What We See

Once upon a time my city-bred brother came on a hike with me to a waterfall. It was a short trek from the Backbone Trailhead on Kanan Road at Newton Canyon (just before Tunnel T-1), about a mile south of Kanan’s junction with Mulholland.

This wasn’t a challenging hike except maybe to a three-pack-a-day, cream-filled-donut-inhaling individual whose idea of exercise is taking the trash to the curb. My brother, Gavin, walks his dog around the block for exercise. But he’s one of those lucky ones, naturally slender, and he lifts weights for some upper body definition. However, his favorite occupations are reading, watching TV and listening to music.

Still, Gavin was fairly game about going on this hike. What struck me as odd was when we hove into view of the waterfall, he expressed little excitement or appreciation. Gavin is an exceptionally literate and erudite person, both a man of letters and a rock ’n’ roll historian, but he only remarked "Yeah, so?" then sat with his back to the waterfall and took out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Granted—the Santa Monica Mountains have nothing to rival Yosemite, Niagara, Kakabeka, Apaka or Victoria Falls. But by dint of this very fact—we’re a pretty arid region, after all, and crammed with development that in some instances paves over or diverts natural waterways—viewing a waterfall in such a place is ultra-nifty. Well, I guess that could be considered the minority opinion of a person who never strays far from the Santa Monica Mountains. (I got the names of all those other waterfalls from an atlas.)

Plus, there’s that ephemeral quality to waterworks in the Santa Monicas. If we don’t get a wet year, then we get no creeks running except the very few year round ones (like Cold Creek in Calabasas and Solstice Creek in Malibu). If we get some good rains, however, there’s creeks roaring and waterfalls gushing—but not for very long; you’ve got to get out there fast before they shrivel and dry up.

Well, the experience with Gavin solidified the theory that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. With some urbanites, you can lead ’em to natural wonders, and they’re more interested in their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and checking the text messages on their cell phones. Though I find this sad, a hiking buddy said this is actually a very good thing. With that low level of interest and enthusiasm, he reasoned, it meant "less people out cluttering up our trails." I suppose he has a point. I don’t own a television so have no firsthand knowledge, but maybe all those reality shows are more exciting than real life nowadays.

The other day when the dog and I were hiking on a cold, windy afternoon, it suddenly began to rain lightly, even as the sun continued to shine its fiercely bright light. The droplets resembled a mystical shower of gold dust. A full moon drifted above the mass of ice-blue cumulus clouds draped over the burly shoulders of Castro Peak like a sagging fur stole. I found this to be one very fine reality show, although I wouldn’t have minded it being a few degrees warmer.

So pray for rain, then give the reality shows a rest and go explore some local waterfalls: Visit Arroyo Sequit Park, on Mulholland Highway a few miles inland from Leo Carrillo State Beach, which has an easy loop trail with close-up views of some honest-to-gosh gushers; Circle X Ranch on Yerba Buena Road in the Santa Monica Mountains high above the Malibu coast offers a great vantage point for viewing a very tall frothy ribbon of falling water (actually, if you look really hard you can distinguish two semi-adjacent waterfalls); in Malibu off the Pacific Coast Highway (traveling south from Kanan Road) catch Escondido Falls in Escondido Canyon (rated the highest cataract in the Santa Monicas) and the variety of picturesque small-to-medium-sized riffling waterfalls throughout upper Solstice Canyon; Newton Canyon as well as Zuma Canyon (access a variety of trails from Kanan Road or the end of Bonsall Drive) require a bit more challenging and rugged hiking but the rewards are—okay, I’m not going to say breathtaking. How about humbly impressive?

Bring your camera, watch your footing, watch for ticks because they love lush damp spots, maybe skinny dip if it’s a real hot day. I once fell in love with a man on the third date because he shucked his clothes and teetered over a ledge to take an impromptu shower in an icy cold upper Zuma Canyon waterfall. It wasn’t seeing him naked, believe me—it was seeing his rapturous expression. Like my brother, he was from the city, too. Unlike that city boy, he saw something of marvel, of magic, in that modest cascade, that down-home waterfall, also-known-as a local treasure.

The National Park Service is your best bet for help in locating the seasonal waterfalls of the Santa Monica Mountains; reach them at (805) 370-2301.