Place: Cabins in Santa Anita Canyon park...

I have written many times about my love for woods exploration...and California with its abundant chaparral, oak woodland and elfin forest, never disappoints me...

Here, I am in Santa Anita Canyon of Angeles National park........'Cabins in the woods' are one of the fascinating things for me...spotting huts and lodges in deep forests by the streams, with mule deer, woodpeckers and squirrels foraging nearby makes me happy...and this park is renowned for its about eighty historical cottages in the midst of maples, oaks and laurels.....

some of them are rented for recreation purpose...

A stream runs by the cabins...It was early August and the creek had dried...

But I could imagine, it must have been very relaxing to sit by the edge with a cup of tea and a book, while listening to the gurgling water during spring, inhaling the fresh air-infused with scent of wildflowers, sighting a mule deer or a squirrel every now and then...

Place: A day exploring Monrovia canyon park...

We visited Monrovia canyon park, a part of Angeles National forest in summer..
Who would have believe, barely miles away from LA, it could be so teeming with wildlife!

The trail bordered by bigleaf maple, laurel and sycamores...sunlight filtering through the canopy creates a dappled shadow..

I was absolutely fascinated with the greenery...spotted  a variety of bugs, snails, reptiles, mushrooms, birds, wildflowers...even saw a pair of fawn-mother mule deer..

The trees were not necessarily standing upright...

some of them had tilted ...

some had fallen...

Trekking through the winding path, we reached at our destination, a waterfall originated from the San Gabriel mountains...I saw  checkerspot butterfly mud puddling by the  pool of the cascade...

After spending some time at the waterfall, we walked back to the visitor center..
On the path back, I lied down on some fallen logs. Tranquility!