China Flats morning hike

Well, I've been looking forward to hiking this with my uncle for a couple years now, but it seems like every time I'm in town he's out.  He showed me the route the other day (from ground level) so since this is my last morning in town I thought I'd head up there on my own (he's camping in the Sierras with his regular crew).  A lot of trails that looked really interesting but I was trying to do a loop and get back at a reasonable hour as my brother and I will be hitting the surf for the last time this trip this afternoon, so here's a few shots of the hike as I made it:

The view back down the hill as I climbed:

Finally, the reason that this was a part of the Simi Ranch.  Ranchable property on the back side of the hill.

Simi Valley from the top:

Me squinting into the morning sun with the view to the south west in the background.  Sort of.  Taking pictures of yourself and getting much useful in the pictures is a skill I have not developed.

Very nice hike.  I got "lost" a couple times and had to backtrack.  I put lost in quotes because I knew where I was but I just wasn't sure which trail to take.  I will definitely head back up and explore more on future trips.