Hike #2 - Debs Park, Part 1

The good news: I tracked down most of the pictures I took from my hike at Debs Park, and I even found out some new things about the park recently.

The bad news: I did this hike more than a year ago, I think. That means I'm relying on memory. I have MS. You see where I'm going with this? Also, this place was more like two parks in one, for reasons I will soon reveal. I'm therefore going to break this entry down into two entries. Trust me. You'll thank me for that.

So, for this hike, I took my nephew, who at the time was 10 years old. He loves animals of all sorts. Physical exercise? Not so much. But I figured I might be able to nudge him into a loop around this park if I promised a day outside with the possibility of lizards.

We set out for just-past-Chinatown-and-before-Pasadena, and found the park relatively easily. It's in sort of an odd place off the 110 freeway. I learned from my last hike that I needed a backpack, so I took one but didn't have much to drink. We stopped at a nearby bodega for some coconut water, and then we continued on to what I thought was the gate to the park. Turns out, it was the gate to the Audubon Center at the park (which closes earlier than the park, which is why this noted difference is important). No matter, we had plenty of time. We turned in at the big sign that says "Debs Park," and parked. Here's what that entrance looks like:

The parking lot is small, but probably just the right size, and the Audubon Center has some pretty great stuff. We spent a bit of time in the front store/visitor's center asking some questions and getting some educated answers. We saw snake skins from park residents (so we knew what to look for), my nephew rented a pair of binoculars for free (I had to leave my Driver's License as collateral), and we grabbed a few maps.

Outside that little store/center/place, there was a wall full of donor names, a pretty big conference room that looked like a great place to have meetings, some well-maintained public restrooms, and then a Children's Center. The entrance into the Children's Center is pretty gorgeous. Here, see for yourself:

That's a big multi-layer pond with all kinds of grass and lily pads and things I can't name in it. The multi-levels made it into a small waterfall-type deal, which sounded nice and calming, and looked like a great place to sit after a long hike and enjoy some coconut water. We made a mental note about that and then turned around and went in the opposite direction, through the parking lot, through the "main gate," and over to the trailhead, which also had a gate, and looked like this:

Turns out, we should have parked out here, on this road that leads into the park. That way, when the Audubon Center closes, and you're still up there hiking, you can come back to a car that's free to leave the premises. More on that later.

We started up the slight incline with our binoculars, backpacks, and maps. The trail is super wide and well-maintained (well enough that a car could take it no problem), and it's lined with all sorts of trees. One of the points on the map talked about "Walnut Forests," which I was sure meant that there were walnut trees to be found. Having no clue what a walnut tree looks like (Note to self: Get app on phone that shows what the heck different plants look like so you can identify them while actually hiking.), I took pictures of a few different one, and sought, in vain, for walnuts at every turn.

I should tell you, before I show you more stuff, that this place is huge. About 300 acres huge. (Maybe where you live that's not so huge, but in LA? Insane.) We were set to do a loop and had no idea how far, actually, we'd need to walk. Neither of us really cared since at this point it was an adventure, and we had snacks.

We walked for what felt like about a half-mile on a tree-lined road that went up and down and bunch and looked mostly like this:

It was really pleasant. My nephew looked hither and yon for lizards, and I poked around at the trees to see if they'd drop walnuts. We were having a decent time. There were inclines that got our heart rates up, but nothing life-threatening. There were views, like this one of Highland Park, which were pretty fantastic and helped me get to know this part of LA much better:

The park stretches for what feels like miles, I swear. I couldn't believe how far I felt from the freeway, when it was less than a mile away. Amazing.

The book recommended sticking to the "Walnut Forest Trail" and then switching to the "City View Trail." We did our best, using the map, and were pretty sure we succeeded in following her directions.I didn't know it at the time, but it turns out? This is a walnut tree:

The damned things were everywhere, but I had no idea. I thought walnut trees looked like this:
I mean, come on. If this was the only picture you had of a walnut tree, and then you saw the one above, would you think they were the same?.

Also, did you know that this is what walnuts look like when they're on a tree?I had no idea. Hence, of course, I was looking for the wrong "berry." I was searching for the brown-shelled wrinkly-looking thing we break open with nutcrackers during the holidays. Not these green apple-y like things. Damn.

We carried on past coastal sage brush galore and what I now know to be "toyon," but which I know as "Christmas Berry" bushes. There were a bunch of eucalyptus, too, which I love. We wound around for quite a bit, then stopped for a quick drink and a picture of the park and Audubon Center/parking lot from up above:

We wound around some more, saw some great views...and some more [I now know] walnut trees:

We made it up to a sort of ridge-like place, where things evened out after a long climb, and the flora and fauna changed quite a bit. We saw a bunch more people up here and figured we were onto something. Power lines took off down the backside of the "mountain," the terrain flattened out, and the views changed. Like this:

Shortly after this part, the trail became paved. I thought this was weird. I thought perhaps we'd taken a wrong turn. Alas, no, it's just paved right there. It goes back to unpaved in a few hundred yards. And then it gets a little fern-y. I don't know how else to explain it. Here:

See? Fern-y. Suddenly we were seeing bamboo, and ferns. Things got lusher, buggier, and greener. Big time. I figured we were pretty close to some water.And, after following the pavement for a bit, everything opened up, and behold, a little lake!

That's my nephew after picking up a big stick and skipping away with it towards the lake. There were signs all over talking about swimming safety and cooking rules. I almost thought we'd hit the jackpot and found a swimming hole.

Not so much. For the life of me, I have NO CLUE why there were so many signs about swimming. There is NO WAY anyone goes in that pond for aquatic fun. Just no way. I do this for a living, folks. This is not a swimming hole. It's a nice place to hang out and drink some coconut water and watch frogs and turtles and birds, but it's no swimming hole.  The color alone is enough to tell you that.

Though, if I had allowed him to, my nephew would've jumped right in there, shoes and all, looking for frogs. Here he is checking out the bamboo and saying hello to a few turtles that swam over to check him out.

We ran around the bog a few times, checking it out completely, looking at the different animals, commenting on the green-ness of the water. There are some picnic tables and trash cans here, which I thought was nice. We sat down for a bit to check out the maps we had and plan where to go from here. We could have gone straight on past the lake, but we weren't sure if the trail would loop around, or if we'd get back in time to see the Audubon Center (I'd promised my nephew he'd have plenty of time to explore it). We didn't want to go back to way we came: Boring! So we opted for a third route.

I'll get to that, and the other side of this lake, in Part 2....