Secret Walks #40: Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Area, 2.8 miles

A respite. If you've ever taken La Cienega Blvd. to LAX, you've driven past the oil pumps dotting the Baldwin Hills Mountains. The rigs and pumps have been there since the 1920s, and when oil supply in the northeast section of the hills dried up in the '60s, County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn campaigned to convert that section into a state recreational area. The result, completed in 1984, is a 338 acre oasis in the middle of the city. Parts of it—the artificial fishing lake, the picnic area, the waterfall, rushing stream, and Japanese Garden—are manmade but nonetheless beautiful and well kept. Athletes from the Olympic Village built nearby in 1932, hiked the twisting Olympic Forest trails the same way Barbara and I did today. And the view from the top? A stunning, unexpected, sweeping panorama from downtown to the Hollywood sign, Century City, Westwood, Santa Monica, Palos Verdes, and Catalina. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear a paddling of ducks quacking at Barbara and me for food, but the noisy little suckers were the first innocent light moment in days.