As crazy busy as life is with work, family responsibilities, traffic, daily news, and social media, designing a simple way of life isn’t just a lifestyle; it can be a lifeline.
“…a family camp on a remote lake in the Adirondack Mountains…” – Jim Leach page 160 of Small Homes.
Embracing a simple lifestyle involves more than changing priorities from possessions to experiences. It is a choice to be more present, fostering relationships with yourself, others, and the natural environment. People make this change to create more joy and fulfillment in their daily life, leading to more gratitude for what they already have. In the world of sustainable living, Lloyd Kahn is an expert with more than 50 years of experience promoting alternative housing, especially in tiny and small homes.
Loving the Simple Life
Jonathan Avery’s Nesthouse on page 220 of Small Homes.
Khan wrote Small Homes when the average family home size (and home price) was on the rise. Today, the number of people looking for those larger homes (and those larger mortgages) is decreasing, as the appeal for smaller homes is partly driven by challenges with expensive housing, maintenance, and interest rates. The move to a small home allows people more freedom from cost and upkeep and results in more time for enjoyable activities, creating a more sustainable life.
These facts may seem almost common sense now, but they are community trends that Lloyd Kahn picked up on decades ago.
Lloyd’s insights and advocacy emphasize the benefits of a mindful, sustainable lifestyle.
Flipping through the pages of Small Homes is inspiring, informative, and affirmative. The book features many pictures and stories to keep you engaged, as well as instructions that show you how “you can do it!” The book features different types of structures, such as cabins, treehouses, and yurts, and many materials, such as stone, timbers, tin, and much more. The variety appeals to a wide range of people; you will find something that works for you.
At the beginning of his book, Lloyd advocates for small homes, saying, “Compared to the average American home, small homes are less expensive, use less resources, are more efficient to heat and cool, and [are] cheaper to maintain and repair.”
Getting Real about Home Ownership
Many buyers cannot afford bigger homes. If they are building, the cost of materials and labor are also high, causing them to reduce the size of their floor plan—some eliminating bathtubs and living rooms, according to a Wall Street Journal post.
People are becoming creative when it comes to finding homes. They are looking for alternatives to what was once considered a starter home. Builders are pivoting their business to building smaller, more affordable homes or creating alternative options. Even Costco has started selling small structures!
The beauty of Small Homes is that it tells the stories of how individuals have been able to craft structures and find joy in building something of their own. The pride on every page is worth looking into if the current market conditions are unfavorable to you. Let it (and Lloyd) inspire you to live a simple, sustainable lifestyle.
Today, Nicole Hardina, author of Little Washington, takes us to the town of Waverly. Founded in 1879, the town has a population of 106.
A Complicated Past The town of Waverly received a post office and a name in 1879. Then, while other Inland Empire towns met the railroad and began to flourish, Waverly remained a lonely outpost. An early history describes it as a “little village, quiet and serene . . . remote from the scenes of turmoil and strife.” However, Waverly’s most prominent feature speaks to a history that is anything but bucolic.
Hangman Creek winds through Waverly. Uncultivated land approaches the creek’s edge. Farmed acres stop for a treeline, a rocky butte, and a soft marsh. The water looks as though it might spill over its edges, glimmering gently past farmhouses. The name was long ago changed to Latah Creek, but it’s still widely known as Hangman—and for a reason. The Spokane Historical society isn’t pulling any punches in its description: “This is the site of a murder.”
In 1858, the Spokane and Yakama tribes resisted treaty terms, and violence erupted in Eastern Washington. When the tribes defeated Colonel Steptoe’s 150 men, Colonel George Wright sent hundreds more in their place. Chief Owhi, whose son, Qualchan, was wanted for murder, tried to negotiate with Wright, who took Owhi hostage. Not knowing Wright had imprisoned his father, Qualchan entered the camp on his own peace mission, along with his wife, son, and brother. Wright ordered Qualchan hanged. The next day, Chief Owhi tried to escape and was shot and killed. In three days, Wright ordered the hangings of more than a dozen people, all of whom had approached with a white flag, symbolizing their peaceful intentions.
By the time A. D. Thayer homesteaded on Hangman Creek, evidence of the violence was long gone. Two decades later, Waverly began to flourish. The Washington State Sugar Beet Factory, established in 1898, employed 150 men. The Waverly Optimist reported in 1899 that laborers made $1.50 per day, while “skilled superintendents” earned as much as $7,500 per year, or more than $250,000 in today’s dollars.
A dam across the creek fed water to the factory. Soon the railroad came, and multiple grain producers established warehouses and elevators in Waverly. In 1900, the population had blossomed to 895. Ten years later, the sugar beet factory closed, and the bloom began to wilt.
School’s Out In Waverly today, Hangman Creek Bar and Grill is closed and boarded up. Peeling signs in the windows upstairs advertise Miss Elsie’s 5¢ baths and Doctor Yankum’s dentistry services. Concrete memorials at the park’s edge remember beloved townspeople and war veterans. In 1935, the Spokane County Pioneers Association established a memorial at the site where the hanging tree once stood.
In 1910, Washington state had more than 2,700 school districts. Not quite a century later, that number has declined by about 90%. Spokane County had some of the first schools in Washington, dating to the 1830s. The first schools often took place in settlers’ homes until a community secured funding for a dedicated building.
As the population increased, communities often abandoned their log cabin schools in favor of wood frame and, later, brick schools. As the student population grew, schools diversified, distinguishing elementary and junior-high education programs and locating them in their own schools. By 1915, Washington boasted 500 high schools.
The boom in school construction continued until the Depression, when a lack of funding put the brakes on school spending. Despite funding scarcity, many new schools were built in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration. Even with the government-sponsored infusion of capital, by the end of WWII, school consolidations in rural areas had begun in earnest. After the war, urban centers grew at the expense of rural communities, and by 1946, nearly all one-room schools had closed. The Prairie View school in Waverly was one of them.
From 1904 to 1938, the school served as many as 40 students in a year. The simple, wood frame building boasted an iron stove for heat and a curved stage for the teacher’s desk. Prairie View is the oldest example of its kind in Spokane County. Long since fallen into disuse, the school malingered in a cottonwood grove, its porch sagging, wind rushing through its empty windows. Then, in 2013, preservationists decided to move and restore the decaying school. With a fundraising effort that garnered thousands in private donations, the southeast Spokane Historical society led the effort to preserve the history of public education in eastern Washington. Today, the school has a new foundation and a new roof. A modern door stands between the weather and the schoolroom. The clapboard siding is original, but the windows are brand-new. If left abandoned, nature would have taken the school back. After years of snow and neglect, the roof would have collapsed, and then the walls. Instead, the Prairie View school stands on the corner of South Prairie View Road as it curves out of, or into, town, like a greeting or parting message for visitors.
Waving Goodbye Driving through any city’s residential neighborhoods between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. can be a slow affair. When children are present, the speed limit usually tops out at 20 miles per hour. In Waverly, the school has been closed for a long time. Still, a hand-painted sign asks travelers to keep it under 25 mph. A father shepherds two children and a dog on the short walk from the park to their home. He holds the kids’ hands and they stick to the sidewalk, though mine is the only car on the road.
Waverly is the smallest incorporated town in Spokane County, and it feels like it. Visitors to Waverly might be forgiven for looking around and asking, “What makes a town a town?” There is a fire department, a Grange, and evidence of agriculture. Other than that, there’s a collection of houses, a controlled burn, a barking dog, a shuttered door, a babbling stream. There’s history here, for sure. A future feels less certain.
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Little Washington presents 100 of the state’s tiniest towns. With populations under 2,000, these charming and unique locations dot the entire state―from Neah Bay along the Northwest coast to LaCrosse, a farming community in the eastern county of Whitman.
With full-color photographs, fun facts, and fascinating details about every locale, it’s almost as if you’re walking down Main Street, waving hello to folks who know all of their neighbors.
The selected locations help readers to appreciate the broader history of small-town life in Washington. Yet each featured town boasts a distinct narrative, as unique as the citizens who call these places home. These residents are innovators, hard workers, and―most of all―good people.
The locations range from quaint to historic, and they wonderfully represent the Evergreen State. Little Washington, written by Nicole Hardina, is for anyone who grew up in a small town and for everyone who takes pride in being called a Washingtonian. These towns may be small, but they have huge character!
Little Washington is Nicola Hardina’s attempt, 100 times over, to get to know the state she calls home. It’s part history, part travelogue, and a love letter to the Evergreen State.
About the author: Nicole Hardina has lived in Washington for more than 20 years, in towns big and small. Alaska-grown, she is a Seattle-based writer sharing an apartment with two cats, a guitar, and several overflowing bookcases. Her writing has appeared in Scope,Months to Years, Out There Outdoors, the Bellingham Review, Proximity, and elsewhere. She received a Grant for Artist Projects award from the Artist Trust in 2016 and is working on a memoir that is equal parts grief account and love letter to the Pacific Northwest. When not writing, she can be found on a flying trapeze or via her website, www.nicolehardina.com.
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Although I grew up in Colorado, I did not grow up hiking with my dad. I really don’t know why this was the case, but at some point, he was a single dad of two with a full-time job, while I was a sassy teen with a part-time job and homework and friends and crushes. Hiking together just wasn’t part of our world.
Yet, when I set out to update 60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Denver and Boulder, my dad was one of the people I ended up doing some memorable hikes with through the seasons. It hadn’t occurred to me before to ask him to join me, honestly, and I was so pleased that he wanted to come along.
I’ve got a few tips for enjoying a hike with your dad (or stepdad or grandfather or uncle) as I share a few stories from our hikes.
01: Go ahead and extend the invitation. Dad saw my posts on social media about my first few hikes and called me to ask if he could hike with me. It wasn’t that I deliberately did not invite him—I wasn’t so organized to have a list of hiking partners—but I hadn’t thought of him yet. Maybe you think hiking isn’t something your father likes or he hasn’t done it before, but don’t let that stop you. If it’s new to him, start with something relatively flat with places to stop and rest along the way. Even if he says no, it will make him feel good to be included.
02: One interesting thing about being an adult child is that sometimes you forget you’re still someone’s kid. I was humbly reminded of this on a gorgeous hike outside of Fort Collins, Colorado, to the top of Greyrock Mountain where little lakes filled with talkative frogs dwell. The hike had been hotter than expected, so it felt longer; by the time we were scrambling up rocks near the top, my legs were wobbly. My 70-something father hoisted himself up, and I stood there looking at my hiking poles and looking at the rocks and back and forth. “You want me to take the poles?” he asked. “No, I’ve got it.” I said. Like he can’t see right through me! I finally abandoned the poles and gave him my hand and he half-pulled me up. You’re never too old to still need your dear old dad.
03: Remember to pack your sense of humor along with your water bottle and other hiking necessities. One of my earliest hikes for my book was not in the previous edition, so I did a little research and headed off to meet Dad on a late-summer afternoon. Like many trailheads, this one had several trail options, and I misread the distance. As we walked and talked, it became clear this hike would be longer than we expected—by about a mile, it turned out. “How long did you say this hike is?” he asked me as we began the loop back. I had to confess that I no longer knew, and this seemed hilarious to us. On our various hikes we laughed about all kinds of mishaps—from those in the past to our getting lost en route to the trailhead—and this made us want to go on another hike together.
04: Try new things together—from taking selfies during the hike to having a meal together after the hike. Even though you’re all grown up, you can still make memories together. Just because we didn’t spend my childhood going on lots of hikes didn’t mean we couldn’t start now. Now retired, my dad has the time to hit the trail and spend the next day recovering, if needed. We have so much to talk about as we hike, and we laugh a lot about past and present stories we share. Next thing you know, we’ll have new hiking experiences to talk about over Christmas dinner with more family members, and our relationship and history will just keep evolving through these shared moments.
05: Adjust your hiking style. If you’re a weekend warrior bagging peaks with your buddies, that’s cool, but that’s maybe not quite what your father can handle. There’s a lot to be said for slowing down and simply appreciating the company you’re with and the time outside. If it’s your dad who is the budding athlete while you’re a weekday desk jockey, ask him to go at your speed so you can hike together.
Out of the more than 70 hikes I did for my research, only a handful of those were with my dad, but those were some of the best ones, and I have indelible memories from each one. We were both awed by the beauty we saw, and we easily laughed off our foibles. It wasn’t a trip down memory lane, but a chance to keep building remembrances in our lives together.
In the post I said, “The more prepared I was, the more enjoyable the experience.” By this I meant that I had water, snacks, hand warmers, a trail map, bandages, sunscreen, a hat, and so on. I found that when I took a little time to research what conditions I might expect, what the elevation gain would be, and other basics that would affect how long I would be out (how much food and water I needed, for example) that I could enjoy myself more.
Yet in a world of Facebook groups for all kinds of hikers and apps to show how crowded the parking lots are or where hikers can share photos from the trail the day before, some of the spontaneous fun of heading out in nature can be lost.
Here’s a little story in which good preparation led me to an unexpected adventure. I wanted to get in a hike on a later summer afternoon (okay, maybe it was more like early evening). My husband said, “You’re going to need a flashlight or a headlamp,” as I left the house. I said, “Really? OK, I’ll throw one in.” When the last 2 miles of my 6-mile hike were in the dark, I was very glad to have that flashlight—and I have never hiked without it since. Because I had a flashlight, I safely hiked in the light of the moon!
I recently read a query in a Facebook group for hikers in which someone described everything he had learned about a specific trail, but he just wanted to know what else to expect. Who knows? Maybe you’ll hear a hummingbird zip past your head, see a deer grazing in the trees, glimpse a moose wandering by, pick up the scent of a new flower in bloom, or watch the morning light hitting the rock just so as a snake slithers over it. No two people will have the same hike from one day to the next. Part of the joy of being in nature is the unexpected. The adventure of hiking lies in what doesn’t make it onto Instagram—those moments that take you by surprise in spite of your planning.
I can think of so many hiking experiences that make me laugh because things didn’t go as planned. There was a group hike in Eldorado Canyon State Park where the wind just wouldn’t let up, and at one point I was holding onto a tree to keep steady! I was prepared with a warm coat with a hood, but the adventure was in finding ways to block the wind in a group as we kept moving. Another time I went to the wrong trailhead, completed a hike, realized my mistake, found the “right” trailhead, and did that hike too. Then I decided that I liked the “wrong” hike better and put that one in my book instead.
It’s not that a little insight isn’t helpful, but it’s OK to learn from just trying, even if you have to make more than one attempt. Those accumulated experiences become part of your preparation. In doing research for my book, I found that, much like restaurant review sites, hiking reviews can be a bit misleading if not inaccurate and can therefore create missed opportunities for others. In doing some basic research for the land agency website for a trail, I found that people had been leaving reviews for the wrong trail, in one instance.
Life is made up of stories. A year or so of hiking by myself, with family, and with friends has resulted in a patchwork quilt of tales to tell and reminisce over together—not a string of hikes just like someone else’s.
Hit the trail with some preparation, but keep your eyes wide open for the unexpected joys of being outdoors.
About the Author
Mindy Sink is the author of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder and Walking Denver, which her daughter, Sophie Seymour, contributed to. She contributes regularly to The Denver Post, Colorado Parent, and other publications. Before becoming a guidebook author, Mindy worked for The New York Times Rocky Mountain Bureau, covering regional topics. Mindy also works in healthcare communications. She lives in Denver with her husband, Mike Seymour; their daughter, Sophie; and the family’s non-hiking cat, Marvel.
Saturday, February 22, is National California Day. The tradition of celebrating each state with its own day began in 2017. Starting on the week of Independence Day, each state was given a day by National Day Calendar®, based on the order in which it entered the union. As the 31st state (admitted September 9, 1850), California’s day falls in the 31st week after July 4. How does one celebrate? National Day Calendar suggests that you “take a tour of California and find something new to discover.” At AdventureKEEN, we think a fantastic way to do that is by tackling a few hiking trails!
Regardless of where you find yourself—or at what skill level of hiking—chances are good that there are beautiful hiking trails nearby, perfect for you. If you aren’t sure how to begin your National California Day outing, you’re in luck. AdventureKEEN has been helping people like you get outdoors and into nature for more than 50 years. The popular guidebooks 101 Hikes in Northern California and 101 Hikes in Southern California are great places to start.
Written by hiking expert Matt Heid, 101 Hikes in Northern California benefits readers by narrowing down the multitude of options for hiking in Northern California to the very best of the best adventures. It covers hiking trails in the northern two-thirds of the state, including nearly the entirety of the Sierra Nevada, south to Kings Canyon National Park, and the entire Big Sur region along the coast, south to Silver Peak Wilderness.
The southern portion of the state is covered in 101 Hikes in Southern California by Jerry Schad and David Money Harris. For National California Day, you can trek the diverse terrain—from desert to beach to mountaintop—on an easy stroll or overnight excursion. The guidebook covers the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, San Jacinto, and San Bernardino mountains; the Mojave and Colorado deserts; and many more iconic locales.
These guides are unique in the amount of natural history information they provide, and they include essential directions for completing a trip. Best of all, you can find hiking trails within a short drive of you; recommended outings are spread out across the entire state.
Now is a great time to get outdoors and celebrate National California Day.
Countless opportunities await. And if you aren’t in California, no problem. Find
a hike near you, and enjoy the Great Outdoors!
We could argue endlessly about where to go for the best family vacation. Some might say Disneyland; others will name a national park like the Grand Canyon. You’re always right with a trip to Hawaii—and the “Garden Island” of Kauai. It combines some of the best offerings of different vacation options.
For Nature Lovers
Nature’s beauty is everywhere. The Kauai weather is tropical, so the forecast is always warm or warm and rainy—ideal growing conditions. We stayed on the south side of the island (recommended) at the end of January. Temperatures were in the low- to mid-80s, perfect for the best family vacation. Only one day brought extended rain, and it felt gloriously refreshing to be in it.
Some of the most breathtaking views are found on this island in Hawaii. The Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. A few minutes from there is the Kalalau Lookout. My wife called it “the most beautiful spot in the world.” It’s a picturesque view of the Kalalau Canyon and the ocean. A slow drive to the north end of the island brings you to the Napali Coast. It’s another spectacular spot, well worth seeing. But we spent a total of 4 to 5 hours in our rented Jeep Wrangler. If you’re on the south side of Kauai, think twice about making the trip. And to maximize your best family vacation, go as early in the day as possible.
Kukalau Lookout (panoramic view)
For Aquaphiles
If you love the ocean, surround yourself with it in Hawaii. We stayed at a resort on the famed Poipu Beach. It’s perhaps the island’s most popular beach because it’s sandy, clean, generally calm enough for swimming/snorkeling, and it attracts plenty of sea life. We saw humpback whales in the distance, we spotted monk seals lying in the sand, and my 9-year-old accidentally found himself swimming with a sea turtle.
One of our favorite adventures was whale-watching via Blue Dolphin Kauai. We lucked out with perfect Hawaii weather conditions. We were even luckier on this best family vacation: Our captain found the humpback whales as we were leaving port, and he stayed with them for 2 hours. Around 10 or 12 males were chasing 2 females. The captain told us that the males breach more often during mating season. Sure enough, we saw around 20 breaches!
For Thrill Seekers
If you’re an amusement park kind of person, there’s no shortage of activities. You can try helicopter rides, zip-line tours, fishing expeditions, ATV excursions, and more in Hawaii. My favorite activity on this very best family vacation was mountain tubing with Kauai Backcountry Adventures. We floated down the irrigation system of an old plantation. We traveled in a beautiful rainforest and passed through several dark (and often long) tunnels on our way to a quaint picnic lunch.
For Foodies
There’s no shortage of delicious dishes in Kauai, especially if you love fresh seafood and even fresher fruit. Plus, with Hawaii’s relatively new focus on local farming, a lot of the meats—especially beef—now have that fresh, local flavor. The famous Puka Dog lived up to the hype on our best family vacation. It was so delicious that I ate there no less than four times. Brick Oven Pizza was another fantastic spot, as was Da Crack and their burritos. I enjoyed shave (not “shaved”) ice every chance I got. However, the award for best meal of my week went to the sampler platter at Chicken in a Barrel. The plate of BBQ food was under $20, and my wife and I shared it. Of course, for a combination of food, local culture, and lively entertainment, be sure to book dinner at a luau.
For Couch Potatoes
If your idea of the best family vacation is to “be lazy,” Kauai is a great place for that. You can relax on the sunny beach (perhaps even book a beachfront massage). You can find a comfy spot on the patio. Or you can remain indoors. With a cool ocean breeze always blowing in, just open the windows and enjoy—no air-conditioning needed. Go to CVS and buy the world’s best gummy bears: Island Cravings Baby Gummy Bears. Grab yourself a Mai Tai or some guava juice, and relax.
To find even more fun and adventure for your best family vacation in Kauai, check out AdventureKEEN’s popular guides like Hawaii Trails and Hawaii Wildlife Viewing Guide.
There is much to be thankful for the season. And very little of it has to do with walking around inside, elbowing through the crowds and shopping.
That’s why once again we’re locking arms with folks across the outdoor industry and shutter our online shopping cart to help encourage everyone to get outside and enjoy nature. REI kicked off the #OptOutside hashtag and efforts a few years ago and their website is a good place to start.
We hope your Thanksgiving is full of family, friends and food, and that you get to recover from all the holiday-ness outdoors.
Here are three ideas for what to do this Black Friday:
Join outdoor enthusiasts across the country today in their efforts to clean up the outdoors. You can find a list of contacts and programs on REI’s official page for this year’s #OptOutside.
Ultimately all of the #optoutside chatter makes us thankful. Thankful for the outdoors. Thankful we get the time off to celebrate and enjoy the company of family, friends and old hiking buddies. And we’re especially thankful for you and the growing outdoors community! Happy Thanksgiving and get outside this week.
Karen Borski Somers felt uneasy before deciding to pen a book about the Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT). The Texas native was concerned that her book might bring too much attention to the trail and ultimately ruin its beauty and solitude. Fortunately for everyone, she chose to share her love of the trail. Now, 10 years later, Karen has put together an entirely updated new edition of The Lone Star Hiking Trail (November 2019, Wilderness Press).
The book, endorsed by the Lone Star Hiking Trail Club, is a comprehensive guide to the LSHT. It begins with a history of the trail and then delves into need-to-know information about hiking it—from weather to water to regulations to trail ethics. The bulk of the book is spent on detailed descriptions of the 128-mile LSHT. Karen conveniently divides the trail into 11 sections, so readers can learn about—and hike—it in manageable chunks.
Entries for each section begin with a general overview of the trail and include information about trail access and parking, GPS waypoints, accommodations, and water sources. In-depth trail descriptions give readers a breakdown of what to expect along the way, with ratings and descriptions of all major water sources and campsites. Full-color photographs and maps further enhance the usability of each section.
For Karen, the book is a way to show her appreciation for the LSHT.
“Thanks to the vision of others before us, we have a protected footpath,” she says. “We can walk quietly and alone with our thoughts. We can take our children and show them what all of East Texas once was.”
The LSHT is hidden in the depths of Sam Houston National Forest, a little more than an hour from the bustle of downtown Houston. It is a little-known trail that many consider a magical retreat. It is limited to foot travel and is the longest continuously marked hiking trail in Texas.
Big woods near Mile Marker 23 in the Conroe Section
Karen ultimately chose to write The Lone Star Hiking Trail because of the people living in southeast Texas.
“Many believe—just as I did once—that the best long-distance
hiking trails were far away, in other states,” she says. “I figured those were
the people who would most love knowing that this long footpath is in their
backyard.”
The author took a gamble that a guidebook would benefit the
LSHT, and the risk paid off.
“The trail is in better shape, and there are more people now who respectfully walk on, care for, and protect this unique hiking trail. More than ever before, the LSHT is a singularity and a treasure, for us and for the wild things.”
The Lone Star Hiking Trail, 2nd Edition ($18.95, softcover) is available wherever books are sold, including bookstores and gift shops throughout Texas, as well as popular online retailers.
About the Author
Karen Borski Somers is a native of Spring, Texas. She studied biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University and has spent most of her career working for NASA contractors in Clear Lake, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama. In 1998 she thru-hiked the 2,165-mile Appalachian Trail solo, and in 2004 she hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail with her husband, Andy. She has hiked and backpacked in 36 states, logging more than 9,000 trail miles. Karen currently resides with her husband, two daughters, and their hiking Sheltie in northern Alabama.
From short nature trails to difficult peak climbs, Los Angeles County is a hiker’s paradise. The diverse topography and geology yield a variety of localized climates, and these climates make for excellent hiking conditions any time of year.
Yet there remains a notion in Southern California that summer is hiking season, even though it tends to be hot and dry. While this belief might make sense in other parts of our vast and beautiful country, it does not hold true in the Los Angeles area. For Southland residents and visitors, prime hiking conditions begin in autumn.
“Late fall brings autumn color to the oak woodlands and wet canyons of the county,” says David Harris, coauthor of Afoot & Afield: Los Angeles County (November 2019, Wilderness Press). Harris adds, “This is a time when the marine layer over the coastline and basin often lies low, while the air above can be extraordinarily clean and dry.”
The region offers plenty of trails to explore. In the updated edition of his guidebook (originally written by Jerry Schad), Harris details 259 spectacular outings. This comprehensive collection of hiking adventures is for everyone from families with small children to experienced mountaineers seeking the ultimate challenge. The guide encompasses almost all public lands within the county, including Griffith Park and the Hollywood Hills, the San Gabriel Wilderness, Crystal Lake Recreation Area, and numerous county and city parks.
Complete descriptions and driving directions are paired with easy-to-read maps with GPS waypoints. At-a-glance essential information—including distance, hiking time, elevation gain, and ratings for difficulty—help readers choose the perfect trail to fit their interests. Plus, readers need not venture far into the wilderness to find the top routes.
“Many of the best hiking opportunities start right on the
edge of town, right off the freeway,” Harris says.
He would know. For the fourth edition of the book, Harris rehiked every open trail. In doing so, his field work involved more than 1,500 miles of walking and 20,000 miles of driving, over 2½ years.
Harris divides the trails into 33 regions and includes what he believes is “virtually every hike worth taking within an hour’s drive of the city.” The thoroughness of his approach makes Afoot & Afield: Los Angeles County an essential guide for anyone with an interest in experiencing Los Angeles County on foot.
Sturtevant Falls
With so many trails, it would be a challenge to explore them all. Luckily, Southern California’s hiking season lasts a very long time.
“More than 9 times out of 10, your outings in Los Angeles County are likely to coincide with dry weather and temperatures in a moderate register for at least part of the day,” says Harris. “Few other areas around the country, and probably no other great city in the world, can offer such good odds.”
Afoot & Afield: Los Angeles County ($24.95, paperback) is available wherever books are sold, including bookstores, gift shops, and online retailers.
About the Authors
David Harris is a professor of engineering at Harvey Mudd College. He is the author or coauthor of seven hiking guidebooks and five engineering textbooks. David grew up rambling about the Desolation Wilderness as a toddler in his father’s pack and later roamed the High Sierra as a Boy Scout. As a Sierra Club trip leader, he organized mountaineering trips throughout the Sierra Nevada. Since 1999, he has been exploring the mountains and deserts of Southern California. David is the father of three sons, with whom he loves sharing the outdoors.
Jerry Schad (1949–2011) was Southern California’s leading outdoors writer. His 16 guidebooks, including those in Wilderness Press’s popular and comprehensive Afoot & Afield series, along with his “Roam-O-Rama” column in the San Diego Reader, helped thousands of hikers discover the region’s diverse wild places. Jerry ran or hiked many thousands of miles of distinct trails throughout California, in the Southwest, and in Mexico. He was a sub-24-hour finisher of Northern California’s 100-mile Western States Endurance Run and served in a leadership capacity for outdoor excursions around the world. He taught astronomy and physical science at San Diego Mesa College and chaired its physical sciences department from 1999 until 2011. His sudden, untimely death from kidney cancer shocked and saddened the hiking community.
