Alta Vicente Trail

Kyong-Mi has gone to Palos Verdes peninsula, which is outside of San Pedro and Long Beach, California.  She couldn't remember the name of the trailhead she was on the last time.  She decided to just wing it with her GPS to find any trailhead at Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The trip was worth the drive.  It was scenic and the roads were under construction.  Because it is a Sunday, the roads were not being worked on, and the recently paved roads were windy and bumpy.  Some areas felt like going down a roller coaster.  

They found the parking lot to the trailhead at:
30940 Hawthorne Blvd
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
90275

The trailhead is a rocky path on the side of the parking lot and takes you down stairs.  Once passed the stairway, the trail takes you near a Canary Island palm tree.  There are plenty of flying bugs, the occasional lizard, squirrels and rabbits running away into the shrubbery.  

At some point, the trail inclines and you can see a beautiful view of the ocean and lighthouse across the street.  There is a steep trail going up the side of the hill.  Good hiking boots would come in handy on the hill.  Kyong-Mi learned the hard way by wearing an old pair of beat-up running shoes.  

At the summit of the hill is an amazing view of a lagoon below.  There is a parking lot and a cove where water pounds the side of the cliff.  You can spot a lot of tourists checking out the water.

Continuing on downard, there are old, defunct farming machinery.  Following the Alta Vicente trail down, it leads you to the street.  The "sidewalk" is paved like the trail, with sand, gravel, and rocks. Trevor and Kyong-Mi walked along the street until they came upon a church.  The church has a parking-lot that ends at a cul-de-sac.  To the right, in the cul-de-sac, is the trailhead that takes you back up toward the stairs they initially walked down in the beginning.

Kyong-Mi did not time their hike, and they stopped a lot to check out the view, and so she could snap pictures of the plants and scenery, and even talk to a couple ladies about the trail.  

Alta Vicente trailhead marker

Lantana flowers

Milk Thistle

Canary Island date palm

Snails on fennel plant

Fennel

Trevor to get a picture with the lighthouse behind them

Prickly pear cactus flower

View below us as we began ascending

Rocks aligned part of the trail

Sour fig succulent

Crown Daisy

Early 20th Century pull grader

1930s row crop tractor

The trail deadends at the street.  They continued down the street and around Alta Vicente.  The trail back to their car was found via a church parking lot while following the road.

Sea lavender

 

Rancho Palos Verdes Peninsula

Mike & Ku‘uipo feeling on top of the world at Del Cerro Park.
(Just before the hike started)

Due to the articles about residents in the Del Cerro Park area not liking hikers coming to Rancho Palos Verdes and parking on their streets, littering, etc, Kyong-Mi thought that was the perfect place to go (article 1, article 2, article 3), considering parking permits would be in the near future.

They parked on the street prior to Park Avenue.  There's a fence that overlooks the canyon called Portuguese Bend and Reserve, and few hikers were seen walking through there.  It's a long way down.

Kyong-Mi and Mike entered the park on foot, seeking the trailhead, but found picnickers at a bench and a couple cuddling in a corner.

The trail within Del Cerro Park leads to an overlook that can see into the canyon and beyond.  Visions of many trails below could be seen and they stood there for a moment deciding which trail would be best.

They left the park in search of the trailhead which is a gate to a rocky road on the side of the park.  A man named José was cleaning up litter, when Mike asked him if he knew where the trailhead was, and José was excited to tell Mike and Kyong-Mi how to get to the trailhead, where to go to get the first beautiful view on the right, and told them to enjoy their trip.

José talking about the book he read called "The Grapes of Wrath."

José telling Mike about the trail going that way is about 9 miles.

José telling Mike & Kyong-Mi about his time in the Army at the Vietnam War.

While walking the trail, just exploring, Mike and Kyong-Mi came to a fork in the road, and from the fork, José came up behind them and said, "Just go that way.  I've been hiking these trails every week for years.  I can tell you where they all go.  I've been picking up litter after all the young people leaving trash behind for years, too.  It makes hikers look bad.  I'm headed to the Trump Golf Club.  If you follow me, I can show you all the scenic spots, since they are all on the way to where I'm going."

Before leaving, José told Mike & Kyong-Mi they need to hike Mt. Wilson.  He said when he came back to California from Vietnam, he and buddies took up hiking and one of the first and most memorable hikes he took was at Mt. Wilson.  He said the view was amazing.

Returning to the car, Kyong-Mi spotted chip bags and trash next to the car.  Due to the neighborhood complaints of hikers littering, Kyong-Mi picked up the trash others left behind.

To make a long hike short...
The sounds of peacocks could be heard in the distance.  Depending on which trails taken, the hike could be a mile to 10!  Mike and Kyong-Mi lost track but took over 15,000 steps from the car back to the car.  There's not much shade, so sunscreen and long sleeves are suggested.  Kyong-Mi was sunburned.  It's not suggested to bring young children on the hike unless they are in an all-terrain stroller.  Kyong-Mi & Mike would not bring their 10 year old on this hike as seen.  Once you go down, you have to go all the way back up, and it can be tough on little legs.  A few piles of horse poop litter the trail, but all-in-all, a great medium to strenuous hike with a gorgeous view of the ocean, Catalina, and terrain.

To be continued...possibly.  

Sunken City

Kyong-Mi found Sunken City through AllTrails.com.  Loving the artistic side of graffiti, Kyong-Mi decided Mike and she would head to San Pedro to find the hidden gem known as "Sunken City."

No Trespassing sign, apparently not many people heed to.

Upon arrival, there was a cafe to the left of the road called Walker's Cafe.  To the right of the road was .  It over overlooks the ocean below.  Mike and Kyong-Mi had no idea where they were going.  There was a sign that mentioned No Trespassing, but they saw people on the other side of the sign walking to the park side.  When the couple came close enough, Kyong-Mi asked them, "How'd you get over there?"  Once they got to the wall, they hopped over, and the man said, "Go over this wall, and hold on to the fencing.  There's a hole under it, and you have to go under it and then you'll be on the other side."
Point Firmin Park

Mike and Kyong-Mi climbed the wall and went under the fence.  The other side was extremely colorful and in various places on top of the cliff were ruins of what appeared to be a residential area; foundations of buildings, a manhole on the edge of a cliff, a broken street pole.

Walking around the edge of the cliff is very dangerous.  There's a former street that dead-ends at the end of the cliff, where it fell off, and the remains of street shards and sidewalk squares lie at the foot of the cliff.  Almost every piece of cement and asphalt was painted over with graffiti.

Graffiti art on broken street.

Many young people were there smoking blunts and drinking beer and liquor.  Others were there to take pictures of graffiti and to explore the unknown.  Squirrels would pop their heads out and then hide again.  It wasn't much of a hike as it was a walk down a hill and hopping from broken street to other parts of broken street.

When they got bored, they headed back up the cliff from well-traversed paths, and went back to the park.  Mike had to use the men's room and found a restroom behind "Shakespeare in the Park" a small stage where concerts in the park are performed.  As Kyong-Mi waited, she walked over to the Victorian house at the edge of the park and realized it was a historical landmark, a lighthouse that was built in the 1874 and still in operation;  Point Fermin Lighthouse.  The docents of the lighthouse could not guide a tour for another half hour, and Kyong-Mi was hungry and thirsty.

Walker's Cafe

When they got to Walker's Cafe, the waitress invited them in, and mentioned the menu up on the wall was not the current menu, but a novelty they have had since the cafe opened up in the 1940s. She proceeded to give them a history lesson regarding "the sunken city" as having never "sunk" from a sinkhole or a landslide, but a break from the Long Beach earthquake in 1933.

As they drank their beers, ate freshly peeled and cut fries (they have a potato cutting press from 1940s where their peeler, Ernie, smiles as he peels and presses), and Mike had his $1 pickled hardboiled egg, they learned a little bit about the cafe and its beginning.

Mike getting ready to throw back a cold one.

The waitress said it was never a "biker bar" but a cafe that catered to the soldiers during WWII, and a trolly used to pull up and take the drunken sailors to their barracks. She pointed to a photo on the wall where a train track was seen in front of the cafe, but looking outside from the front door, it was not visible as the street was paved with asphalt and the tracks were gone.

She said, at some point, bikers came to the cafe to mingle and eat, and one should not feel intimidated coming to this family restaurant. The interior is old, menu classic American (burgers, chili, hotcakes and eggs, hot dogs, etc), and many original pieces in their kitchen, including the old refrigerator and potato cutting press. But, that is what gives charm to this hidden gem.

Kyong-Mi's homemade fries and beer (before her serving of root beer)

 Unfortunately, being vegan, there was not much for Kyong-Mi to eat, however, they have begun to offer turkey burgers as they transition their menu to the healthier-eating customers. All-in-all, Mike and Kyong-Mi had a pleasant experience and may come
back if they are in San Pedro, again. How wonderful to experience so much history all around, from the light house, the architecture, the Korean Friendship Bell and the gun mounts, to Walkers Cafe.

Reservoir Summit

When Kyong-Mi was little, her father, Tom, used to take her on trips to the mountains or desert.  He referred to it as "exploring."

Kyong-Mi used to get severe motion sickness and her dad would have to stop the jeep to let her walk around.

Here's a picture of Kyong-Mi at about 8 years old on one of her many adventures in the mountains with her dad. He found this deserted area called Reservoir Summit outside of Liebre Gulch, CA near Pyramid Lake, in Ridge Route, California.