Our Funday Monday adventures keep us close to home in Agua Dulce exploring Upper Tick Canyon including a beautiful morning hike through ancient volcanic formations.
Located at the northern base of Saddleback Mountain, we find volcanic rocks strewn across our path as we hike closer to the steep edge of the canyon.
Towering over Agua Dulce at an elevation of 3,100 feet, Saddleback Mountain is the remnants of an extinct volcano, according to geologists, that blasted itself apart millions of years ago during the formation of the notorious San Andreas Fault.
With Saddleback towering over 500 feet above us as we hike to the edge, we are amazed at the volcanic red rock formations plunging over 600 feet straight down into the canyon below.
Having grown up nearby and hiked and played on these red rocks and in these canyons, so many memories flood back as I come to the razorback outcropping that juts out and hangs over the canyon.
As a kid I remember sitting way out on the edge with my feet dangling… what would my mother have thought if she’d known… these wobbly old knees won’t be doing that today, Lol.
It was so much fun taking Colleen along the trails I had frequented as a kid, pointing out the large red rock formation where we found tiny seashells embedded in the rocks.
As a kid, Tick Canyon had a running stream all year round with a natural dam at the base of the big red rock. This dam formed a small lake we nicked named Lake Gruntly, I do not remember the origin of that name, Lol, where we would spend our summers swimming and collecting tadpoles. The stream and lake have long since dried up but what a wonderful Funday Monday we had hiking and reminiscing.