Undeveloped. My kind of thing. And it turns out the trailhead is only a 5 minute walk from here..

Magic and I tried to hike this trail in January, but it wasn’t clear how long it was or if it was even a loop trail, so we hiked until we drank about half of our water (Magic isn’t the most efficient water user.. half of it ends up on the ground..) and turned back. I also had no idea what the place was called, so I couldn’t find a map. As it turns out, it’s only a 2.5 mile loop (though it’s a pretty decent hike with a 500′ elevation change), so this time we decided to do the whole thing.

It’s generally too hot here in the summer to do hikes like this during the day (magic overheats pretty easily with his black coat), but it was a cloudy, cool day in Malibu, so we gave it a go. We did the full loop, as well as a few of the small side trails, so it was about 3 miles or so. Lots of good photo opps at the higher elevations, though it was cloudy so things didn’t come out quite as well as I had hoped. (this was also with the little camera)

Here’s some info on the canyon, and photos below..

http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=4

http://www.lamountains.com/PressRelease/corral%20canyon.pdf

The Santa Monica Mountains are riding heaven. Desert/mountain/canyon/ocean/etc scenery all within a few minutes’ drive. I did a route along Highway 1 (PCH) -> Latigo Canyon -> Mulholland Highway -> Malibu Canyon.

This is some of the best riding I’ve ever done. Weather is always amazing in SoCal, and these roads were just killer. Unfortunately the roads are heavily patrolled by Malibu’s Finest, which keeps the fun factor down a little, but pretty much no matter where you turn, you’ll have a smile on your face.

The more time I spend in SoCal, the more amazed I am by the ridiculous amount of money out here. No matter where you go, there are huge estates with privacy hedges and gated entries. It’s not just Beverly Hills, but pretty much anywhere near any of the mountains and beaches, there are multi-million dollar mansions. It’s hard to believe that there are that many rich people in the world.

The messed up handling was a combination of a steering head bearing (replaced about a year ago) and a bad front tire (replaced today) — so much for the great Avon Azaro experiment. Never again. I have a Bridgestone BT016 there now, which makes the bike feel 75 pounds lighter. There’s a bit more vibration and road noise than with the Avons, but overall the bike is way better. Though, I think next time around I’ll probably head back to Michelin land — those original Pilot Sports (now Pilot Powers) were still the best tire that thing has ever had.

Stefan also fixed a number of things I didn’t even realize were wrong — coolant mix was too rich (not enough water), clutch cable needed tensioning, clutch and brake fluids needed changing, etc. Bike is running like a dream. Honestly, I was beginning to sour on the gal, but now things are good as new. Good thing, too, as the truck is still broken..

A few observations:

- Malibu Beach RV park is pretty amazing. I have a million-dollar view, there is no riffraff or shenanigans, it’s quiet, it’s pleasant, it’s.. well, it’s malibu. In a trailer.

- Malibu itself is too far from my people in LA, and the commute is irritating, but there isn’t anywhere closer to park. It’s not too bad on the bike.

- I sanitized the tank with bleach as recommended, and flushed it several times. I’ve been using the Brita regardless; the water isn’t amazing but I can’t tell if it’s a Malibu thing or a me-not-knowing-what-I’m-doing-with-the-airstream thing.

- The “fantastic fan” in the living room has a loose connection (white wire) and keeps going flaky, which is annoying. Same thing with the bathroom fan. Need to get these fixed at the next service.

- Keeping the dog in the airstream while I’m at work is interesting. You basically need to figure out how to set the temperature for warm afternoons and chilly evenings. My method has been to set the furnace as as well as the air conditioner, which seems wasteful, but I haven’t figured out a better way.

- The lots here in Malibu are packed sand. With packed sand, even with the stabilizers down, the high winds up here on the cliff still shake things up quite a bit. Occasionally I worry that I’m goign to wake up mid-fall onto the PCH.

- The Matthew McConaughey Airstream that was recently in architecture digest is indeed parked here, down behind the office. They say that there’s a 4 week maximum stay here, but it appears that he somehow got them to waive this.

- The pet gate I got for the truck is, basically, a miserable failure. POS. Need to find something better for my next long haul.

That’s all for now. Lots of pictures coming up.