Inspiration Point
Posted on: May 20, 2013
Hooray! I made it!
So, from the last post, I told you that I was determined to get to Inspiration point this weekend. The trail to Inspiration Point was an additional 2.25 miles on top of the 3 it takes to get to the Cobb Estate.
The trail we went up to was intense. The incline got high really quick, and you had to walk next to a hive of aggressive bees. I’ve never been stung, so my fear of being allergic is very strong. I luckily evaded being stung, my friend was not so lucky. She was stung in the face.
When you get to the top, it’s a magnificent view.
You’re so high, you can’t hear any city noise, just the birds flying by you, and the other troopers that made it up to this point. The telescopes were just metal pipes in the direction of the location stated.
We stayed up here for about an hour, it was too gorgeous to leave. On the way back we took the Sam Merrill trail down, didn’t want to push my luck twice with the bees. I feel accomplished that I did this hike. I would do it again, maybe in a couple of months. It’s about 10-11 miles round trip so this is an all day trip.
Well, until next time, I hope you have a great day!
Cobb Estate
Posted on: May 15, 2013
I’m going to start by telling you that I got yelled at by a lot of people for doing this hike. Not because it’s dangerous, not because I’m not fit, but because I decided to do it alone in the middle of the day when the heat was a killer.
They may have been right. I got lost, really lost. I had to back track twice, but hey, I’m here and writing this post so it couldn’t have been THAT horrible of an idea right?
I’m not exactly sure what the story of the Cobb Estate is, it seemed like a hotel at one point, then it was bought by the Marx Brothers. You hike about 3 miles, and then come to a fork. Make sure you go right, don’t go left like I initially did. You won’t really see anything but signs about an old railway that ran along the mountains.
When you actually get to the remains of the Cobb Estate, it’s awesome. The stairs are still there, the foundation still there…you just imagine what it looked like and how great of a view the guests had when they stayed here.
I was a little bummed that I got lost because I originally wanted to get up to Inspiration Point, but I’m going back this weekend to get there. I’m not going to get lost, I actually know my way. So I guess you’ll know what my next post will be.
This hike should have been only 6 miles but with my detours, I wound up hiking 10 miles round trip . I ran out of water by the 2nd mile and food by the third. If this was a survival situation, I would have been a goner (Bear Grylls I am not). This weekend I will be more prepared. Well, until next time, hope you guys have a great day!
Angels Flight Railway
Posted on: April 26, 2013
Welcome to “The Shortest Railway in the World”. With a reputation like that, I knew this was one place I had to add on my LA Bucket List. If it says anthing with “_____ in the world”, hook line and sinker…I’m in.
Located in Downtown LA on South Hill Street (for bottom entrance) and South Grand Avenue (for upper entrance), you can take this baby one way for 50 cents, round trip for a dollar! Who says you can’t buy anything with a dollar anymore? Give your glutes a rest and let Olivet or Sinai (yes, the cars have names) take you up.
At the very top you are greeted with a panoramic view of Downtown and the gorgeous California Plaza. Standing up at the top, I felt like I lived in a real city. A city with a past, a city with history, a city with diversity and culture. Things that I found lacking growing up in San Diego. You look at the buildings and they mirror a time that once existed but holding their own in this modern age.
There’s so many things to discover about this city, and everytime I cross something off, all I can this is just how much I’m starting to fall in love with LA. Why did I spend so many years despising a city that I hadn’t truly gotten to know? LA gets a bit of a bad repuation for being superficial, materialistic and overpopulated. But if you can look beyond that, you’ll see what I see and find a place for LA in your heart like I have. Well, until next time, I hope you all have a great day.
I couldn’t think of a clever name for this entry. I could call it Venice but Venice was just the beginning. Regardless, Saturday morning my friend, Melissa, came up from San Diego and we walked 12 miles. 12 miles! One mile short of a half marathon. We love walking so this wan’t anything out of the ordinary.
Our first destination was Venice. This was my first time being at the famous Venice beach and it was as entertaining as movies make it seem to be.
The skatepark was awesome, I could spend hours watching skaters do tricks all day. The boardwalk was lined with vendors and street performers. It gets a little overwhelming but I couldn’t help but smile thinking “Wow, I can’t believe I live here.”
One item I really wanted to check out in Venice was the Binocular Building. Another Frank Gehry creation. That man, I would love to be inside his brain when he’s creating. That thought process must be very entertaining.
From Venice we walked Main Street and got into Santa Monica.
I’ve been to Santa Monica so many times but still love it, can’t get bored with it. You have a little bit of everything; from the Pier, 3rd Street Promenade and Montana, you’ll be please no matter what.
The following day we went to Melrose and Downtown. I got to cross of the Angel Flight Railway off my Los Angeles Bucket list, more of that to come in my next post.
Murphy Ranch
Posted on: April 19, 2013
I love hiking. I especially love hiking when it ends at a cool site like a waterfall, or in this case, the abandoned Los Angeles Natzi Compound.
The hike itself was pretty easy, according to my GPS app, I hiked about 5 miles. To get to the good part, you walk about a mile and see an opening in a gate, or go further and walk another half mile where you will see an iron gate. Both directions will take you to the final destination.
I opted for the opening in the gate, which I named, The Path of the Never Ending Stairs. I think I read somewhere that there were 300 steps, I believe it. I thought I was never going to see a flat surface again. We took a right after the stairs, then turned left at the fork where we were greeted by an abandoned shack.
This is the part where my stubborness came in handy, you have to keep going after the shack. It seems like there’s nothing after the shack but oh, you would be wrong. Just follow the red markers on the trees and it will verify you are on the right path. About 5 minutes, you’ll see a huge cactus and a little behind that is a rusted arch way, attached to a building that is completely in ruins.
A couple of step and ta-da! The brick building now fully covered in graffiti. It’s very creepy. Empty, covered in spray paint, it’s hard to imagine what it looked like before it was abandoned.
This was such a fun hike, you got everything. A great view of the Santa Monica mountains on the way up, a little bit of nature and just the perfect amount of historic creepiness to keep you entertained.
I can’t wait to take my friends here, definitley something to check out. Rumor has it, the City of LA purchased the land and there are talks of destroying it.
Melrose Trading Post
Posted on: March 5, 2013
I’ve already displayed my love of flea markets in my post about the Rose Bowl Flea Market, but hell, what’s another.
Melrose Trading Post, or Fairfax Flea Market, is held every Sunday. Though it’s not as big as the one at the Rose Bowl, this one gets your fix in.
They do a great mixture of vintage items (like the spindle above) to local designers (like the Poe and Panda shirt below).
I do circles at the place because you can’t see everything in one run through (that, or they hide stuff and bring it out later). The flea market starts at 9, getting early is definitely recommended. I’ve been there later in the day and the pickings are slim. The one thing I like about this flea market as opposed to the one in Pasadena is that this is weekly…sometimes you need your fix of vintage finds more than once a month.
Even if you go with an empty wallet (actually make sure you have $2 for the admission), you would still have a great time looking at some of the items being sold. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see the oversized male denim thong this past visit. I’m wondering who bought that gem. Well, until next time, hope you have a great day!
Endevour
Posted on: February 25, 2013
Space…the final frontier…until you retire and they place you in a museum.
This weekend my Mom came up and we went to check out the space shuttle Endevour. It was amazing!
The exhibit included a little behind the scenes of what it is like to live in space. Have you seen the toilet on a space shuttle? It’s pretty interesting, and without going into gross details, when going to the bathroom in zero gravity, it’s all about alignment.
The shuttle itself leaves you speechless. To think, you’re inches from something that’s been out in space. It’s really something to think about.
The museum itself had many other exhibits, mostly geared towards kids. One area I enjoyed was the Kelp Forest. I’ve always wanted to be a mermaid so going through a tunnel under water was probably the closest thing I’d get to breathing under water.
I need to get to more museums, I think the Natural History Museum is going to be next on my list. Well, until next time, I hope you all have a great day.
Ps.
For a more current feed of what I’m doing, follow me on Instagram. Username: JacklynK
