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

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Our way lies ahead, along the Waterfall Trail, which leads into Los Pinetos Canyon. Don’t confuse this trail with the Los Pinetos Trail on the right. The Waterfall Trail momentarily slants upward along the canyon’s steep west wall, and then drops onto the canyon’s sunny floodplain. Presently you bear right into a narrow ravine (Los Pinetos Canyon), avoiding a wider tributary bending left (east).

Continue past and sometimes over water-polished, metamorphic rock. Live oaks and bigcone Douglas-firs cling to the slopes above, and a few bigleaf maples grace the canyon bottom. Beware of the poison oak that abounds along the trail and near the waterfall, especially in the winter when its bare twigs are difficult to recognize. About 0.2 mile after the first fork in the canyon, there’s a second fork.

Go right and continue 50 yards to a small waterfall and a sublime little grotto, cool and dark except when the sun passes almost straight overhead. As you listen to water dashing or dribbling down the chute, enjoy the serenity of this private place and contemplate that it lies only 3 miles—but a world away—from the creeping boundary of the L.A. metropolis. Return the way you came.