How you can tell it’s fall in L.A., according to a guy from Vermont
At the bottom of the ocean, beneath the waves
The great outdoors is something you don’t find much of in Southern California, but there is one place in particular that brings nature to life every September. On the night of Aug. 28, more than 100 of us packed into a field at the end of a dirt road, and hiked in for a fall hike to get away from it all.
You don’t have to hike far to find the magic. From a small creek that was once a man’s toilet, to the remnants of a Native American Indian encampment, to a private mansion and the ruins of a prison, the site is all the same – peaceful, serene, and inviting for nature lovers.
“This is what I love about Southern California: There is a lot of nature down here,” says Keshna Singh, a native of India who is now co-founder of the organization and founder of the fall hike. Singh said the idea of the hike sprang from her experience seeing the beauty and diversity of nature while hiking in India.
“It is as if you are hiking in the Himalayas here, the great outdoors, nature, and all the elements,” she says.
As we walked through the site in the dark, Singh held a flashlight in one hand and a flashlight on her phone in the other. She said the idea for the group came from her experience with a group of friends hiking up to the top of Mount Whitney in 2012, and she wanted to bring an event celebrating the autumn harvest to her community.
It was a perfect opportunity, she says.
“We have a lot of rich agricultural traditions down here. It’s an opportunity to show it off, to show us that we can also be a part of the harvest,” says Singh.
So after months of planning, Singh invited all of us – friends and strangers – to come out to the top of her property in September. It was the perfect day for the hike.
In her yard, Singh set up a gazeb
