Halloween Special: The Cobb Estate (The Haunted Forest), 1.5 miles

When Charles Fleming posted this hike in the L.A. Times in September, we knew it would be perfect for Barbara's Halloween Birthday Hike. The old Charles H. Cobb estate, built in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains above Pasadena by the lumber magnate in 1918 (house pictured below, with another pic of Barbara standing on the ruins) was passed to a religious organization after his death in 1939, and then bought by the Marx Bros. estate in 1956. After years of delinquent and criminal abuse, the house was demolished in 1959 and, in 1971, the land auctioned off then donated to the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Angeles National Forest. The "haunted" reputation comes from rumors of negative feelings, the sense of being watched, lights, laughter, screams, and tales of satanic rituals and KKK gatherings. At night. No sign of ghosts at 8am when we hiked up to the covered reservoir—just tons of hikers spidering out on a web of mountain trails across the gulley. Our payoff at the top: a breathtaking southwest view from downtown L.A. to the Pacific Ocean (that little strip of blue between the gray clouds)—38 miles away. You know it's a great hike when you get back to the car filthy as a dog rolled in dirt. Coffee and treats at Intelligentsia Coffee to celebrate Barbara's birthday tomorrow!