Hiking To The Moon In The California Sun
August 25, 2008 by Darren Alff
I arrived at the June residence 15 minutes late. I would have been on time if I had not somehow dropped the keys to the car underneath the driver’s side seat. I just got in the car and the keys were gone. I still have no idea how they keys managed to wedge themselves so far under the seat… but they did!
Once at Jason and Danielle’s house, we jumped in the car and headed toward the hills between Newbury Park and Malibu. Our destination was a parking lot just off of the Backbone Trail where we would climb a short distance before reaching Sandstone Peak - the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains. Elevation 3111 feet.
It was a clear day and the views were incredible, but it was so terribly hot that it took a bit of fun out of the hike.
The climb was easy for me, as I’ve been living in high elevation for the past few years, but the Junes struggled a bit more. I felt terrible dragging them up the hill when they were obviously so hot and miserable, but I had come so far… and I really wanted to make it to the top. Thankfully, Jason and Danielle did actually make it to the top and the view was spectacular.
Completely out of water, we made our way down the mountain just as the temperatures started to receed.
On the way back to their house, we stopped and bought some ice cold water and dreamt of cold showers.
Thank you Jason and Danielle for pushing on today. If we had quit and gone home, we wouldn’t have these incredible photos to share!
PS - The spots you see on the photos are there because my camera got dust inside it when I was in Aruba. I’ve ordered a new camera and it should arrive soon. In the meantime, I apologize about the photo dots.
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