Topanga State Park: July 30, 2011

This was a surprise trip. Erinn is very good at things like that. Planning things out, organizing them, surprises... Erinn's got that down. I get lost in the details, but she pulls it all together and it's always great. This time she just told me to be at her house nice and early so we could hit the road before the sun came up. I had no idea where we were going except that we were headed south.
A little after sunrise, we pulled into the parking lot of Topanga State Park, which is right in the middle of a very nice neighborhood near Santa Monica, CA. We pulled on our hiking shoes and headed for the peak. It was a beautiful hike. I'm sure true hikers wouldn't say it was very strenuous, but for novices like us it definitely tested our resolve. We made it halfway, myself drenched from sweat, and we sat for a few minutes before continuing for the top of the mountain. It's a good thing we came as early as we did, because not only did it get quite warm as the day wore on, but the trail got very busy.
After the hike we took it easy down in Santa Monica. It was a great day and a wonderful surprise trip.