Secret Walks #16: Franklin Canyon Ranch, 2.3 miles

The intermission between yesterday's rainstorm and today's predicted showers opened two blissful hours for Barbara and me to hike along Hastain Trail in Franklin Canyon above Beverly Hills and Century City. The now covered reservoir in the photo dates back to 1914. The grassy lawn pictured is all that's left of the summer retreat built in 1935 by the Edward Doheny family. What a treat, and often a challenge, to hike switchbacks up to the spine of the Franklin Canyon Ridge. The temperature in the crisp 50s, the trails muddy, the chaparral soaked, and sycamores, oaks, pepper trees, and eucalyptus in brilliant green after the welcome rain. At the end of the Hastain Trail we crossed Lake Street for a snippet along the Discovery Trail. On the path, a friendly hiker took this rare photo of Barbara and me together. Yep, all this in the geographical center of Los Angeles. Bracing.