Nature Week, part 2

The second nature excursion of the Pacific Bureau of the UGC was to Topanga State Park, also known as 11,000 acres of awesomeness within the city limits of Los Angeles (crazy, right?). It was sort of an accidental excursion, but hey, that still counts.

I found some random parking and set off down the trail, and within minutes I had my first wildlife encounter. Thankfully, it was far more docile than the initial encounter in Part 1, but it was still exciting. I even flagged down a passing hiker to point it out to him, but he was totally unimpressed. Regardless, here's what I saw:


There were six of them, these mule deer, and appropriately enough, they were sleeker and better-groomed than the mule deer I saw in Colorado. In fact, I could have sworn they were even a little bit more tan. This is SoCal, after all!


And while I was standing there, staring at them and making them alittle bit uncomfortable, a little lizard showed up on the fence in front of me, begging for attention. I took a picture, then politely dismissed him. He probably thought I was a Somebody. Joke's on you, bucko!


This park is full of the coolest trees. Saying that just made me feel like a complete nerd. It's true, though! And different terrains had different kinds. This one was in a wide valley, and it looked like it belonged in the middle of a savanna. It also looked like it would be a lot of fun to climb.

I made my way over to the main trail system, and started up the ridge toward Eagle Rock. The sign said it was a two mile hike, so I figured it would be a nice, pleasant stroll - nothing too intense. Even from partway up the first rise, the view of the valley below was just lovely, and the whole scene was incredibly peaceful.

And looking south, I could see the Palisades, and the Pacific beyond it.

Ok, so it was a little hazy, but it was still pretty nice.

After a while, though, I started to wonder if I'd missed the Eagle Rock. Sure, I know that walking is a lot slower on uphill gravel paths than on the flat sidewalks I'm used to, but still. Come on now. And since it was early afternoon, it was also starting to get hot. I started thinking that around each bend in the path, or just over each rise, I'd see the damn rock and get to go home, but no. More path.

There were a few flowers, and I did see two flocks of some sort of pheasant-related bird take off (way too quickly for me to get a photo), but no eagles, and no Eagle Rock. Just when I'd made up my mind to turn back, I walked another five minutes and finally, blissfully, saw this sign:

The sign failed to mention in that little arrow that it was ten very steep minutes in front of me, but I do appreciate its conciseness. And during that steep jaunt, I did stop once or twice to stare at the ground, not in defeat, but because of a proliferation of these:

They were like a cross between crop circles and finger prints, only more unusual because they were in the bare rock of the path, and only in one particular stretch of the trail. If I ever have a patio, I'd love to have these things carved all over the place.

In any case, at long, long last, I turned a corner and caught a glimpse of the infamous Eagle Rock.


Exciting, I know. But when I finally made my way up to the top of the rock, I felt like I could see the whole state of California.
Whilst up there, I also took the opportunity to look back at the trail I'd taken to get up there, and got this shot:

Since it really was such a lovely day, I spent a few minutes at the summit just soaking it all in, then headed back down. On the way, I saw a really lovely grove of trees that would be perfect for a picnic, a terrifying gigantic beetle, and two more deer, but Blogger seems to think I've hit my limit for number of photos per post. Jerks.

In any case, tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Nature Week, in which I attempt a Very Bad Idea, and get frightened by frogs.


View Full Post

Nature Week, part 1

It's Nature Week here in the Pacific Bureau of the UGC, and you know what that means: boring photos from an experience that only one person could ever find interesting! Woooo!

Our first installment is from Griffith Park, the 4,210-acre park right smack in the middle of Los Angeles. How could this possibly qualify? Read on...



Coyote. That's how. It was just meant to be a workout excursion, but as I was pulling into the parking lot I saw this:
Ok, so maybe it's just a dog. A dog with really big coyote ears. A dog with really big coyote ears and a coyote face. Sure! Why not? After all, it was hanging out in a dog park area, and people in this city do tend to own all manner of crazy designer breeds. Maybe it...

AAAAAAAAAAUGH! WOLF!! Do you see that tail?! What the hell is that thing?? Do we have wolverines here? WTF! Definitely a coyote. Crazytalk.

Ok, so with my car parked a safe 10,000 miles away from the carnivorous wildlife, I headed up a nicely-groomed trail and encountered this warning sign:

Oh great! Two more lethal types of wild animal to worry about! I thought I was going on a hike, but maybe now I'll just run for my life. That sounds like a good cardio workout.

But there were no mountain lions or rattlesnakes on the main trail, so my pulse stayed disappointingly low and I started to get bored of the nicely-groomed and rather flat path. As I rounded a corner, though, I saw a promising side trail that only looked like a Fairly Bad Idea.


Sure, it looks a little tough, what with the lack of switchbacks and all, but I do love scrambling up a hill, and this one might be just the antidote I needed on this otherwise-boring walk. Who knows, maybe there will even be something with fangs up there, but at like a safe distance so it's roller-coaster scary, not mugger scary. That would be awesome! Sign me up.

Of course, then I went a little farther along the path and the Fairly Bad Idea started looking a bit more like a garden variety Bad Idea.

Delightful.

See, when it comes to this sort of thing, I'll almost always go for a Fairly Bad Idea, but I'm only about 50% with regular Bad Ideas. Sure, I have health insurance now, but I wasn't getting good cell phone reception up there in the hills and there really weren't very many other hikers out and about at that hour in the middle of the week. And then I got even closer, and the Bad Idea turned out to be a Really Bad Idea.


And while there's still a half a chance I'll go for a Bad Idea, I will not go for a Really Bad Idea, unless for some reason I have a choice between a Really Bad Idea and, say, a mountain lion that's threatening me with a rattlesnake while a coyote waits to tag in to the fight. Not cool, guys, not cool. That path looks an awful lot like it actually just goes straight up the side of the hill, and when I finally got to the bottom of that death path, it was confirmed.

The so-called path looked more like an erosion problem that happened to have a few footprints in it, and while I might have been able to scramble up it (if chased by three unruly carnivores), getting back down again would have been a whole other problem. And you know what I have to say to that? Something unprintable, that's what.

So instead, I turned around and headed over to a different part of the park, and did some Fairly Bad Idea climbing to get up to the highest point in the park, Mt. Hollywood (elev. 1625 feet). Now THAT will get the blood moving! It wasn't exactly a clear day in Los Angeles, but I still got a pleasant view of the Griffith Observatory and downtown.


That's it for today, folks. Tune in tomorrow for more wilderness adventures and close encounters with (far less scary) wildlife!
View Full Post