l.a. day

hiked most of mount wilson trail this past weekend. my legs are a little unhappy, but the hike was great. reminded me a lot of the trails above santa barbara. the first section is pretty much exposed cutbacks in scrub with a few oaks here and there. offers a few views of the san gabriel valley and beyond, if the air is clear enough. staring back at the valley floor below, i noticed the 10 highway winding eastward and a parking lot filled with cars, the sunlight shivering on their windshields. i could almost picture the vista without humanity's touch, a giant basin sloping gently down to the sea. i hit the next section in the early afternoon, which was great. the trail ducks along an east-facing slope, giving me a break from the sun. after another two miles or so, i hit orchard camp, a nice little glen alongside the creek. but i was thinking about making it to the top and didn't want to slow down. another few miles into the hike and i decided to turn back. i estimate i was only a short distance from manzanita ridge, but i had to be back by a certain time so people wouldn't be worried. i ran most of the way back down and ended up with plenty of time to spare.

on the drive back to westwood, i tried to imagine seeing los angeles and its labyrinth of highways for the first time. it seemed so overwhelmingly depressing at first, the neverending concrete construction barriers, the constant traffic, the drab buildings jutting above the sound wall. but small instances of beauty filtered through: on a rise in the highway, the red and white lights of traffic spread out ahead like a jeweled carpet; the tram near the getty center glowed like a fluorescent inchworm as it wound its way along the hillside; the towering buildings along the wilshire corridor glimmered with a patchwork of lit and unlit windows. despite the bad air, the angry drivers, the immense sprawl of the place, i had to admit some small affinity for los angeles in those moments.