Urban Oasis...

One of the great things about Los Angeles that many visitors never really take advantage of is the amount of Nature that is right at your fingertips... sure, everyone knows about the beaches and the great flora and fauna but what I love best is all the fabulous mountain and canyon hiking that is available minutes from the most urban of settings....

I recently spent the weekend with my dear friend of almost 30 years...Mademoiselle M... who has lived in Los Angeles most of her life and always shares with me the most wonderful things the city has to offer...we love to hike together and so that is what we did in fabulous weather. As the temps hovered around 15 degrees in Chicago I was thrilled to be hiking in temps reaching 85 degrees..but with NO humidity!

There was a soft breeze too... so it was just nirvana...after leaving the Midwestern Winter.

So many trails and canyons...you could get lost for days...

There are trails for every level of endurance too...

My favorite thing was seeing the Pacific Ocean in the distance...

One of my favorite " bends in the road" as we headed back down....

This image made me chuckle...an "Urban Cowboy" on a cell phone....

I have a fascination with unique tree trunks whenever they appear...

On another afternoon we did another hike...beginning our journey by this wonderful tree...

soon I could see the Pacific Ocean on one side...

 and snow capped peaks on the other....

Many trees are bare because it is technically Winter there too...

I loved the flowering bushes growing wild along side our path as well...

On our way back down the mountain I kept marveling at how we could feel so alone in nature right in the middle of the second largest city in the U.S....amazing!