#159: Rustic Canyon Hike

Rustic Canyon... It sounds lovely doesn't it? You'd never suspect there used to be a Nazi spy bunker here. Or a building completely covered inside and out with graffiti. Or mountain lions, poison oak and ticks. Or a difficult hike that will make you jump and rock scramble along a river that is impossible to cross without getting your feet soaked. There's nothing like nature to make you happy to be alive. Sitting on a sofa. Watching How I Met Your Mother. With the heater on.

There were a couple of times when I feared we wouldn't make it back by sunset, but overall we actually had a great time on this hike. The trail is a loop that took us about 3.5 hours. We parked at Will Rogers State Park off of Sunset ($12 parking fee, or park up the street for free) and grabbed a map at the guard kiosk. Then we headed to the Backbone trail.

Towards the beginning of our hike

Once you reach the sign for the Backbone trail, you will see two trails behind the sign. One trail on the left goes up a hill. The other trail on the right is the one you want to take. Look at this picture for reference:

You see that trail that goes up the hill? Don't take that one. Take the one branching off of it on the right (it's hidden by the sign in the pic).

A smogless snow-covered day in L.A.!

Keep going and about a quarter mile in, you will see an unmarked trail on the right leading down into the canyon. Take this to the river and cross it to see old buildings in various states of decay. If you go north along the river, it will take you to Camp Josepho. We didn't do this--we just went south along the river. We explored a spooky building that looked like an old barn, and a few other structures, one of which was a Nazi spy bunker.

The horse stables.. or something. The gate isn't really locked.

I think this is the old Nazi spy bunker

We also came across an awesome building completely covered in graffiti. There are some great photo opportunities here. At this point we were feeling fantastic and started talking to a couple of hikers. We asked them about the rest of the trail, and their expressions turned serious and the man glanced at my shoes. They said that they did the return trip last week and it involved lots of rock scrambling and getting your feet wet. They said that we were probably better off turning back the way we came. "Um, no way!" I thought. That would have been a tough uphill hike that would have taken 2 hours or so. We continued south along the river.

Hiking along the river. This was the easy part.

One of several "Where do you go from here?" moments

Not long into our hike, all of our feet got soaked (except Michelle's--she had fancy Gore tex boots). Dang that river's cold! Good thing we were wearing wool socks. We kept going and encountered lots of difficult stream crossings. Toward the end we did a little bit of rock scrambling as the canyon walls narrowed. It was definitely a hike to do in hiking shoes---don't do this in regular running shoes!

Ticks, Mountain Lions and Poison Oak.

Good thing we saw these signs as we were finishing the hike!

We hardly saw any people along the entire way. One couple we came across were trying to pick off lots of ticks from the guy's shirt. Another couple decided to turn back after asking us how many stream crossings there were ahead.

Never have I been so happy to see a trail marker.

As the canyon narrows, you will find a trail marker for Will Rogers on the right. Take this trail up all the way back to the parking lot.

This was probably the most difficult L.A. hike I have been on. In Mike's guide book it's listed as moderately strenuous. We had a lot of fun, but I have to admit that there were times when we were wondering whether we were still on the trail. I think that it would be best to hike this when the river is low (i.e. not two days after a storm like we did!).

Scroll down for a whole lot of pictures.

Rustic Canyon Hike

Yes, I'm stalking this house. This is the closest I've come to it. Watch out!

Mike and Michelle

Brad's tired already... little does he know what's coming next..

lunch

An old bus with a UCLA parking permit from 1969!

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#158: The Old L.A. Zoo

The forecast for this past Saturday was rain, and although there was an ominous dark cloud to the north, we decided to take our chances and head to the Old L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park. Thankfully the rain held off, and we had an awesome time exploring the nooks and crannies of the old zoo.

The zoo is spooky, sad and beautiful at the same time. The small cells made of concrete and wire must have been depressing for the animals that used to be housed here. The area is surrounded by a large grassy clearing with picnic tables, and there are even a couple of tables inside one of the larger animal enclosures. After you finish eating, you can walk up the stairs of one of the cages if you dare. (I read somewhere that people used to dump dead bodies here!)

Scary stairs that you may or may not want to go up

For a little more exploration, go up the hill to the back of the enclosures, find a spot in the chain link fence that is broken, and duck inside for an aerial view of the clearing. Here you'll find even more cages and graffiti.

Duck in here to see more of the grounds

The zoo is a little off the beaten path, so follow these directions to get there:

Coming from the South on Crystal Springs Drive (the one that is parallel to the 5 freeway), go past the road that goes to the Merry Go Round, and then take a left onto Griffith Park Drive. Go past the playground on the left and take the road that ends in a parking lot. You can park here for free and then walk up the stairs to a clearing where the old zoo is.

L.A. half stormy, half sunny. Good thing we were in the sunny part.

A giant wolfhound spotted!

Brad trying to decipher the graffiti

Have you been to the Old L.A. Zoo? What did you think about it? Leave me a comment below!

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The Simpson's List of things to do in L.A.

Thank you to Winnie L. for telling me about the Simpson's list of things to do in L.A. which appeared on a recent episode. :)

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#157: Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in Culver City offers much more than your average park. Even with a $6 parking fee, this is a park that I would come back to again and again. We came here last weekend with our hiking buddies Mike and Michelle, and although it wasn't a real "hike," we did manage to find some interesting short trails in the park.

Trying to find this hidden gem was a bit tricky, and we initially missed the turn-off. You can't see the park from the main road, but when you start seeing oil rigs, know that you're close. Once we got in, we parked in the nearest lot by the man-made lake and watched little kids feed the ducks. There was a friendly looking white duck that seemed to want to be pet, so Brad reached out his hand only to get his finger almost bitten. We also saw a majestic egret and a duck with a Russian hat on.

We then followed the path to some man-made waterfalls and streams. There were people fishing, bbq-ing and having family get-togethers all around. The path eventually led us to the community center where I grabbed a hiking map, then we continued following the road up the hill to where it dead ends at a parking lot. Once up there, we went to the right on a wide dirt road, hoping to find the trails. There are a lot of cleared areas with a wonderful view of downtown here. We saw a family picnicking and a guy taking pictures of his pee-wee herman bike leaned against a tree with the city in the background.

At the metal stake in the road that says "Warning, petroleum pipe underneath, don't dig," we turned left and continued a short ways until there was a narrow dirt trail to the left (it's the first left). We took that narrow dirt trail which ended up being Ron's Trail. Ron's Trail twists and turns along the side of a hill and overlooks Fairfax. We took that fragrant trail about 25 minutes or so until it took us back to the parking lot. It was a nice walk--perfect for people who don't want a full-out hike, but do want to be in nature for a while.

Ron's Trail

Overall, our visit took about 1.5-2 hours, but you could easily spend twice that amount of time exploring everything this park has to offer. This is also a great park for little ones and dogs on leashes.

Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area

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#156: Eagle Rock Hike

Not to be confused with Eagle Rock the city, Eagle Rock the hike is located in Topanga Canyon not far from the Red Rock Canyon trail (#151). This is a stunning, breath-taking hike that has become one of my favorites (thanks for the recommendation Dan! :) ). The cherry on the gelato sundae is Eagle Rock itself--a mammoth precipice jutting out dangerously over the canyon. It's insane. This is not for people afraid of heights!

We parked on the street just outside of the lot for free, but if that's full you can also park for a fee in the lot. There were a lot of people parked there, but there are so many trails that you can take from the trail head that the hike didn't seem overly crowded. No dogs are allowed on this hike. There is also no shade on the way to Eagle Rock, so bring protection. It took about an hour to get there. Once we were on the rock, we explored the little caves and crevices. Our expert hiking buddies Mike and Michelle were more surefooted than I was, and they went through a narrow hole to explore the other side of the rock.

Little hole for little people to climb through

Pictures don't really do the view from Eagle Rock justice. It was both beautiful and frightening. Standing on a rock shelf that was only a few feet wide and looking down made me a bit dizzy! We saw one girl almost lose her water bottle as it slipped out of her hands and skidded to a stop just inches from the cliff edge.

Outside I'm smiling but inside... *Gulp*

Instead of going back the way we came, we decided to take the Musch Trail back. It seemed a little longer, but it was shaded (yes!). There were hardly any people on it as well, so it was the perfect trip back (except for the rattle snake that eyed us). The round trip took about 3 hours including our pause on the rock.

That's Eagle Rock in the distance!

Getting closer...

Guy sunbathing on the rock

cave spray painted gold

shady Musch Trail on the way back

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