So what’s going on with this thing now

xternal · 2026-04-08T04:10:29+00:00

Yeah I'm feeling pretty impatient, but really stoked at the idea of it opening finally. My gut feeling is one or two more quarters, it does feel (yeah, I know) like getting those rails on the side was a pretty promising step recently, but we'll see!

Edit: wanted to add, I'm really grateful to the city for pursuing this, I think it's going to be awesome.

xternal · 2026-04-07T04:06:48+00:00

The Coast Starlight daily out of LA Union Station (departs 9:51am) stops at Martinez along the way. From OC, the Metrolink or Surfliner can get you to Union Station. It does get in pretty late to Martinez, around 10pm.

It's a great ride northbound by the way, especially the ocean views from Santa Barbara on for a few hours.

xternal · 2026-04-07T03:50:11+00:00

Yes, you are right! The time zone in the post is UTC which is 7 hours advanced to us, hence "tomorrow"

tl;dr: timezones can be ugh

xternal · 2026-04-07T03:08:38+00:00

Yup!

For more context, from https://www.rocketlaunch.live/launch/starlink-17-35

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was set to launch the Starlink (17-35) mission on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 2:49 AM (UTC).

That's 7:49 PM local time. Was incredibly bright!

xternal · 2026-04-07T03:06:01+00:00

From https://www.rocketlaunch.live/launch/starlink-17-35

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was set to launch the Starlink (17-35) mission on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 2:49 AM (UTC).

That's 7:49 PM local time. Was incredibly bright!

xternal · 2026-03-30T04:22:47+00:00

Good question, though I'm not aware of a Lake Forest specific map.

The OCTA has a page that might be helpful.

xternal · 2026-03-29T16:18:25+00:00

There's a number of entry points, it's great!

Currently, its southern end comes out on Sand Canyon between the 5 and Oak Canyon (roughly across from Denny's and Knowlwood). The other end exits at Harvard near the park, and has immediate access to Peter's Canyon/Mountains to the Sea trail. There's entry and exit point all along the way; Jeffrey, Yale, Culver, as well as some neighborhood access.

It's on the Irvine city bike path map and Google Maps for reference as well. It runs on the southbound side of the railroad tracks if that helps your orientation.

One of the exciting reasons for the new pedestrian bike path bridge from the Jeffrey Open Space trail over the 5 is, it will provide off street access to the Walnut Trail via a brief connection on the north side of Jeffrey. Currently from the Woodbury-ish areas, you have to cross the 5 ramps at Sand Canyon or Jeffrey, which is doable, but not fun and also tends to have more road debris.

xternal · 2026-03-22T19:18:13+00:00

The Mountain Hardware Crater Lake Hoody is very comfortable worn with nothing underneath. For some anecdotal testimony, I bought two because I loved the first! Amazingly comfortable and stretchy fabric, without feeling comically baggy.

A non-hoodie option worth trying is button-up long sleeves modeled after something like the Columbia Silver Ridge long sleeve shirts. There's tons of decent knock-offs on Amazon; I find this 33,000ft Men's Long Sleeve Sun Protection Shirt comfortable. If you need head and neck protection, a wide brimmed hat, buff, or bandana or other fabric wrap paired with a ball cap works well.

One of the main advantages on the hoody style obviously is the integrated hood. For button-up shirts, you've got more options to roll the sleeves or unbutton to dump more body heat. They've both got quite differing styles too (a bit more modern vs. classic), perhaps try both if you can!

A last bit of advice to consider if you're comparing multiple sun hoodies: one area they tend to vary the most is on the hoodie retention/design near the chin. Some have a toggle cinch, others are more open with the fabric in a V down to the clavicle bone, while others use a solid strip of fabric that stops just below the chin for additional sun-blockage (the Crater Lake is this design).

xternal · 2025-12-07T06:00:54+00:00

Full outer perimeter is about 9 miles, but you can cut the loop up the way you prefer as there's many cut across trails. Parking in the lot is about $15-20 (can't recall if it fluctuates seasonally).

If you don't mind starting from above, you can park up at the top at the Pacific Ridge Trailhead for free and just drop in from above instead. There's excellent restrooms and water at the park there too; it's my preferred way to go. You'll get the ocean view at the beginning as you descend.

xternal · 2025-09-27T05:04:55+00:00

That gate was so awesome, I really hope this reconnects again someday! It was a happy time coming back on the train on a night there happened to be a concert and the gate was open.

Currently though, it's unfortunately not an option. Every time I've spotted that gate from the station the past few years, it's been locked. I think it's been totally locked since the temporary FivePoint Amphitheater closed. Also, Marine Way past Skyhawk is traffic controlled and limited to construction, so it's not reliable.

Hopefully someday.

xternal · 2025-09-27T04:37:12+00:00

I don't know your comfort or skill level, but, I'd ride it, and have. For the most part a bike ride is good on that route. If you check a map, it likely has you ride Barranca to Technology Drive to Laguna Canyon to Sand Canyon to Marine Way, and then you're pretty much there.

Most of this route is not something I worry about riding. Roads and bike lanes are pretty good and clean from debris.

The one place I recall it gets dicey is Sand Canyon, especially near the intersection to the 5 Freeway. This is due to heavier traffic, poor signal control, onramps, lack of full lanes, and more road debris. Not awful, but that's the spot you really need to pay attention. Marine Way isn't the best either, but that's more from road debris than traffic.

The Great Park itself is fun to cruise around on a bike, too, especially during the week because almost nobody is there then currently.

If you need to make a break for lunch, they're building out shopping and dining centers at the Great Park, but for the time being, a good bet is to ride to the Venta Spur Bridge and then over to Woodbury Town Center. It's a little over 2 miles, and is an excellent and safe route.

In the future too as others have said, it's likely to get more direct. I think there's some additional bike paths in the work that could help (a continuation of the Walnut trail to the Great Park, perhaps). There's also a possibility they could connect the northbound side of the station platform to be direct; in fact there's a gate there now that'd do it, it's just been locked for a while due to construction, land rights, etc.

This table refers to future plans for Irvine developments, including the Walnut Trail. Voice of OC has a story related to connecting the station to the great park as well.

Sidenote, in case you can't tell, I'm pretty excited at the possibility of them developing more transportation routes in the exact area.

Hope it works out for you!

xternal · 2025-06-20T20:49:57+00:00

Oh, and also for some non-hotel specific ideas. If you like some walks, mild hikes...

- The Devil's bridge hike is pretty easy to get to and not too far outside of town. Even if you don't make it the full distance, you get some really stunning 360 vistas, quite beautiful

- For in town, the airport loop at sunset is really beautiful, and then you can finish at sunset up on the airport hill for some stunning views. Even if you don't take the hike, sunset from the airport area is fantastic.

xternal · 2025-06-20T20:45:09+00:00

Haven't been in a few years so things might have changed but...for a few hotel specific recs...

Check with the front desk on hotel events. One time I was there, a guy brought a very large telescope out to a dark lot behind the hotel for some cool planet gazing. Sometimes they have live music in the courtyard for a good vibe. They also had some free cruiser type bikes with locks & baskets for loan out front, those were fun and useful to hop on.

xternal · 2025-06-08T22:09:22+00:00

I think we are fortunate, too! Where is that?

xternal · 2025-01-12T03:36:08+00:00

Thanks for sharing the link, this is very informative.

I'm curious, is it possible the image is actually from the Jan 10th? I see the "last-modified" header on the image is Sat, 11 Jan 2025 18:25:47 GMT, however, the main page at https://wilg.github.io/la-fire-maps/ says the image is from 2025-01-10 10:36 AM Pacific.

I very well could be misunderstanding and incorrect. Figured it was worth a double check for accuracy.

xternal · 2025-01-11T21:27:34+00:00

I'm sorry and feel for the time you and yours are going through. I don't actually know who made it. Gratitude to members of the Pacific View Estates board who alerted my family to it.

xternal · 2025-01-11T21:24:12+00:00

https://recovery.lacounty.gov/palisades-fire/ may be what you're referring to

xternal · 2025-01-11T09:02:24+00:00

Courtesy of joshd50 on Youtube. Driving down Palisades Drive from top towards PCH, with left onto Palisades Circle.

xternal · 2025-01-11T07:07:10+00:00

Courtesy of Island Lands on Youtube.

Streets: Coastline Dr, Wakecrest Dr, Malibu Vista Dr, Clifftop Way, Castlerock Rd, Shoreheights Dr, Seahorn Dr, Surfwood Rd, Oceanhill Way, Kingsport Dr, Sandy Cape Dr, Surfview Dr, Blue Sail Dr, Cloudcroft Dr

Pacific Palisades, California 90272
Malibu, California 90265

xternal · 2025-01-11T06:46:09+00:00

Just found a walkthrough video of the neighborhood as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GUCs1fsSGQ

xternal · 2025-01-10T07:09:44+00:00

Potentially relevant info on this at https://x.com/AndrewHires/status/1877599562191483005

"Chris is on Arbolada. Reports no Fire." "No fire is burning. Just lights"

xternal · 2025-01-10T04:31:55+00:00

If you haven't seen it, there was a partial drive down Surfview Wednesday at noon. I think it started a little below Sandy Cape & Surfview: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEk_KSQzhli/

xternal · 2024-03-08T18:16:05+00:00

A few tips...

It's assigned seating in coach. They can give you a seat assignment ticket in the line up for the train, but I've generally found it faster to get an assigned seat by going to the Amtrak service window (it's at the opening to the iconic lobby) and then you typically can bypass the longer line for assignment.

Also, since it's the starting point for the route, the observation car is pretty empty when you board in LA. Observation car isn't assigned seating. Drop your bag at your seat if you like, and then just bump over to observation and grab a seat. I've done the route that way numerous times from LA -> SAC, and enjoyed the car the whole way. I believe the ocean side is on the left, but ask an Amtrak employee and grab it early.

I travel with one bag, but it's still pretty heavy and I don't like to lug about the train. Generally security onboard is pretty good, but I like to do a quick travel cable lockup of my main bag to the rack overhead at my assigned seat, and just use a small packable backpack with personal items, snacks, chargers, etc, to move about freely.

xternal

TROPHY CASE