Sandstone Peak Trek Report

The week of January 18th can be summed up in one word: WET. It rained almost nonstop from Monday to Friday, turning freeways into rivers and the Los Angeles River, which normally is more of a graffiti artist’s dry canvas than a river, into a raging waterway bloated with debris, dogs, and dramatic anglers.  But rumors started to spread about clouds possibly parting and the sun supposedly shining by Saturday.  Rejoice!  Angelinos began to prepare for the return of good weather by packing their daypacks and studying their topo maps.  I discussed hiking options with my friends, Casey (a.k.a Modern Hiker), Shawnté and Rebecca (a.k.a. Team What Would Ed Do?)  By Thursday night, we had our game plan: A hike to Sandstone Peak.

The rain was still falling late into Friday night.  Would it ever end?  Alas, when Los Angeles awoke on Saturday morn, it was if we were Dorothy walking out of her mobile home and into the land of Oz, revealing a colorful world almost forgotten in time.  The skies were deep blue and cloud free.  Colorful birds had come out of hiding and sung to anyone who would listen.  And the mountains – oh those gorgeous mountains!  Every range in the Los Angeles area – the San Rafael, Santa Susana, Santa Monica, San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains – were capped in snow, something I’ve never seen in 17 years of living in the area.

At 10am, the four of us met in the Santa Monica Mountains, ready to spend the day hiking.  And hiking we did.  We hiked down the Mishe Mokwa Trail, over streams that flowed in areas people forgot were stream beds.  We hiked past the Echo Cliffs which wept with rain water, forming a few beautiful waterfalls.  The heavy rains from the previous week had brought with it the gift of life. Vines had snaked and curled around tree branches and mushrooms had popped out of the sandy soil.  We found a sprinkling of shooting star flowers along the trail, their blue and yellow petals in contrast to the green mountain grass.  The power of water had also caused some damage to the area, tearing gashes into the trail and washing soil off of slabs of rock that had never saw the light of day.

As the day went on, clouds began to appear and the temperature started to drop.  We reached Sandstone Peak around 1pm. We sat together on the highest point of land in the Santa Monica Mountains where the outcropping of rock touched the clouds like a finger breaking the surface of moving water. In a few moments, a dozen other hikers would join us at the top, each finding their place to sit and meditate.  As the clouds silently wafted through our hair, we could make out the Channel Islands to the west through the natural haze over the Pacific, the snow-capped San Rafael Mountains to the north, and the Los Angeles basin to the east.   The view in all directions was breathtaking and will stay fresh in my memory for a while. Next time it rains in LA (which is supposed to be soon), I’ll just close my eyes, find myself back on top of Sandstone Peak with my friends, and I will smile.