The Rolling Hills of Anaheim

North Orange County provides a pretty stark contrast to the wilderness of Mt. Rainier. There is decidedly less snow, substantially fewer trees, and many more housing developments. However, it's also much closer to where I live, and pretty much in the back yard of one of my best friends, so it made for a great Sunday outing.

After powering up with a tasty breakfast, Jon, Christine and I hit the trail at Weir Canyon Park for an easy little 3.4mi, 300' loop. Along the way we saw lots of lizards, chaparral, and wildflowers, including this cool purple plant that we decided must be related to an artichoke:

Eat me?

Update: Blog reader Brian P. positively identifies this plant as an invasive artichoke thistle.

The best part of the trip for me was a conversation we got into about wilderness survival. I explained that as part of my "Escape to the Wilderness" contingency plan, I needed to become more adept at identifying and capturing food in the wild. I have a cousin who's apparently knowledgeable enough about plants to head out into the wild and forage for himself. That's awesome, and I'm hoping to spend some time with him to learn more. However, he's a vegetarian, and I'm an avid carnivore, so I also need to independently develop catching, killing, and eating stuff skills.

We were in the midst of covering standard approaches such as fishing, less promising plans of rabbit catching (inspired by the enormous lagomorph I saw at Rainier), and various insect- and carrion-based stews...

Not so appetizing

...when Jon came up with an idea. Enlist the assistance of an animal. Brilliant! I was pretty excited about a companion goat who eats grass and provides milk when Jon dropped an even better gem:

"Or you could get a dog to catch stuff for you."

Now we're talking. I flashed back to stories of my friend Kate's childhood family canine - part wolf, part dog - who would venture into the woods near the house, catch squirrels, cats, beaver, and once a deer, then bring it back to the porch for dinner. I love dogs, especially wolf-dogs, and think this is a great plan. Besides food-catching, the pooch also offers companionship, protection, great smelling and hearing, and a big fur coat. I'm not sure (s)he'll fit in the one-man tent though. Alas, a long-term plan...

Future hiking companion?

For now, apartment living in L.A. doesn't support a canine companion, but fortunately I've got some other great hiking buddies in the area.