Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mts.

Tony and I did this hike a couple of weeks back, but I've just been so swamped with homework and activities I didn't have time to write until now. :( Pathetic, I know.

This hike was completed on Saturday, September 1st.

The highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains! What can I say? It was pretty awesome! It took us around 3 hours to complete the hike (loop back). We started in the afternoon because, if I remember correctly, we woke up late that day, hahaha!

And dang! Talk about hot and dry! It was a generally easy hike, but we sucked the shit out of that one bladder (3 L.) we brought along.

We started at the Mishe Mokwa trailhead. I know, it sounds really weird. Tony kept making up words when referring to it. Lol! Then we hit the backbone trail. And it hits the Mishe Mokwa again, letting us loop back to the beginning.

At the Ranger's before going to the trailhead.

Mishe Mokwa!

There weren't a lot of traffic on the trail, so we were lucky in that sense. Because it was very dry, we kicked up a lot of dust and dirt on the trail. My socks were pretty gnarly after the hike. And that always mean we got in a really good hike. :)

Stopped to pose at some midpoint.

We passed Echo and it was a good view of the cliff too!

Split Rock!
It was on the way.

So we decided to take a pic!
Although I looked like I was emerging from the rock
instead of having a cool pose like this guy over here. ;)

Along the trail, surprisingly, there were several of what I would like to call "asides." Short trails that spring out to interesting spots. We followed one of these to Inspiration Point, which was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

Aside to Inspiration Point

The sign was pretty cool.

This compass looking thing on the sign that points to different
landmarks, like Catalina and the Sandstone Peak.

A view around Inspiration Point.

Another view.

Other than Inspiration Point, there was also an aside to Balance Rock. However, we didn't go on that trail because it would take too much time (it was one of the long asides). But the head sign for the trail was really cool! Someone put a rock on it to imitate Balance Rock, which, truth be told, looks very much alike.

Here's the head sign.

Then we finally came upon Sandstone Peak! Tony was pretty tired of the hike at that point, not physically, but he was just worried about homework. Sucks when you're constantly nagged by your conscience about homework, eh? I get it all the time. You just grow used to it after some time. :)

Yeah, yeah!

The short flight of stairs leading up to a trail-less ascent to the peak.

The peak!

Highest point in Santa Monica, check!

After Sandstone Peak, we haven't had much time to do anything else other than school work. So that is kind of a bummer. I really want to go on more hikes.

On a brighter note, I am starting to check off my bucket list, too! I started my pole dancing class three weeks ago. There are just no words that could justify the experience. Sensual. Enlightening. Encouraging. Liberating. A chill in the spine. And just outright BADASS!

If any girls want to connect with their inner beauty, grace, and sexuality that will definitely shine through, I recommend this place: S-Factor Studios. Granted you have the time and money.

I'm waiting to buy my pole. I CAN'T WAIT to buy my pole actually. The only problem is I don't really have room to put it out and practice. My dorm has a slanted ceiling, so that won't work. Gonna wait until I'm better and get a better space I can freely dance in! :)

Other than pole dancing, I'm getting scuba certified! Already took the class and pool lessons last weekend. Gonna go beach diving this upcoming weekend and getting my certification! It's probably pretty awesome too that I have my own gears except for tanks (BCD, regulators, etc.).

Just gotta focus on homework through all this craziness. It's only the first month of school and I'm already kind of falling behind, hahaha! Totally worth it though! :D