Mt. Baldy via Old Baldy Trail

There are several routes up Mt. San Antonio, but none as punishing as the Old Baldy Trail. The trailhead is located about 3/4 mile up a paved road behind the Ranger Station in Baldy Village. There are some National Forest Cabins to look at and the largest Lodgepole Pine in the world near the top of the road in some lucky individual's front yard. A creek runs through this canyon year round, and the road is shaded the entire way up. At the end of the road, the trailhead begins with some easy switchbacks through a shaded canyon with plenty of old oak trees and assorted wildflowers. You begin to see huge views after about a mile or so, and eventually you get to a campground situated among pines and yucca. The water source at this campground is the last one on the trail to the summit of San Antonio. Use a filter or risk intestinal infection. Now is when the true hike begins! You will rapidly ascend a series of steeper switchbacks. The trail is no longer shaded, but fully exposed. Yucca, wildflowers, contorted pines, chaparral, and some very cool rock formations await you at every turn. Raven and blue jays abound. This ascent continues for a while and eventually you will be able to see Twin Peaks, and the summit. There is a more narrow area, and some great views. The way down is significantly shorter if you run carefully down the same trail. It is like running in heaven. Mt. San Antonio is not a mountain to be fucked with lightly and the numerous annual fatalities documented in the local paper will attest to that. Take a jacket, a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, food and as many of the other 10 essentials that you can get into your pack. This is a difficult hike by any standards and has a lot of elevation gain. The trail is clearly marked during three seasons. If you decide to come here in the Winter and tackle this trail, keep in mind that it is a dangerous alpine environment and you should proceed accordingly.

Rivas Canyon

The Rivas Canyon Trail stretches from Will Rogers State park to Temescal Gateway Park and is about 2.5 miles long. You catch it just to the left of the sign at the front of the park behind the Ranger's houses. When you get down the first wooden stair case, walk across the parking lot. The trail goes through a shaded oak grove for the first mile. Some of those beautiful trees are at least 200 years old. There are several side trails that are accessible from Rivas Canyon, such as the Temescal Peak Trail that eventually runs into the Backbone Trail about a half a mile from the lone oak tree in Topanga State Park. The Temescal Peak hike loop (about 12 miles) is pretty strenuous, but the Rivas Canyon Trail is easy to moderate and is a nice place to take small children. The views from the Rivas Canyon Trail are fantastic, especially when you get to the top of the brief switchbacks at about the middle of the trail. The Pacific and the entire Santa Monica Bay are visible as well as Temescal and Santa Monica canyons. This trail is a great introduction to the Santa Monica Mountains. The Temescal Peak loop took my wife and I a little over two hours running. The rain started in earnest once we got to the top of Temescal Peak and continued until we finished. The dynamics of the clouds and the rain along with the abundant red, yellow, purple, and blue wildflowers made for an unforgettable run. While the end of the Persian New Year brought more guests to Will Rogers Park than I have ever seen in my life, we only saw four other people on the trail. I was touched that a kind woman took the time to tell us about her New Year celebration and how in happier times she hiked for miles and miles in the mountains surrounding Terhan. Happy Easter. Happy Norwuz. Happy Passover. Happy Trails.

Griffith Park Observatory Hike

You can turn your life around on this trail. You can turn your un-healthy body into a toned, well oiled machine in about a year's time. It only requires that you do this hike five to seven days a week and some modification of your diet. Almost anyone can do it. My wife and I are living proof. Since 4/11, we have lost a total of 60 pounds between us by following this simple program. We had some major motivation to begin after my wife had a tumor removed from her abdomen 1/11 which we attributed to our unhealthy lifestyle. In the beginning, I felt like I was about to die by the time I got up the first hill. By the time I got to the observatory, my body was stinging, and my lungs were heaving up mucus. I had to hit the albuterol inhaler to continue, as sweat poured from my body. By week three, I was feeling better. It helped that I stopped eating most dairy, meat, narcotic painkillers, and processed foods. I also stopped drinking alcohol and began to curtail the large amount of marijuana that I had been smoking on a daily basis for the last fifteen years. I switched to edibles and vastly increased my lung capacity and my capacity to do this hike. Fast. I have found that the feeling I get from regular exercise has solved 85% of my problems. I am only sorry that it took me 45 years to figure it out. Your results may vary, but not by much I suspect. Eventually, I started to seek out other places to hike. I re-discovered all of these wonderful places from my childhood such as Will Rogers, Topanga, Brand Park, Baldy, and San Gorgonio. My brother Paul convinced me to run down the hill on the Sam Merrill Trail in Altadena 2/12. I ran down every hill I hiked up thereafter and then started to run up. I am now running about 60 miles a week and sometimes many more. If you would have told me I would have been trail running 3 years ago, I would have taken another sip of beer and laughed my ass off. Since I began, I have gone out rain or shine, and have missed less than a dozen days. I have missed work more that I ever had in the past because the shittiest day hiking is better than the best day working. I notice several ads for fitness centers this January, and can say with a great deal of happiness that these places have nothing on this beautiful hike. Taking one or two hours to run on this trail will make the other 22 hours in your day run much more smoothly. I can't promise that you will get the same results, but face it, you have nothing to lose by trying. And you can't beat the price.

Topanga State Park

Topanga State Park encompasses nearly 40 square miles, and is the largest wilderness park inside of a major city. There are dozens of entrances, and to properly explore the Park, one would need at least a full year. I recommend getting a Tom Harrison Topographical Map of the Park if you are truly interested, even though it does not have a comprehensive list of all the trails. The park stretches across the Santa Monica Mountains from the Pacific Ocean, all the way down Sunset Blvd. past Will Rogers State Park and clear up to Encino. There are mountain lion in the park which you will probably never see, but what you will see are a hell of a lot of raptors. Primarily Red Tailed Hawk and White Tailed Kite. Additionally, there are hundreds of pair of beautiful ravens, crows, swifts, and scrub jays. There is a healthy rodent population, and during the summer, you are almost guaranteed a rattlesnake sighting if you go to the right places. Deer abound in the park and are not the slightest bit timid. The chaparral, oaks, wildflowers and other native plants are subtly beautiful during all four seasons. I like Winter the best, because this Park gets pretty hot during the Summer and if you are running long distances, the heat will surely sap your endurance. I recommend accessing Topanga State Park either through the gateway at Will Rogers via the Backbone Trail or from Topanga State Beach. In any event, I am sure you will appreciate the views of the Pacific Ocean, Catalina and Anacapa Islands, the Los Angeles Basin and Mt. San Antonio and San Gorgonio on a clear day. A true five star gem.