Secret Walks #32: Rim of the Valley & L.A. Aqueduct, 2.1 miles

Temp in the high 60s and an overcast sky—ideal conditions for our early autumn hike around an 18-hole golf course abandoned in mid-construction. Water hazards dug but never filled, miles of concrete golf cart paths poured but never used, pine tree hole-dividers planted then left stranded. Acres of tree-stripped land—eerie, desolate, and bordered by a straight mountainous rise of rock to the east. A helluva place to shoot a Western. The only sound was the sizzle of power lines overhead. Our lone companions, a bunny, a crow, and three birds. But mother nature always makes the best of whatever conditions man throws at her: the autumn-like SoCal chaparral surrounded us with reserved beauty as Barbara and I circled the course on the golf cart grid, and then to the main event: a close-up view of the #2 Los Angeles Aqueduct. You've seen it in the distance traveling north on the 5, up close, pretty cool. But I'll always think of this adventure as The Mystery of the Abandoned Golf Course.