Off the beaten path

Last Friday my dad & I hiked at Solstice Canyon in Malibu, CA. We had hiked there once before, so I was familiar with the sights. Our destination was the ruins of an old 1950's house that was destroyed in a forest fire. Along the way, we noticed several species of wildflowers beginning to bloom. We also ran into some wildlife, specifically butterflies & birds. There was one hummingbird we saw. In light of my most recent habit of naming things, I decided to call it "Roger." We watched Roger feed on some curious fauna that I wasn't sure was native to the area for about 30 minutes before he sped off & out of our sight. It was definitely a unique treat, as we had never come across a hummingbird feeding on any of our previous trips.

After the short hike, we decided to pay a quick visit to the nearby El Matador State Beach. Parking on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, we maneuvered our way across the busy street, managing not to get hit in the process & made our way down to the beach. El Matador, famous for its large rock structures, wasn't packed, but it was still somewhat busy. There were several photographers on one side, capturing the beauty of the rock formations from every angle with their wide, telescopic lenses & a photo shoot of a wedding wrapping up on the other. Lucky for us, we had enough time to squeeze in some photo shoots of our own. Aside from the gorgeous views, the weather was also pleasantly warm, a nice change from the usual 60 degree weather of winter.

We finished around 4pm. My shoes were wet, I was covered in sand & there was sea salt in my hair, but none of it mattered. I was completely satisfied with how the day turned out & I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to end it.

xoxo, Oleah