Windmills, waterfalls, creeks, bridges, historical ruins, and killer views of Mother Nature's spring art palette in bloom—there were so many reasons for Barbara and me to return to Solstice Canyon for a twist on our hike #141: Charles Fleming's LA Times hike around Solstice Canyon. Fortunately, Solstice Canyon was out of reach of January's Palisades fire. We saw some of the damage on our way in from the SFV along Malibu Canyon Road—an eerie mix of charred and blackened trees and bright green new growth, Solstice Canyon burst with green and hints of purple, yellow, and white flowers and flora. This three trail hike from the TRW Loop Trail (signaled by a windmill) and featuring the TRW Overlook, one of the best nature photo shots: a view of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island tucked in the cleavage between two Santa Monica Mountain mounds. The Rising Sun Trail led us up the side of the mountain counterclockwise, peaking at 758 ft. elevation, accompanied by a lot of lizards, a few bunnies, a chorus of birdsong, and a few hikers coming and going, some with very happy dogs on leash. About a mile or so in, we started the descent into the canyon. The dirt trail is tough, but someone way back when took amazing care in constructing a staircase of 10"+ boulders to mark the trail and support hikers. Also on the way down we spotted the remains of one of the chimneys on the Roberts Ranch, the 1952 "Tropical Terrace House." But first...the trail took us off route to a stream to log and rock hop for fun. From there, we found the log fences and stairs that framed a narrow trail up to the small waterfall literally at the side of the Roberts Ranch property. Imagine a house where your water source was the waterfall in your backyard. Just a small one, not very loud. When we finally walked around the ruins, we played the "what room was that" game, trying to identify what fireplace (at least 4-6) served what purpose. Fascinating. The house and garden, completed in 1952, stood until the 1982 Dayton Canyon fire destroyed everything but the brick fireplaces and metal ovens. Somehow, some of the plants in the "Tropical Terrace" garden survived. Today Mother Nature treated us with Birds of Paradise in bloom and a glorious banana plant beginning to fruit. The Tropical Terrace front steps led down to Solstice Canyon Trail, the entire west side of the trail loop. The final oddity of the hike, the Keller Stone House, inherited by Keller in 1887 in the 13,316 acre Spanish Land Grant, Rancho Topanga. In 1903 the original log cabin burnt and was rebuilt as a "fireproof one room cabin," stone with a tin roof. Roberts bought the property in 1950. In 1997 the land became a national park. A magnificent hike—it's no wonder that Solstice Canyon Loop is the most popular hike in the canyon. If you go now, you'll catch Spring in bloom!

   

   

   

   

   

   

Barbara and I initiated our weekly hikes with Charles Fleming's Secret Stairs book, so today's new-to-us Redondo Stair hike brought back the cardio joy of gasping up a long flight of stairs. One of the most entertaining beach hikes of the summer, the string of 8 staircases and 5 ramps offered a two-story view along the stretch of beach running from the Redondo Beach Pier to Torrance Beach. No staircase was the same. The "downstairs" energy at beach level contrasted with the casual strollers along the "upstairs" Esplanade and stretch along condo row. Surfers, bikers, volleyball players, and dog walkers, old and young, enjoying a Labor Day weekend dip in the ocean or a stroll on the beach path. The day was glorious, the beach was jammed, and variety kept this hike interesting. Interspersed between the 8 staircases were a series of ramps for bicyclers, wheelchairs, and anyone not up to a rigorous climb up 50 to 90 stairs. Easy to follow—we parked in the lot at the SW corner of Redondo Beach's Veterans Park and started down the first staircase we found. With the Redondo Beach Pier to our right, we walked South on the beach path to the next stairway, climbed up, came down, and so on until we hit Torrance Beach. Redondo Beach, incorporated in 1892, was the 1907 home of Hawaiian George Freeth, California's first modern surfer. Though today's waves were meh by mid-morning, the beach was hopping. Loved this hike!

   

   

   

   

   

   

After two weekend rainouts, Barbara and I were excited to hit the trail this morning for a return to  eastern Pasadena's hillside sidewalks and staircases. As the Pasadena population boomed from 1886 (est. 5,000) to 1920 (est. 45,000), residents moved in all directions including a "streetcar suburb" in the hills going down to Pasadena's eastern border at Figueroa Street. Automobiles were just catching on in the 20s, and east Pasadena residents working in DTLA had to navigate the hills to catch a Pacific Electric trolley on Figueroa south to LA. To accommodate the trudge up and down, the City of Pasadena constructed a series of staircases in the hills. Barbara and I had hiked the area in 2015, following Charles Fleming's Secret Stairs #1, and this time we followed Weekend Sherpa's selection—a short 1.9 mile hike that covered (gulp) a thousand stairs up and down six or seven (we lost count) staircases. The area is pretty, and the homes are collection of architecture from Craftsman to Victorian, Spanish adobe, and modern. A slight disappointment: where were all the holiday decorations? We saw a few, but nothing like the displays of lights and blowups in the flatlands. Finding the steps is always a challenge, but we learned long ago to search for the lampposts that landmark each city staircase. A great to return to fantasy house shopping and cardio stair climbing. 

  

  

  

  

  

Charles Fleming's Secret Stairs hooked Barbara and me on hiking, so when we spotted this 375-step challenge in AllTrails we knew we'd tackle it someday. Someday was today, and as daunting as this staircase looks, it was pretty easy because it's so well-constructed. Unlike the Baldwin stairs or Santa Monica stairs, the Calabasas stairs are even, wide, only about 6"–8" tall per step, and made out of pure concrete with rest stops every 50–75 steps. Once we got the rhythm we were on a roll and made it to the top without gasping for air. The most curious feature of this staircase is its history. After a bit of semi-thorough research online, I found nothing that explained who, why, or when this staircase was constructed. The top of the staircase (with the last two flights locked behind a gate) ends at Prado De Los Gansos, a street in the ultra-exclusive gated community of The Oaks, so the staircase may have been built as some kind of fire escape or maintenance route by the contractor—but your guess is as good as mine. Regardless, the staircase heads straight up a dip in the Santa Monica Mountains in a SE direction. Today was a perfect day for this hike—it rained a bit last night, so the flora sparkled in the sun like glitter on this first day of Spring. We began at the northern trailhead off Calabasas Road, SW of the Calabasas Parkway exit from the 101. Following our map and the trailheads, we realized that we were only a few miles east of the Bark Park hike we did in February. The first park of the hike was probably the biggest non-stair uphill challenge, but we were only about a half-mile away from the staircase and the rest of the trail was simple to follow. A steep dip came with a rope-pulley tied to a tree for stability, and a makeshift plank-bridge at the bottom led us over a drainage channel and on to the sidewalk to the stairs. Going up the steps was a blast. Count steps in a flight (they differ), turn around and look at the view, take pix, or talk to the stream of other climbers on the steps. It was all fun. Disclaimer: AllTrails lists this hike at 2.2 miles, BUT, that's only if you do multiple trips up and down the steps, each adding 0.20 of a mile to the 1.4 mile total distance. When Barbara and I reached the top, we decided that once was enough. We took some photographs of the gorgeous view of the Simi Hills, Santa Susanas, and the SF Valley with a peek at the San Gabriels, and then made our way down the stairs to retrace the trail. If you're a stairway aficionado the Calabasas Stairs are a must-add to your repertoire—one of the men we met on the stairs had finished his fifth lap and started his sixth as we were leaving.