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I found the place I was meant to live. Rancho Palos Verdes, CA! Of course I need to win Mega Millions first, but when I do, I now know where I’m moving to. What a gorgeous place! Beautiful hillside homes overlooking the ocean, with miles of trails to hike, and dog friendly too! I went to Forrestal Nature Reserve. The trailhead is on Forrestal Drive which has limited street parking (free). I later found out there are probably several trail entry points along that road but I’m not sure how to access them. I realized this after I took a few different trails and came out to the road in 2 different places with no car in sight. I wasn’t worried though because I knew I followed the coast and would eventually find my car. Next time I will take pictures of trail names so I remember my way back. I was able to use Google maps to find the street… I just happened to be at the opposite end of it. :-/

I did a 4 mile run/hike and saw only a handful of people. At first I was a little worried about being alone, unsure if there were any critters around, but I  didn’t see any signs posted warning about mountain lions or rattle snakes and the only wildlife I saw was a squirrel and some birds. Still, I think I’m going to invest in a Vigilant Personal Alarm to scare off wild animals.

I wanted to share a few pictures from my solo adventure to hopefully entice you to see this place for yourself. (my future neighborhood hiking trail) 😉

Beautiful plant life…

Narrow trails at times.  

And the fog rolling through…

This hill is waaaay steeper than it looks!

I wanted a good workout so I did quite a few hills. Like I have mentioned before, it’s the downhill that kills you. My quads still hurt (4 days later)! But it was so worth it! I can’t wait to go back. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!

Trail running or hiking is my favorite! I love being outside enjoying nature.

Remember to bring water, I used my new hydration pack by Camden Gear (see below), charge your phone (but don’t rely on it) and wear hiking/trail shoes/boots. I was very glad I wore my trail running shoes, I for sure would have fell on my butt or landed in some cactus if I had just worn my road shoes.

I really like how this pack has ties to hold the water bottles in and a large compartment to fit my huge phone.

I hope you liked the pics from my hike/run. What are your favorite trail runs? Leave me a comment below.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Keep running!