyday, all day...no thanks. I mean, how will you get away with murder that way? ;)

But really, most of the cabins, I think, are for rent. You can rent them nightly for a really cheap price actually. Pretty cool.

Sturtevant Falls!

It has a little pool at the bottom.

Did I mention there were a lot of people there? Yep. But guess what? We got a parking spot right in the parking lot! Sooo lucky. I saw people parking on the road like literally a mile away DOWNHILL from the start of the trail. Man, getting to the trail itself is like an ordeal. I don't know if I have that much determination.

Then we hiked back up a paved road. It was an uphill battle (not too steep I don't think, but still going up). I was so proud of myself for not stopping until we got to the car. Going to the gym definitely pays off. And the energy gel probably helped too, hehehe.

And at Chantry Flat, there was this house/store where you can get food and parking permits. The guy had like a little barn there! I fed some goats and played with the cat. Surprisingly the goats love chips, hahaha!

The female goats.

The cat that kept meowing and coming for scratches.

Meet Mr. Ajax, the awesomest goat of all!

Ajax is so cute :3

I think the chips were jalapeno flavored, kinda spicy, but he just kept munching away whatever I give him.

Overall, it was a pretty amazing day. I was dead tired and exhausted when I got back though. Probably from doing so much on little sleep. Tony left for work again, my poor baby. He won't get back until after midnight, I'm guessing. At least he doesn't work until later in the morning tomorrow. As for me, tomorrow is another hiking day!

I'm going to pick my friend, Malia, up at 8am in the morning, and we're doing the Eagle Rock hike in Topanga Canyon. Soooo excited! But man, I'll probably have to wake up at around 6:30am. :S

This weekend is packed! Sweet~~ I'm just so physically tired I don't feel like doing homework though. Uh-oh... Whatevs.

He's such a sweet little goat!