Mugu Peak

Summit #50 of 70--December 1, 2023

Big Day today. Summit #50! It feels like a significant milestone, though I still have 20 to go and 62 days to get there. But... I am cheating just a little this week. My buddy Mitch and I found a cheapie airfare and flew to LA last night ($113 round trip) for a week of modest peakbagging in sunny southern California.

Kris's uncle Mike lives at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains and was kind enough to not only put us up, but cook up some dinner when we arrived, feed us breakfast this morning, and join us for a few days of hiking and camping. For Day One, he suggested we give Mugu Peak a try, a short drive up the coast from Malibu.

After much enjoyable conversation, we headed out on our scenic drive along the coast and reached the trailhead around 1:15. The trail is steep for much of the way, but the ever-widening views kept us chugging up the mountain.

At the top, Old Glory was waving proudly in a refreshing sea breeze. The old Point Mugu Naval Air Station was widely spread out below us. Beyond was the city of Port Hueneme, where I lived in the Sixties and attended second and third grades at Sunkist Elementary. (I'll soon be posting more about that rather memorable period in my life in my Finding Destiner story.)

We lunched on rocks as a young woman approached and proceeded to gently prune a tiny tree close by. She then emptied her water bottle at the base of it. It was obvious this little tree was important to her. She explained that it was a sequoia and showed us a recent photo from when it was more fully green and vibrant. Her love for that tiny sequoia almost made me want to go back down and bring up more water. Almost. Maybe next time.

The sun falls quickly this time of year, so we picked up our packs and headed down, enjoying the coastal mountain panorama all the way back to the car. We debriefed our day at the Ladyface Brewery's excellent happy hour.

At the house, I recalled an interesting rock I'd picked up, presumably mudstone, due to its vaguely rippled form. Cleaned up, it looked like it could make a fun butter dish. Well heck, we could even call it a Moo Goo dish.

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