Today I took the boys out for a longer hike through Peters Canyon. We started at the main entrance off Jamboree and worked our way thru Cactus point, up Big Red and eventually back home. A total of about 4-5 miles.
The field of catci were in full bloom. This is a picture of the Prickly Pear cactus that grows abundant in our hills. You will note that they have large fixed spines and smaller hairlike spines. It is the fine hairlike spines that hurt and take weeks to remove. I know from the experience of having fallen on one of these on a bike ride a couple of years ago. Believe it or not, the fruit is edible and is sold in Mexican markets here in the Southland as Nopal.
Here are Vikram, Jordan and Nikhil.
Here they are at the top of Big Red.
This is a strenuous uphill that climbs 175 feet at a 12.5% grade. Here is Rajeev at the top – working up a sweat!
Here they all are at the end, thoroughly exhausted. The facial expressions are genuine pain!
A job well done. The rest of the day is relatively peaceful, with the boundless energy left on the mountains.
Khare Family Adventures 