So I went hiking today in Solstice Canyon in Malibu, a nice park right on the coast, since I got an urge to go out without dying due to heatstroke in the valley (temps today were over 100 degrees, and in true southern California fashion it was a nice 85 degrees on the coast).

I had a great time, ran into someone I hadn't seen since high school that I had briefly dated *weiiiird* and saw some critters too. I spotted a couple of California Newts, which are, as I understand, a threatened state protected species. Not long after that, I saw a few deer grazing off the trail- and I've never seen deer at Solstice Canyon before.

The highlight of the trip, however, was the squirrel that kept following me. He (or she?) seemed intrigued by my camera (shiny!!!) and started following me along the trail, jumping from tree to tree. Unless my ex decided to pull a cruel prank on me by stuffing my backpack full of peanuts while I wasn't looking, it seemed pretty inexplicable. At least I managed to snap a few pics of him before he at last got distracted by a walnut tree off the trail.

Here's the little guy checking out my camera:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v.....Squirrelly.jpg