Hiking in Bommer's Canyon

1) Met up with my brother, Yen, Bang, Ford, David and Mayumi for a nice late afternoon hike at Bommer's Canyon in Irvine. They recently opened up this trail back in the spring.


2) I took Ethan and Megan too. This was their first true hike. I was worried that half way through they would poop out and get all whiny, but they were troopers and did great. I even think they quite enjoyed it.


3) I covered them up with sunblock, got their little hats out of the closet, filled up my camelbak and off we went looking for adventure!


4) Here is the gang as we trudged our way through the winding trail.


5) My brother Bi playing with his 70-300 telephoto lens.


6) David and Mayumi double chimpin!


7) Ethan picked up a walking stick to protect himself from snakes and stink bugs. We had some amazing golden light this afternoon to shoot with.


8) Say hello to my cousin Bang. Here he is getting ready to plow a field and milk some cows.


9) My cousin in law, Mayumi.


10) Check out Megan's water bottle. She got it as a present from an ex-classmate from preschool. She has been quite eager to try it out on a hike.


11) David bustin out the tilt shift action.


12) We ran into 2 snakes crossing the trail. This one was a California King Snake.


13) Ford getting ready for his rodeo.


14) I caught a glimpse of this White Tailed Kite. I use to see them more often, but now a days with suburban development and the loss of wild land, they are a rare sight.


15) There is a family of California Quails in Bommer's Canyon. I actually took this photo on a prior hike when I was by myself and could sneak up close.


16) This was the other snake that we ran into. It's a Pacific Rattlesnake. It was HUGE and all stretched out across the width of the trail, sunning itself. When it spotted us. It coiled up and made it's distinctive rattling noise. It was a good reminder to keep Megan and Ethan close to me on the trail and to stay out of the bushes! Scary stuff.


17) I took this pic of the fledgling Red Tailed Hawks on the prior hike. When I visited the nest again today, they were gone.


18) Another shot of the quail. The males of the pack would sit on a fence post and watch out for danger while the females and little ones would scavenge for food on the ground. When the male spotted danger, he would make a noise to warn everybody.