Manhattan Beach Pier -- December 31, 2015

Placerita Canyon Natural Area -- December 30, 2015

First time at this park...  This was supposed to be a 7 mile loop hike with about 1,500 feet of elevation.  Because we missed an unmarked turn at about the half-way point of the hike, it turned out to be a 12 mile hike with about 3,000 feet of elevation!

Once we figured out that we were on the wrong path, it was 4 PM (gets dark at 5 PM) and we had to backtrack quite a bit to try and find the turnoff that we missed.  On the way back, we took what we thought was the correct turnoff but it turned out to be a dead-end...  adding even more to the backtracking...  Finally found the right trail which had a marker about 100 yards onto the trail, instead of at the junction!  Clarice & I got back to the car as it was getting really dark...

We had good cell reception and could use the map on the iPhone but the trails are not on the Apple maps.  Found out after, that Google maps actually shows the hiking trails on their map! (loaded Google Maps App on the phone for the future)  We stopped at Sawtelle for some ramen.  The area was so busy, we had to park about three and a half blocks away.  When we got out of the car to walk to the restaurant, our legs wouldn't work!  The short walk for ramen was so painful!  My upper legs were sore for several days after...

This is a bubbling small pool of "naturally filtered" petroleum coming up from the ground.  It's pretty much clear and is combustible (supposedly was used as-is to run a Model T...).

The last couple of miles of the trail back to the parking lot was very steep and undulating, along the spine of some hills.  It was so steep that it would have been nearly impossible to go up and down if the ground would have been more loose...  Luckily, the dirt was firm enough to get some traction...  Just barely...  We didn't fall down, fortunately.