Bryan and I went on a little gem of a hike this weekend to Santa Ynez Falls in Topanga State Park, about 15 minutes from where we live in the Santa Monica Mountains. The hike started with a beautiful view of Santa Ynez Canyon in Topanga, where we could see out to Pacific Palisades.
Deer were browsing in the surrounding meadows, and there were various species of wildflowers I was able press into my journal, including sticky monkeyflower, coastal buckwheat, flax, blue-eyed grass, and a fragrant stand of mountain lilacs.
Bryan, of course, was captivated by the surrounding sandstone formations and kept pointing out folds, faults, and bedding in the rock. Once we hiked down into the canyon, there were little creeks everywhere as well as poison oak. The plethora of poison oak was probably the only negative thing about the hike. Once we were about 2-3 miles into the overgrown canyon, the trail became hard to follow, and we were forced to choose one of the three faint trails we could see. We ended up picking what is probably a deer trail, because we had to really crouch down to get through some of the chaparral.
Eventually, the deer trail led us to a larger creek, which we followed to some small waterfalls. Along the creek we saw several mating California newts rolling around in the water...pretty interesting.
We reached an area where the only way to get up to the waterfall was to climb a rope up a sheer rock.
Once we scaled the rock, we were surrounded by rock cliffs and a little further up was Santa Ynez Falls. Definitely worth the hike. The falls were pretty and secluded, so we unpacked our bag and had had a nice lunch before hiking back out of the canyon.
Although it was a short hike (6-7 miles), we got some exercise, saw some beautiful views, and had a nice escape from the city.
Deer were browsing in the surrounding meadows, and there were various species of wildflowers I was able press into my journal, including sticky monkeyflower, coastal buckwheat, flax, blue-eyed grass, and a fragrant stand of mountain lilacs.
Bryan, of course, was captivated by the surrounding sandstone formations and kept pointing out folds, faults, and bedding in the rock. Once we hiked down into the canyon, there were little creeks everywhere as well as poison oak. The plethora of poison oak was probably the only negative thing about the hike. Once we were about 2-3 miles into the overgrown canyon, the trail became hard to follow, and we were forced to choose one of the three faint trails we could see. We ended up picking what is probably a deer trail, because we had to really crouch down to get through some of the chaparral.
Eventually, the deer trail led us to a larger creek, which we followed to some small waterfalls. Along the creek we saw several mating California newts rolling around in the water...pretty interesting.
We reached an area where the only way to get up to the waterfall was to climb a rope up a sheer rock.
Once we scaled the rock, we were surrounded by rock cliffs and a little further up was Santa Ynez Falls. Definitely worth the hike. The falls were pretty and secluded, so we unpacked our bag and had had a nice lunch before hiking back out of the canyon.
Although it was a short hike (6-7 miles), we got some exercise, saw some beautiful views, and had a nice escape from the city.
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