Malibu, Los Angeles, California
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California: Chill Time Before We Head Home

May 21, 2024 /

Underfoot the ground is parched, rock hard and dusty, the sun shines hot from crystal skies and occasional breezes rustle the trees and send dust clouds up into small eddies while only marginally cooling the heat. Tufts of weed and grass remain but seem to be turning to pale yellow by the hour, some already sun kissed enough to disintegrate into more dust if we step on them. It’s all very different from the verdant forests and regular rain of the last three weeks. Spring is turning into summer into the mountains above Los Angeles.

Mountains in Acton California
Acton California

Acton, the small town which is my daughter Lindsay’s home, receives its hot days of summer just a little ahead of LA itself, and now in mid May the surrounding mountains are half way between the jade greens of spring and the golden browns of summer. The hot days will be here to stay now, whereas down in LA and along the coast it’s still cool and misty, summer needs a few more days to warm the Pacific air.

Mountains in Acton California
Dusty road in Acton

Our southern states road trip is over, via one last night in New Orleans – much quieter than it was three weeks ago, even on Bourbon Street – and a direct flight on the definitely-no-frills South Western Airlines into LAX. It’s time to chill now, spend precious time with Lindsay and Stacey, and enjoy the California sun. No rushing to see sights we’ve seen before, just good times in good company.

Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Vasquez Rocks
Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Vasquez Rocks

But of course it’s impossible to be in country like this without getting out there for at least a handful of short hikes, so as well as a few wanders around Acton we go out into the spectacular Vasquez Rocks Park with its weirdly eroded rock formations to get in a few miles before it’s too hot. Out here the hardy plants are already crisp and thorny, preparing their armour in readiness for the long hot summer.

Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Vasquez Rocks
Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Vasquez Rocks

Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Trail through Vasquez Rocks

Our walk is rewarded hugely when a large colourful snake crosses the trail – fortunately, as we have to get past it, a non-venomous type named the Pacific Gopher Snake – and, as if one isn’t enough, we stumble across a second, smaller one half a mile later. They are both surprisingly docile: we wonder whether the first days of summer have only recently brought them out of hibernation and they’re soaking up the sun in order to warm the blood.

Pacific Gopher snake Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Pacific Gopher Snake on the trail
Pacific Gopher snake Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Pacific Gopher snake Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Pacific Gopher Snake

Pacific Gopher snake Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California
Wester fence lizard, Vasquez rocks Mountains, Los Angeles California

A second snake and a Western Fence Lizard

The coastal stretch at Malibu is as beautiful and as incredibly expensive as ever, our shoreline and clifftop walk exercising our legs and lunch then removing one of those legs and an arm as well for good measure. Before we grab lunch, we pass large numbers of seals basking on the rocks or play in the sea at Point Dume, the familiar stench of their colony carried to the coastal path by the breeze. 

Malibu, Los Angeles California
Malibu
Lowers at Malibu, Los Angeles California
Flowers at Malibu, Los Angeles California
Flowers at Malibu, Los Angeles California
Spring flowers at Malibu

Seals at Malibu, Los Angeles California
Seal Colony Point Dume

Spring flowers decorate the hillside with reds, blues and yellows, pelicans defy gravity on the thermals and lizards heat up the blood in the morning sun. A handful of surfers bob on the waves waiting for the big one, dotting the sea with black specks like flies on a windshield. The breeze seems to alternate between just too chilly and pleasingly warm as spring evolves into the first days of summer, neither yet winning the tug of war.

Malibu, Los Angeles California
Malibu, Los Angeles California
Malibu, Los Angeles California

Phil, Lindsay and Michaela enjoying Malibu

Yet back in Acton, up in the mountains, the seasons are definitely more advanced, the mountains still holding their slender lead over the coast in the race towards summer.

It’s been a great way to end this trip, precious time with my daughter and Stacey, bonding with their amusing and endearing little dog Joni, unwinding after nine weeks of travel and reacquainting ourselves with California. It’s time to head home for a while. Here’s hoping that summer is arriving in England too. 

Joni at home Acton Los Angeles California
Joni, Phil’s new best friend

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