This morning we decided we wanted to do something different, a hike, so we drove to Cleveland National Forest at the end of Silverado Canyon, one of our favorite routes when riding our scooters. We were surprised to find the trail head there closed to the public because of dry brush and fire danger. (You may see my Sept 13, 2014 posting about a major fire in that area of Silverado Canyon.)  Disappointed and wondering where else we could go, we spoke to a woman cyclist and told her of our dilemma. She told us of another hiking trail in nearby Black Star Canyon. We’ve lived in this area of Southern California since 1977, but had never been to that particular canyon. Before long we were on our hike there. It was wonderful. Above you can see my husband, Martin, thoroughly enjoying the surroundings. We saw the above Mountain Lion warning as we started up the trail, but we’re used to seeing such signage in the more open and uninhabited areas of California. There were quite a few hikers on the trail, plus mountain bikers, so chances were slim that we would encounter a mountain lion. Plus there were two of us, an added safety benefit. Here I’m enjoying a bit of shade and a drink of water. We had started out later than planned, and it was getting quite warm. We hiked inland for just over an hour, but it took less time to hike back because it was mostly downhill. We were glad we had taken plenty of water with us, had applied sun screen, and were wearing wide brimmed hats!I want to share one more photo with you, so you can see just how dry the brush is on the both sides of the trail.  Black Star Canyon was truly a find, and we plan to go back again soon, but next time we’ll start out earlier in the day and go a little farther up the trail.