Lookout Above

This was the view at the beginning and end of this great hike:

We met where Stunt Road and Schueren Road meet. There is an area along the side of the road to park and the picture above was taken while standing close to the car. There is an even better view from a lookout a mile out on that ridge, but I am getting ahead of myself. After leaving one car at this point, we drove to Old Topanga Canyon Road and started the 3 hour hike up 1650 feet in elevation through meadowland and canyons and mountains to eventually end up at Topanga Lookout and the Skateboard Ramp to Oblivion. And the best panoramic views of our hikes thus far.

Hondo Canyon Trail

The game plan for this hike is to take the Hondo Canyon Trail to Fossil Ridge Trail to Stunt Road. The trail is easy to follow and has none of the sign-less forks in the road that we have encountered on previous trails. 

We hiked on Sunday December 22 - just a week after the last hike. This is the sign at the side of Old Topanga Canyon Road.

I will show the GPS in segments in this post. The trail starts by going through the Topanga Meadows before dropping down into the canyon.

Topanga Meadows.

Matt and the Meadows.

After making it up a ways I turned around and took this picture.

And the trail gets more wooded. 

But then it is back to full-on meadows. Cue the Little House on the Prairie theme song!

In this pic we were attempting to show that uphill-iness of the trail. I think it comes through pretty well.

Before going into the canyon we get a preview of what is to come. By the end of the hike we end up on top of those mountains in the distance.

Looking down the canyon.

Yes, I know - there is no bridge to stand on. But I managed to stand there for a pic anyways.

This second GPS detail pic shows a lot of the trail going through the canyon. 

We got going in the morning and a lot of the trail was shaded.

Further on we encountered many switchbacks as we gained in elevation.

Now and then we would get views in the distance.

Uphill!

At the end of the canyon the trail goes around to the other side for a bit before a switchback that leads to Fossil Ridge Trail and up the mountain. The GPS stopped before we got to the Topanga Lookout.

Looking across the canyon. 

Wooded trail.

It is getting brighter.

At the end of the canyon looking back.

Now we got to the other side of the canyon and are looking back at where we had been hiking.

We are now much closer to these rock formations which have been in previous pictures.

Fossil Ridge Trail

I forgot to take a picture of the trailhead sign, but got a picture looking out to the ocean near the beginning of the Fossil Ridge Trail.

Up above we could see a tower of graffiti. After some research I have found that this was part of a missile defense system from long ago. In the top left circle is painted, "This wasn't worth it."

Back to a wooded area.

The end of the trail is in sight, as well as the car. 

This pic is taken from where the cars are parked looking back up to where the previous pic was taken. 

And back up on the mountain we now see Matt. 

Getting close to the end of the trail and the parked car, we see this sign and decide to keep going to check out the Lookout.

Topanga Lookout

The trail follows the ridge to what had been a fire lookout.

Yes!! What a view!

The lookout is now covered in graffiti but the view is great.

First view pic.

Second view pic.

Third view pic!

And the Skateboard Ramp to Oblivion!!!

Yes, there is a ramp set up on the top part of the Lookout with the side right next to a drop-off. Any takers?

Got GPS?

This is the full GPS from this hike segment. 

By the side of Stunt Road there is an informational sign concerning the Backbone Trail.

So far we have made it around a quarter of the way. Looking forward to the rest!

Looking Ahead

Thanks for taking a look at this post. We hope to hike the next segment in the next couple of weeks. I'll post again whenever we get to it.

Cheers,
Bruce

Transitional Trails

We had been away from the trail long enough. On Sunday December 15 we were back at it. We did not have a lot of time that day so we decided to do the next two short segments according to the Stone book Day Hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains. We would start at Trippet Ranch and take the Dead Horse Trail to Topanga Canyon Blvd and then cross the boulevard and take a short trail that would get us to Old Topanga Canyon Road. That would set us up to do the more substantial Hondo Canyon Trail next time.

Dead Horse Trail

We arrived at the end point early in the morning and there were already hikers and bikers arriving at the trailhead. There were also many cars lined up in front of Topanga State park where we began the hike.

This is the entrance to the park. 

Past the parking lot there is this path that leads to Dead Horse Trail.

Dead Horse Trail begins. Let the hike begin in earnest!

At first the trail runs parallel to a fence that goes through this grassy field.

Later there is more vegetation on either side of the trail. 

The trail continues in a similar fashion.

Nice vista!

Blurry pic of Matt as we begin a descent into a more wooded area.

A bridge!! That requires a pic of Bruce on the bridge. As we have had so little rain this year there was no water in the creek. Bummer.

Some trails have a dramatic view at the end. Others have a parking lot.

And now to cross Topanga and start on the next trail.

The Trail That Will Remain Nameless

Alright, so the sign says backbone trail. Not exactly nameless, but there is apparently no other name associated with this short segment

This is Topanga Canyon after all, home of many free spirits. We began to see signs of that.

While the Dead Horse was primarily downhill in the direction we took it, now we were heading up and up on this nameless trail.

The glory of the circle of life: the nearby rotting log was described as being host to a complex ecosystem.

The complex ecosystem was right next to the trail.

There were many signs with details about the plants. This one was about wild Cucumbers.

This nice view was looking to the north.

After all of the uphill climbing a little downhill looked nice. However, as we were nearing the end and we still had time to hike, we decided to take a detour and try another trail. 

Almost immediately we came upon this really nice view to the south.

We ended up on a road that led to two private properties. When we looked back down the trail we could see the ocean in the distance.

Hey, now this was a view to the west - nice!

These guard dogs were protecting one of the properties we walked past. There was a tiny little fence that they could have jumped over, but they seemed content to bark at us from a distance.

Back on the main trail we came to the water tower. There is a narrow path along the right side that one can follow to continue on the trail.

There was more downhill trail as we neared the road.

But first we had to stop at this nice bench.

A bench with a view!

I Want My GPS

The beginning of the hike was at the green tree symbols on the right. That detour we took near the end of the hike ended up being about as long as the trail from Topanga Canyon Blvd to Old Topanga Blvd!

And this shows our first hike in red and our second hike in blue. Since the GPS ran out of power on the first hike what is not shown is that the first hike ended right where the second one began.

Looking Ahead

Thanks for taking a look at the second entry in what should be a complete commentary of Backbone Trail. Next up will be the more challenging Hondo Canyon Trail. Until next time...

Cheers!
Bruce