As mentioned before, I volunteer for OC Parks/IRC. On every "open access" day and some hikes, I meet this older woman... I have seen her for years walking alone down the trail. She is obviously over 70, very petite but also very fit. One day I decided to speak with her... my or my what a conversation. She came here from Vietnam during that war as a refugee. Got married, raised 3 sons, now all professionals (2 doctors and a dentist), lost her husband some years back, retired from an accounting job (she retired at 70) and loves being outdoors. She said "If I stop moving, I'll probably die, so I keep moving..." Trust me on this, at almost 80, she can outwalk just about everyone I know. During open access in Limestone Canyon, she does the big loop, about 18 miles and 3500' of climbing. SHE IS AWESOME!!!

I now have a good friend, someone I can chat out on the trail, who is a real inspiration to me. I want to be like her when I grow up! I tend to be a shy person but find out it only takes a smile to start a conversation. Of course there are times I regret starting a conversation like with the guy on the Upper Santa Ana River Trail that kept talking about the government is manipulating the weather in order to control mankind... unfortunately I could not ride away fromt he guy and eventually lost him when I left the trail to find a bathroom... I feared he would be waiting for me so took a really long time!