September Sundays In Southern California

Southern California Sundays
A week ago at Dana Point Harbor in Orange County

Watching the J24's come back into the harbor from their regatta while sipping one of these

Then yesterday back to the hiking trail in the Santa Monica Mountains

 

From Brentwood, four miles predominantly up to the ranger station on Mulholland Drive where you can see from the north San Fernando Valley to the peaks of the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Then four miles predominantly down...thank god.

There's not much to admire in the landscape of the late California summer. Most of the green is gone.  Which is just as well, because I'm not admiring the view. I hike mostly with my eyes focused on the trail, on the lookout for snakes, dodging out of control mountain bikers, ipod on listening to an audio book.

Hiking With My Hero

Perfect weather seems to have finally arrived.
Yesterday it was about 85 degrees with a cloudless sky, perfect for a hike in the hills.
Since my hiking partner was busy I was happy go alone with my ipod and finish listening to the last chapter and epilogue of "Churchill" by Paul Johnson.
I am fascinated by Winston Churchill and all that he accomplished. Fifty-five years in the House of Commons, 9 years as Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, soldier, war correspondent, polo player, orator, painter, historian, whiskey drinker, savior of the Western World.
Seriously, is there anything this man couldn't do?

I stopped a few times to look at the wild flowers in bloom

Strangely, I only saw one California poppy plant, the flower that California is famous for.

Because it was so clear, the view was outstanding, from Catalina island, to Palos Verdes, to Long Beach, to Saddleback Mountain, to downtown LA. I could even see the snow capped mountains.

Yesterday was literally one of those days where you could have surfed in the morning in Malibu and skied in the afternoon at Mountain High.
Yeah, LA is a pretty amazing place.

This is the nicest time to hike in the hills because soon it will be too hot and dry

and fire weather will be upon us.

Paul Johnson's Churchill, like all of Johnson's books, was excellent and I recommend it to you. Also, if you haven't already read it, I suggest that you read the two volume "The Last Lion" by William Manchester.

Visions of Glory by William Manchester
and

Alone by William Manchester

And, if you don't have the time or inclination to read the Manchester oeuvre, at least read these famous Churchill quotes because he said so many brilliant things.

"Lady Astor: Winston, if you were my husband I would poison your tea

Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."

I have more to write about Churchill, but I'll save that for a future post.

Around Town - Holiday Hiking - Sun and Snakes

Another thing to love about LA

This lovely trail...only a few miles from where I live

Cool and quiet, it seems like a million miles away.....not part of bustling Brentwood only minutes from the beach.

Summer has definitely arrived...Today I saw my first snake of the season which appeared to be a small rattlesnake sunning itself in the middle of the fire road.

Note to self: keep a couple of small rocks in my pocket to throw near snakes to gently encourage them to slither into the brush.

Adventures in Hiking or Excitement Follows Me Everywhere

One of my favorite things about living in Los Angeles, a concrete jungle of sorts, is the accessibility of hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains.
The view from Santa Monica Mountains may not as stunning as an Alpine vista with a crystal colored glacial lake, but I enjoy getting to the top of the trail where you can see from the San Fernando Valley to downtown LA and snow capped mountains beyond, and from the South Bay coastline to Palos Verdes and all the way to Catalina.

So the weather today, being fresh, was perfect for a hike.
Unfortunately, my regular hiking partner was off fulfilling her pagan need of buying a Christmas tree, or some such nonsense, so I took my four footed friend for company.

Instead of taking the regular fire road today, I decided to take the much more challenging foot trail along the ridge.

Everything was perfectly lovely until I found myself on an steep upward path and turned around to see a pit bull off leash about 100 yards away.
Now I like animals and have a reasonably high comfort level with dogs. But, when the pit bull saw my pet, it took off towards us. And I'm not talking about taking off on a little trot or canter. The dog was coming after us at a full scale, all legs off the ground, gallop.

So what am I supposed to do? Show a sign of weakness by trying to run up the hill away from the galloping beast? No way.
So, I stood there and held my ground...

At this point I was thinking that I was going to get seriously schooled in a lesson in "nature versus nurture". While I generally agree, in the abstract, with the concept "there are no bad dogs, only bad owners" what was going through my mind was a vision of pit bull versus doberman pincher. Not a pretty picture.

When the pit bull reached the point of about 12 feet away I yelled at it to sit...in my alpha dog voice. It slowed slightly, but kept coming to within about a two feet away of where I was standing and I continued to yell at the dog to sit.

It had a look on it's face that it wanted to tear out my throat, but it stayed about a foot and a half away...snarling.
Meanwhile, my little pet was actually sitting behind me. (She's not the brightest canine in the pact, but she does understand the sit command)

After a couple of minutes, the dog's owner, who had been calling for the pit bull, succeeded in getting it to retreat. From there she leashed her dog and went back down the hill.

And the pooch and I continued our hike.
(This is a stock photo, not a picture of my dog, who actually sports a pink collar with hearts)

I guess it's official now...I've gone over the edge.

I'm home alone on a Saturday night...dog blogging. It's a slippery slope.....and all downhill from here.