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| awe Mr. Roarke, Tatoo!!! |
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| Fantasy Island waterfall |
Remember the opening scene of the TV show ‘Fantasy Island’ where the plane swoops through thick lush island foliage and right before Tattoo say’s his infamous line “the plane, the plane” – the plane passes right by a glorious and massive waterfall. I think that’s when I fell in love with nature and Hawaii. Did you know you can see a beautiful waterfall here in LA?
No Joke, it’s called Escondido Falls in Malibu and it is a GREAT hike. My hiking partner and I started our hike early as I don’t like to expose myself to too much sun and definitely not without any sunblock on! We had to hike on pavement through mansion type homes to finally get on the rustic hiking trail but once on it, it was so worth the wait.
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| little creek |
The hike was magnificent; you felt as if you were hiking through a secrete forest with little creeks crisscrossing the trail - you had to literally step on rocks to cross the creeks and the trees were so overgown it created a refreshing natural canopy overhead...ahhhhh.
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Fall #1 |
Then you get to the first waterfall and you immediately gasp as you say “where the heck did this come from?” It reminded me of Hawaii so I was instantly put in a good mood. But Escondido Falls has three, yes 3, waterfalls and that was just the first!
To get to the next one, oh boy was that fun!! I had to climb a steep little hill where the use of hands were a must. And to my adventure seeking surprise - there was a rope to help you up another incline which when I hiked it, it was slippery and muddy…cool!!
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| up hill using rope |
Once past the rope there is a quaint little mini fall that overspills into a pool of water where you can hang out a bit and snap pictures. But keep going to the second falls because “wow, what a site!”
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| mini fall |
At last, a tall cascading waterfall falling into a pool so serene and clear you just want to jump right in and swim in it. There are big trees and tree roots you can sit on. Some hikers even brought picnics. It’s definitely a place you want to chill at for at least 20 minutes taking in the beauty and snapping tons of pictures. It is so picturesque.
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| fall #2 pool |
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| Fall #2 Top potion (see the people?) |
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The third waterfall is visible once you start climbing higher but the terrain gets steeper and less traveled by hikers so I didn’t want to continue.
And I was told by other hikers that it’s not “as cool” as the first two. Sooo, I was happy stopping my journey at fall #2 and viewing fall #3 from afar.
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| Thumbs up on this hike! |
Escondido Falls is an easy hike even for beginners to the first waterfall but it does get more advanced having to climb steep little hills using your hands at times and let’s not forget one of my favorite moments, the use of a rope to get to up a steep incline, yeahhhh. This hike may not be for everybody but it is definitely worth every bit of work to see if you do go. And if you only attempt to make it to the first waterfall, you’ll still feel transformed to another time and place where nature overrules and time stops…simply sublime.
Isn't LA great? While LA is cultuarlly diverse, you can also find wonderful places to go out to enjoy the beautiful mother nature. Thanks for sharing your experience with the Escondido Falls trail. I'll have to hike it one day.
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