Surviving Temescal Canyon

Today was a great day for summer weather to finally return (seriously, 65°F last week was dumb), because today was also a day off from work.  I've been meaning to go "hiking" (AKA walking on a canyon path) for awhile, so I looked up Runyon Canyon.

Yeah, no.  Runyon is known for being dog-friendly, and I am not.  Not going to hike at an off-leash dog place.  What other canyon have I heard of?...Temescal is the winner!

After lathering on sunscreen (I don't mind getting sun, but I do not want bad tan lines from my shirt) and driving all the way out there, I arrived just after noon.  I tweeted my location and choice of path, because maaaybe I watch too many 48 Hours Mystery about women who go missing as they go for a solo run, and are found months later all murdered and buried.  This way, they would know exactly where to send a search party in a few hours.

ANYWAY.

I'm kind of new at this whole "canyon trail" thing, and even though I read suggestions on Yelp, I didn't exactly know where to go when I got into the park.  I just kept walking straight, until the paved roads turned into a dirt path option.  There were a few signs for different paths, but I didn't know what they meant.  I just followed the arrow to the waterfall path.

The rest is best told through photos...

Lots of chunky rocks

Wait, what does that say?...

SUPER.  A warning about rattlesnakes.

Finally, I found other people at the waterfall!

The, uh, "waterfall." That's it.

Lots of colorful wildflowers...and lots of uphill.

Right when I think I might be lost forever, I find a sign directing me to the path home!

MORE uphill?  But how will I ever get down and go home?

The third or fourth little lizard I saw on the trail.  MUCH more welcome than the monster snake that tried to sneak in front of me!

I really liked that tall flower thing.

Look, another one of those tall flower doo-dads.

Wild wall of cacti

Back to civilization! I was so happy to finally see signs of "park" rather than just open wilderness.

It took me about an hour and a half to do the full "loop," though I wonder if I did it backwards. I saw far more people walking towards me—I actually think I only ever passed four people walking in the same direction as me. There were easier, flatter sections that I tried to jog, mainly in an effort to get back faster.  But overall, lots of on/off uphill, followed by lots of downhill all at once.  I had to slow down on the downhill so I wouldn't slide and fall (you know, momentum and gravity working against me).

Next time, I'm searching for Skull Rock.  Apparently it's about a half mile off a branch-off path.  I'll do some more research before so I can keep my "not getting lost and/or killed" streak intact.