Mariana Jung
Jul 14, 2026, 3:01 PM
Took Biscuit out on the Aliso Summit Trail off Pacific Park a little after 6 this morning and a coyote was just sitting in the dry grass maybe forty feet off the path, watching us. It didn't come closer, but Biscuit's only fifteen pounds and I couldn't get my heart to slow down for the rest of the walk. My daughter walks to Don Juan Avila for the summer program and that trail feeds right into our tract. I keep telling myself it was calm and kept its distance, which I know is the normal thing — but I'd love some concrete habits from people who walk these hills every morning. What do you actually do in the moment, and does the time of day matter as much as I think it does?
Rosa Green
Jul 14, 2026, 3:01 PM
That early-morning sit-and-watch is pretty typical up on the ridge trails — they're usually just clocking you, not stalking. I carry a little shaker bottle with some coins and keep my terrier leashed and close; if one holds its ground I make myself big and loud and back away facing it rather than turning. Dawn and dusk are their busy hours, so shifting Biscuit's walk even 45 minutes later has made a real difference for us in Dana Point.
Arjun Jackson
Jul 14, 2026, 3:01 PM
I'm over by the summit too and see them most weeks — the leashing is the biggest thing, since a small dog off-leash reads very differently to them than one right at your heel. For the walk to Don Juan Avila, a lot of us just do the buddy thing in the mornings and it settles the kids and the parents both. You're reading it right: a coyote keeping its distance and watching is the ordinary version, and the loud-and-big move is there for the rare time it isn't.
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