Month: October 2025

A 6 mile hike in the Blue Sky Reserve and Lake Poway

@serafinahikes

Nature and wilderness are a pristine, unpolluted place to find solitude. I have a thing about hiking in and exploring ecological reserves, with their intact natural beauty, native flora and fauna. You can learn the story of a place not just by what is placed there, but from what was there all along, before any development ever took place. Several of these wild places are found throughout socal, and today I was going to explore a new one, exploring 6 miles throughout the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve.

Mount Baldy via the Backbone Trail – Summit #5

@serafinahikes

This would be Mount Baldy summit #5. It was a cool fall morning in the Cucamonga Wilderness in October as I began my hike to Mount Baldy from Manker Flats around 7:30 am. It was just below 50 degrees out and the weather was perfect. I had no planned eta on this one. However long it takes. However many breaks. If I needed to turn back I would. I was trying to be realistic, and not push too hard on this one. I began heading up Baldy Rd. towards the notch, since today I planned on summiting Mt Baldy via the Devil’s Backbone Trail. It had recently snowed here a week ago, and I had a feeling the snow had melted off along the trail just enough in the past few days, with the warmer drier conditions, to make the backbone trail safe and passable. I brought micro-spikes and a trekking pole for stability on small patches or snow or ice.

Annie’s Canyon and the San Elijo Lagoon

@serafinahikes

I have known of Annie's Canyon a few years, yet strayed away from visiting it, placing my efforts more on long strenuous climbs, challenging myself. I did not think this would be challenging, and I knew it was a very crowded popular spot, so I kept putting off visiting here. The trail through the San Elijo Ecological Reserve leading toward Annie’s Canyon, has several different options to accessing the canyon. I ended up choosing the trailhead located at the end of North Rios Avenue, also referred to on maps as the Gemma Parks Interpretive Trail. The San Elijo Lagoon is an estuary, surrounded by a series of winding trails throughout the marsh.

Butler Peak Fire Tower

@serafinahikes

Fall is here in California and October is the perfect time to hike near Big Bear Lake. I headed up the wide paved road to the Butler Peak Fire Lookout. The road is also a popular OHV route, and I started to be passed by multiple off-road vehicles. The landscape was dry and parched, characteristic of fall in California, but brightened by the flecks of color, as the leaves changed their shade.