A Toast to Ladyface Mountain
Summit #54 of 70
We returned from Idyllwild to Mike's place Tuesday night, once again welcomed with a hot meal. Mitch was thinking of beach lizarding on Wednesday, a good plan to be sure. However, Mike and I were looking to knock off one more summit in the morning.
Ladyface Mountain still beckoned, with a trailhead less than three miles away. A crag near the summit resembles the profile of a woman resting her head, thus inspiring the name. A local brewery aptly shares the label.
Coffeed up, we're were soon huffing up the steep trail, eyes and ears peeled for rattlesnakes. Mike learned me up some on the habits and thrills of rattlesnakes, though I was quite content not to see one. Up close anyway.
The trail runs the spine of the mountain, gaining 1,200 feet in under two miles. Wide views are continuous, as was the view of my feet, which helped ensure I didn't step on anything exceedingly memorable. I let my trekking poles lead the way, just in case.
Occasional flat spots allowed for a rest, while temps soon approached 80 degrees. We gazed across the Santa Monica Mountains as Mike pointed out a few favorite areas for hiking. Having recently retired from the film industry, he also pointed to locations where they'd set up for movie and television shoots with the stars. He also had some pretty good stories to share. But then he went and traded it all in for hiking, camping and fly-fishing, the poor guy! (Not.)
After a final bump on the ridge, we were at the summit, peelin' oranges and takin' pics. In the distance was Sandstone Peak, the high point of the Santa Monicas, where Mike and I had hiked back in April (my fifth summit).
I knew Mitch was patiently waiting at the house for us to get on with it, so we hustled down for an afternoon at the beach. About halfway down, however, we were suddenly buzzed. A rattlesnake in the brush, three feet off the trail. I sailed past, catching a glimpse of the critter coiled and ready to assert some authority. That was all I needed to see. One snake in seven days was plenty for me.
We were next off to the beach with Mitch, though a cool sea breeze made it slightly less inviting than it sounded. We took a hike up Dume Point for the big view of Santa Monica Bay, then lounged by the surf a while with our backs to the wind.
To celebrate the end of a fabulous week in sunny southern California, Mike's generous hospitality, and my 54th summit, we beelined it to the Ladyface Brewery in time for happy hour and a toast to Ladyface. It happened to be trivia night, so we did our best to guess enough wrong answers to secure a lock on last place. Our team's name: The 3 Amigos. Indeed.
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Summit to sea
For you three.