Barbara and I have the oddest luck when we hike at this 401-acre recreational treasure filled with trails, gardens, sports fields, and city views. Baldwin Hills is 500 feet high with a 360 view from the ocean to the mountains and across the basin to DTLA and back to the shore, not to mention the awesome Baldwin Stairs, but we've never been here on a sunny day. Today, on our fourth hike at the park, the overcast sky broke about a mile in during this new-to-us area on the east end along the LaBrea green belt.  With all respect to Norman O. Houston, his park at the bottom of the "string" portion on the map, is there because the parking lot is there, a short walk to the light to cross LaBrea to get to the stairs leading up to the Kenneth Hahn Eastern Gate. We hiked the loop on the map clockwise. The left side of the loop across the top of the hill was a civil, paved and fenced trail with runners, hikers, and happy dogs with dog-walkers. We passed several park fitness stations, a helipad, picnic tables, and an adorable Hummingbird Park, all showcasing the work of trail-builder Ron Webster and the Sierra Club of volunteers who "built the connector trails and linked the dirt roads to create the two-mile loop" after Kenneth Hahn Park was established in 1984. The hummingbirds charmed us. Twenty or so put on a show for us, flying backwards, sideways, and upside down from feeder to feeder in their little park filled with plants attractive to them. From there we passed through the Burke-Roche Picnic Area, crossing the top of the map past a hazy but cool "city view" then curved to part two of the hike: adventures in the wild. And I mean wild. On the map, at about 0.9 mi., the trail turns into all dirt and narrow then becomes a sheer drop of man-made dirt steps going straight down. I confess—I did the entire dirt stairway drop on my butt—on purpose. From there, the last mile covered a series of dirt trails that eased down and up and down and toward street level where we found the staircase to the street. The history of Baldwin Hills began with the Tongvas before the Spanish, Mexican, then US occupation. In 1924 oil was discovered in the fields, then came the reservoir and the infamous 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam collapse disaster. The fields east of LaBrea housed the first ever Olympic Village for the 1932 Summer Olympics, the Tenth Olympiad. Truly new to us, this section of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area offers so many alternatives that we know we'll be back. Hopefully in the sunshine.