Back To Nature

Los Angeles, California. Recently I have had a number of blast from the past visits from old Palm Beach friends. Neil/Tim Aho visited over New Years, Justin Kesl has been in and out of town on State Farm business, and Rob 'Rabbit' Schaffer came for a fun visit this past Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend.

The visit from Rabbit in particular was a catalyst for getting my butt back into nature! The first morning here we got up early and hit the waves off the Venice pier. From there, we decided to explore nearby Temescal Gateway Park in Pacific Palisades. Only five minutes from downtown Santa Monica, this is one more example of just how off the pervasive perspective of Los Angeles actually is. Climbing into the Santa Monica Mountains, Temescal is a true slice of nature. There are hikes of up to 8 miles in length and the woodlands are home to a fascinating flora and numerous wild animals. We chose a shorter loop hike of about 2 miles, complete with stunning vistas of the ocean, downtown Los Angeles and even a waterfall. On Sunday, we opted for a roadtrip up the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping to check out popular surf breaks along the way. We spent the night in Santa Barbara and then continued up the coast to check out the Point Conception area. We ended up missing any decent swell for this region, but the coastline and vistas of the Channel Islands were spectacular. And to make up for lack of surf, we opted to drive into Los Padres National Forest, where we went bouldering on steep mountain cliffs. A day in Los Padres is a perfect reminder as to what a stunning and diverse state California really is. Living here makes it difficult to imagine ever returning to live on the east coast of the U.S.!

Rabbit and I wrapped up his trip with more surfing in Venice and finally a visit to the La Brea Tar Pits. Our final surf session was graced by a super curious little harbor seal, who spent nearly the entire time with us, competing with our duck dives and sneaking up behind our boards when we were not looking - such a great animal! For those of you not familiar with La Brea, the tar pits are located in central Los Angeles and are considered the richest deposit of Pleistocene fossils in the world! It has been a dream of mine to visit this site ever since I was little kid reading books on mastodons and sabertoothed tigers. Check out the short video clip here to see methane oozing from the surface tar!

On a side note, I just want to extend my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Heath Ledger. His death is a tragic loss to our world and he will be missed greatly. My thoughts and prayers are with you.