I headed into the hills again. This time Will Rogers State Park in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood is the stomping ground. The trail marked Inspiration Point piqued my curiosity. So up I went. After climbing one hill, I looked back and took this shot. The polo grounds are visible in the foreground.

view towards Century City

It was a patchy cloud, partly sunny type of morning with some fog burning off. Onward up the hill I go. Around a bend the Santa Monica mountains come into view. I am surprised by the lack of evidence of people on this side of the hill.

view towards Santa Monica mountains

After rounding a few more bends and climbing a few more hills, I reach my destination of Inspiration Point.

view of Century City from Inspiration Point

Next, I turn towards the ocean which is also visible from this vantage point.

view towards Santa Monica beach

The fog is obscuring the ocean view this morning so I zoom in to see what I can capture.

shoreline Santa Monica

I can just make out the shoreline through the haze. The view of the city from Inspiration Point is impressive and the LA sprawl becomes apparent. I am inspired to return with a tripod and try to capture a true 360° view. About 270 of those degrees are urban sprawl and about 90 are wilderness. On my way down, I encountered a sign pointing the way to the Backbone Trail, a ridgeline trail in the Santa Monica Mountains running from Will Rogers State park to Point Mugu. I started down the path a few steps and a sign warning about mountain lions came into view. With the recent appearance of a mountain lion in downtown Santa Monica and the fact that I was alone on my mind, I performed a 180. I will save that for another day.

Click on the highlighted text for further information about Will Rogers State Park and the many activities available there, and the Backbone Trail.

~ Sue