Last week I decided to take part in another adventure and drove to the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu, California. After taking about a 45 minute drive down Pacific Coast Highway, we reached the Solstice Canyon trails. The drive itself was incredibly unique and only something you can experience if you live in California. I really enjoyed how the highway ran parallel to the crystal, clear ocean. We were already amused and in awe from how beautiful the drive was and we hadn’t even reached our destination yet.

After driving up a windy road leading to the trails hidden in the Santa Monica Mountains, the view was absolutely stunning. Parking was very limited so cars had to park carefully along the road. I got to experience a taste of some off-roading in my Prius.

After taking about a 10 minute walk we reached the entrance of the Solstice Canyon Trails. There were a variety of trails for us to chose from and of course we accidentally chose the one that was the most dangerous, tiring, and lastly breathtaking. (literally)

As we began to set foot further and further up the mountain of our choice, we started wondering where all the people at the beginning of the trail went. The sun was blaring onto our faces and our legs began to feel like noodles the further we got down the trail. However, we kept on going because there’s always going to be a “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” (even if the rainbow isn’t so colorful and relaxing) After about an hour of climbing up the steep trail, we had a view of all of the incredible, exotic, green plants covering the mountains.

After the highlight of our expedition (walking down the mountain) we met our “pot of gold.” We stumbled upon an old, burnt down, historical house. The house featured old frames and was decorated by colorful graffiti. This was definitely something you don’t usually see in Manhattan Beach. The left-over debris from the house appeared to look as if it was a ranch style theme. It definitely worked as a great resting place since we were amazed with what we had “accidentally” found.

It took us about 20 minutes to get back to our car since we walked a little further around the mountain and eventually found the shorter, less steep trail. The trail included many tourists and led them wondering why we were so out of breath for such a simple trail that we were walking on.

Even though we never meant to take such a bizarre trail, we sure found something unique and historic, and it was a legendary journey to remember. All in all we learned that sometimes you may not mean to take a certain path, but if you let your curiosity take control and set your mind to it, you can can stumble upon something so great, worthwhile, and least expected.

*Recommendations for trip*

-WATER and lots of it

-sun screen

-comfortable clothes

-wanderlust (noun) a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.