Saturday October 16, 2010
Malibu, California
Foggy and Damp
Last Saturday, on a beautiful and hot day, instead of going to the beach, I decided to explore Charmlee Wilderness Park in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. It's located over 500 acres of wilderness with easy trails and some moderate trails with gorgeous views. One mistake I made was not bringing water as it was cool where I live which is right by the beach. The park is located off Encinal Canyon Road, high above the fog, so it was HOT! So near the end of my hike, I was a bit dehydrated.
The entrance to the park.
There is a lot of wild life and natural vegetation covering the park. I even heard a pack of coyotes howling while hiking through the park.
My first stop was to check out the remains of an old ranch that used to exist in the mountains. Its an easy 30 minute walk from the entrance of the park.
The remains of an old ranch is a fun place for kids as there are caves and trees to place hide-and-go-seek and to tell ghost stories.
I then took one of the many trails to get a good view of the ocean.
Because we are at the end of summer, we are in dry season, which means much of the vegetation is in "dormant" phase or brown. But there still is some beauty in the brown brush against the blue sky.
I passed by an old reservoir where someone made a "peace" sign made of stones.
And then a view of the Pacific Ocean: Zuma Beach, a bit hazy as the morning fog has not burned off completely yet.
But on the North Side, clear skies and beautiful views.
I then decided to walk along the ridge with a view of the ocean to my right and went into a canyon, which was OK, except the hike out required quite a steep ascent on a rocky path.
I then ended up in the brown "meadow" again but this time decided to take a different route back.
Which gave me another spectacular view of the ocean.
I ran into natural rock formation that looked like a "man facing the ocean"
I then walked through the "black forest" which gave me reprieve from the heat
After enjoying the black forest, I took the main trail back to the parking lot where I ran into horse back riders.
I spent about a total of 2.5 hours in the park and covered all the trails. As I wrote at the beginning of the post, it was hot and I really should have brought some water. So if you go, bring plenty of water and since there are picnic areas, it might be fun to plan a lunch/hike day. And if in Malibu during the full moon, make a reservation to take a guided full moon hike in the park.