Oranges and Avocados

Walk this way. Photo courtesy of Kitty Cattaraugus.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, swollen with stuffing and pie, I enlisted a few adventurous friends for a day of urban hiking. The surrounding mountains and coastline of Los Angeles offer hundreds of nature trails, but I love to walk through unknown neighborhoods on routes I would never have occasion to drive. There is so much to see and discover.

For this hike, we set a 10-mile course from Echo Park to Pasadena, traversing Alvarado St., Glendale Blvd., Fletcher Dr., Eagle Rock Blvd., Yosemite Dr., and a jaunt up Figueroa before turning down the home stretch of Colorado Blvd. to our final destination, Lucky Baldwin’s tap room. We walked at an easy pace, some of us even wore dresses, some of us Chuck Taylors. We stopped whenever we felt like it for photo-ops, shoelace tying, tree-climbing, contests, ice cream cones and the occasional bowling alley beer. It was an exceptionally fun day. I can’t wait for the next “Hike Club” walk to Venice Beach. Who’s in?

Thanks to fellow blogger Kitty Cattaraugus for some lovely photos.

One of the greatest tattoos of all time.

Front row: Kittenplan, Butter, MelissaAwesome Back Row: Kitty, Sweet, me, The Husband. Photo courtesy of Kitty Cattaraugus.

Awesome street art by JR.

Freeway crossing.

Can't pass up a dipped ice cream cone, or a "you won't believe it's this good" crispy chicken sandwich. Photo courtesy of Kitty Cattaraugus.

Frosty is doing pretty well in the heat. He deserves a hug.

Our famed Los Angeles River being reclaimed by nature.

Butter shows us that tree climbing is glamorous.

This driveway demanded a footrace.

Kitty takes a breather in an opportune chair.

A sign that we've made it! The Colorado Street Bridge will take us to Pasadena.

Crossing the Colorado Street Bridge.

Victory!

Sunset, our shadows long, it is time for a well-earned beer. Photo courtesy of Kitty Cattaraugus.