This past spring, I revisited one of my favorite hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, trekking up the Backbone Trail to Sandstone Peak. The 12-mile trip spans 3,000 feet of elevation gain, starting at sea level and summiting the tallest peak in the range at 3,114 feet high. I was eager to see the landscape since the last time I did this hike, this portion of the mountain range was still scorched from the Springs Fire in 2013. Additionally, this whole hike was a training hike for my 29-mile backpack a month later (more on that in a future post).
Our early morning meet-up at the Sandstone Peak parking lot was a visual treat; the morning fog was hugging the base of the mountains, as pictured above. After our meet-up, we drove down to the trailhead just off of PCH, and we savored the cool, misty start to our hike through the beautiful Sycamore Canyon trail and beach.
As we climbed out of Sycamore Canyon and clearing the clouds and fog we look over Santa Monica Mountain range on the Backbone Trail, and saw some lingering wild flowers. The drastic change from wet and gloomy to dry and sunny made you question if we were still near the beach. It was a great refresher trip remembering both the beauty of the mountains as well as the physical memory of climbing with pack.
You can see the full gallery from my trip here. And again stay tuned for my trip report from my backpack to Little Five Lakes.