Barbara and I went back to finish our historical tour of Pacific Palisades with a trek through Temescal Canyon Park, 141 acres of oak and sycamore canyons with miles of trails and sweeping views of the ocean and the LA basin. Starting out from the parking lot ($12) north of Sunset at Temescal Canyon Road, we walked north, following the road to the trailhead. For 10,000 years the Tongva Indians inhabited this area before the Europeans then Mexicans showed up. The park's contemporary history began in 1922 when one of Pacific Palisades' founders, Methodist Reverend Dr. Charles Holmes Scott developed Gateway Park as the west coast center for Chautauqua, an education and social movement of lectures and summer camps popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Teddy Roosevelt called Chautauqua the "most American thing in America," and the structural remnants of the center—picnic areas, cabins, overnight camping accommodations, and the Retreat Center—are still scattered through the pocket park at the base of the trails. A Presbyterian Synod purchased the property for a retreat center in 1943. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy took over in 1994, doing their usual wonderful job of setting up trailheads and markers for the network of trails up, into, and through the canyon. Barbara and I chose to follow AllTrails' clockwise hike up Canyon Ridge Trail to the switchback down Canyon Trail, and we're glad we did. Canyon Ridge Trail isn't impossible, but its constant elevation isn't for sissies. It's steep, unshaded, and keep-your-eyes-on-the-trail tricky, yet the views of the ocean and Santa Monica shoreline make the exertion worth it. At 1.8 miles in, we found the trail marker for the Canyon Trail, the path back through oak and sycamore canyons. The hike down Canyon Trail was shady and pleasant, surrounded by forest and canyons. The waterfall bridge (the waterfall beyond and stream below were dry) made a fine spot for photos, and the rest of the hike back to the park isn't flat but it's pretty and varied enough to be entertaining. Temescal is one of the most popular trail sites in the Santa Monica Mountains, and its popularity is its only drawback. So many hikers passed us today—singles, families, kids, groups, teams—that at times it felt like we were members of a multi-lingual parade through the canyon. So...go really early, really late, or avoid weekends completely. Temescal is popular for a reason: this place is a real-deal hiking challenge and joy.