December 25-26, 2012
Climbing on the beach.
Reinvigorated from our two days at New Jack City, Zoey, Gokul, and I drove over the Cajon Pass between the San Bernadino and San Gabriel mountain ranges, and into Los Angeles. Even though the drive across the city was ninety miles (the city is ridiculously spread out), the fact that it was Christmas Day helped us to avoid the world-famous traffic.
We met up with Josh from Madison's mountaineering club and his friend Blake and hiked into Malibu Creek State Park. We settled on climbing the Planet of the Apes wall, which was near where the movie was filmed. It was a great wall for top-rope climbing with easy access to the anchors on top. The rock itself was covered in huecos which provided plenty of challenging routes. And the park was a scenic place close to the city's main population.
We spent the night at Josh's home. His parents Robin and Larry were gracious hosts and it was really nice to take a shower in the middle of the trip. I was very thankful for their hospitality.
The next day Josh and Tori joined us for a some climbing at Point Dume in Malibu. When I dipped my toes into the ocean, I could officially call this a trip to the West Coast. The climbing itself wasn't as great as the previous few days, but you couldn't beat the location. Afterward we took the Pacific Coast Highway and saw some nice homes including where the Kardishans used to live. And the nicest homes we couldn't even see because they were so well barricaded.
We rounded out the day at my mom's apartment in Pasadena. My girlfriend Katie was waiting for us there and she had quite the story of her flight getting delayed by blizzards and whatnot while I was relaxing on the beach. We walked around town and got caught up while checking out the street where the Rose Bowl parade would take place in a few days. We rounded out our time in LA in style with a chicken grill and relaxation in the hot tub. Despite climbing for four days straight, I felt totally refreshed for the upcoming portion of our trip in Joshua Tree National Park.
Photos from Malibu Creek State Park
Photos from Point Dume
Photos from Pasadena
