Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Southern California. Exploring Mountains, Seashore, and Desert онлайн

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On this challenging trek, you’ll proceed straight up the canyon’s scenic mid-section, climb out of the canyon depths via a powerline service road, and loop back to your starting point on the ridge-running Zuma Ridge Trail (a fire road). The roads are shadeless, yet they offer great vistas of the canyon, the ocean, and the seemingly interminable east-west sweep of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Hiking the canyon bottom is least problematic in the fall season before the heavy rains set in. The stream may have shrunk to isolated pools by then, and you’ll step mostly on dry rocks with good traction. Winter flooding can render the canyon impassable, but such episodes are rare and short-lived. During spring, the stream flows heartily and there’s plenty of greenery and wildflowers; at the same time there’s an increased threat of exposure to poison oak (which grows in fair abundance along the banks), and you’re likely to surprise a rattlesnake. Summer days are usually too oppressively warm and humid for such a difficult hike. Whatever the season, take along plenty of water; the water in the canyon is not potable. Expect to get your feet wet, and bring sandals or a change of socks.