For various reason we've gotten back into doing consistent family hikes each weekend this fall, and it has been a delight. Now at 5 years old, our Pirate preschooler Forest is a full-on schooler and has been more enthusiastic about hiking then he was last year. Recent adventures have included a rugged bike course on Rocky Peak in Chatsworth and an off-trail scramble to discover this waterfall in Dunsmore Canyon on Mt Lukens.
Forest's best strength right now is rough, off-trail scrambling. Extended uphills bore him and he loses motivation, but if things are rough and tumble he stays stimulated and there isn't much that can stop him. For example, in Dunsmore canyon we also climbed this crag we discovered that featured good holds:
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So with mommy out of town for the weekend, I was curious to put Forest's scrambling ability to the test. I had found an exciting mini-mountain in the Modelo formation in Calabasas that could function as a short ride on a fast machine: a razor-thin ridge and steep ascent without a trail all happening in the first mile. The topography was rugged but the proportions miniature - a good test for a 5 year old Ice Pirate. And with Mommy out of town, Daddy was free to go pirate-mode.
It has been years since I did a hike in the Santa Monica mountains, which this technically is part of. But when I lived in Santa Monica I throughly covered them, which is why I haven't been back since moving to the SFV. You can read all about why this is the case here: viewtopic.php?t=8912 I miss the amazing ocean views, and as long as you can find obscure spots away from the crowds, there is plenty of exciting adventure to be had.
But ANYWAYS, back to questionable parental judgement calls. I was extremely vague about what we were doing on the drive over, as I usually am with Forest. I said basically we had to find a playground at a preschool, and climbing up this random steep AF road cut somewhere in Calabasas was the only way to get there. Forest didn't question this scenario for a moment, and we immediately were in class 2 terrain crawling under shrub oaks. The first bit was the hardest and sketchiest. Here is our view about 15 minutes in, looking back down to the street we came up from:
Forest was in front me crawling up while I stayed right below to catch him if he fell. The Modelo Formation shale was crumbly but navigable.
Forest doesn't even break a sweat with class 2 off-trail scrambling now, and some of what we were doing could be considered class 3, which had me a little nervous now and again but it was an incredibly fun and bonding experience with my kid to be doing something so intense that I'm passionate about and getting to share it with the little guy. Forest the entire time thought this was just how people get to the 'playground', and while clinging to crumbling shale on a 45º slope weaving under shrub oak he would still be talking a mile a minute like he always does, randomly saying things like "Daddy, did you know milk comes from cows? I didn't know that but cows make it" while we picked our class 3 lines.... I had to be careful to pick those lines for him, because I quickly realized he would just go straight up whatever was right in front of him no matter what it may consist of. We called using our hands to climb up "cat style" which delighted him.
The ridge eventually chilled out a bit, and we could start walking again, without needing to do "cat style." Here we are progressing up the ridge, Forest a little puzzled as to where the playground is exactly:
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The ridge soon narrowed to a slab razorblade of Modelo Formation shale, and after scouting it for myself solo with Forest waiting below, I reluctantly made the parental judgement call that we should go around it on a lower bench. If Forest was just a couple years older I'd take him along it. Photos always flatten things out, but maybe you can get a sense how narrow it was here:
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Our route up from the bench was still pretty exciting though, with more cat-style climbing:
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We were now on the summit, and worked our way along the top for a while, admiring a large mystery object that may have been a car a long, long time ago. Seen better days.
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And this powerful security camera that was thankfully pointed *at* the properties down below, and not where we were.
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And finally the playground was spotted down below!!!! Forest wanted to climb down to it, but I told him "we had to go around" aka, it was on private property, so it was to evade us this day. So I didn't lie to him - you *could* go the route we went to reach a playground.
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On the way down we admired the crumbling fossiliferous Modelo formation and the trees that desperately try to make it their home.
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.... and enjoyed all of its fun crumbling:
Forest was a champ on this hike! The key is to keep it exciting, and on this one we certainly did. Questionable dad judgement for the win.
1.76 miles, 828 ft of gain.
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The search for Calabasas Klubhouse
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Nate U
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JeffH
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The end of that ridge is not just thin, it's pretty steep. You chose wisely to turn back.
Great day out with Forest.
Great day out with Forest.
"Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours".
Donald Shimoda
Donald Shimoda