This is Part II of "My Favorite Pics for 2008"; here are a few of my favorite pics this year.
Laguna Niguel
This was near the Badlands Park trailhead in Laguna Niguel, which overlooks Laguna Beach. We were only there for a short while; I can't wait to get back there again.
Ladera Ranch
This was taken right behind the Covenant Hills area in Ladera Ranch.
This is in Ladera Ranch looking down Antonio Parkway towards Ortega Highway; we were headed off to a camping trip up on Saddleback Mountain.
Laguna Beach
I took this at the trailhead of the "Top of The World" park in Laguna Beach; it's a great place to spend an afternoon walking along the hills above Laguna. The views take in everything from the Pacific to Saddleback Mountain.
I can't think of the name of this newly-minted wilderness area in Laguna Canyon, but it is one of three where you can pull off and spend a day hiking around the hills that lie between
Laguna Beach and
Shady Canyon in Irvine.
This was taken in earlier this year when we had a huge outpouring of wildflowers across the hills; these are
California Poppies - the state flower.
This was taken this summer in downtown Laguna Beach; we had some take-out pizza with friends and sat and watched the people go by and the sun go down.
I was heading home in August and I couldn't resist the light changing in the sky and playing out over the water; I stopped at Heisler Park in Laguna, skipped down to Picnic Beach and shot this quick panorama. The beach is a bit wider than this photo makes it look, but it isn't all that big; the tide was sweeping up and I had to move before I got swamped.
This was taken right above the last photo, at Heisler Park. The stairwell leads down to Picnic Beach. I put together a map of pretty much every accessible
beach in Orange County at
www.beachyoc.com; take a peek sometime.
