Living in Santa Barbara is amazing. Expensive, but amazing. Monday morning, Caroline and I went for a hike up the Cold Springs trail to Tangerine Falls. The water was flowing wildly in the creek since the last rainfall, though the weather has been quite warm for January. I'm guessing that it was in the upper 70's, if not hotter, the day we hiked. After scrambling over rocks and tree roots and over boulders, we arrived to the very beautiful Tangerine Falls and the well earned view in the other direction. Plopped on a giant boulder we sat and ate our sandwiches while staring out over the valley and city below. We offered our other halves of our sandwiches to young kids around us and they were tickled pink at free, yummy sandwiches from South Coast Deli.
Off the mountain, we then went Stand Up Paddling off of East Beach. The ocean was very calm, except for the occasional jet boat speeding by. Mountain to ocean equals a quite wonderful day indeed.
Wednesday a friend of mine who owns Santa Barbara Stables texted me to go ride for a bit and I quickly agreed. Seen below is Tar (also known as Top Hat when competing) and he was a lovely horse with a great attitude. Santa Barbara Stables is located off of Turnpike in Goleta and out where the views are grand of both mountain and sea.
Today I hiked up to Inspiration Point with my friend Emma. We chose to hike up the Jesusita Trail from the other side, beginning near the reservoir off San Roque Road. The hike is longer from this side, but we found the whole thing to be quite pleasant. Everything was quite green due to the rain and sun we've been having lately. The trail is shaded by large, old oak trees for most of the time which is enchanting. The last bit to the top is strenuous, but the view is our prize!