#backbone trail

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Louisiana

[rjzimmerman]

The Backbone Trail Opens Up the Wilder Side of Los Angeles

A seemingly endless metropolis gives way to epic peaks and valleys

Excerpt:

The Santa Monica Mountains can be spotted from virtually any neighborhood in Los Angeles. Brownish-green slopes snaking through the maze of the metropolis, they are constantly filmed and photographed—the backdrop to thousands of television shows and motion pictures, standing in for the Old West, distant planets, Korean battlefields, and Irish meadows. Millions of Southern Californians whiz through them every day via the broad freeway notches of the Cahuenga and Sepulveda Passes. Yet few locals truly understand what lies within these mountains—one of the only ranges to bisect a major U.S. city.

I resolved to walk the length of the Santa Monicas: a 119-mile, six-day journey from the easternmost point, near Dodger Stadium, to the western oceanic climax. The first two days, I improvised a route using trails, residential streets, bushwhacked hillsides, and the winding strip of asphalt called Mulholland Drive, after which I found my way back to a road, an Uber car, and my own bed. For the last four, I packed a tent and backpacked the wilder path along the magnificent western end called the Backbone Trail. What I found there was an unexpectedly brambled and gorgeous place crouching in plain sight.

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains, California

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California

[placeswordsdreams]

Backbone Trail, Louisiana