Hiking Echo Mountain Trail

After last night's adventures in ramen town, I decided today would be a great day to try a new hike and the weather was perfect for it. I'm always on the lookout for new hiking trails to try and the LA area seems to be great for that, with its abundant mountains and canyons. On today's menu was the Echo Mountain trail in Alta Dena, just outside of Pasadena. It's a 5 mile round trip trek with a 1400' gain/loss up the mountain, with the peak elevation being just over 3200'. My personal requirements for a good hiking trail are that it be a minimum of 5 miles and have a significant elevation climb. I like a workout!

To get there, take the 210 freeway and exit Lake Avenue. You'll want to head north for about 3.5 miles towards the mountains and you've arrived once it turns left at Loma Alta Drive. There's plenty of street parking just past the bend on Loma Alta.

The entrance to the trail is a bit misleading unless you know what you're looking for, because otherwise you might think you're trespassing. Fear not, the Cobb Estate gates is where you do want to go, and you'll see places on either side of the gates to continue onto your adventure. Simply follow the paved path until you see a small marker indicating a trail to the right. This is high tech stuff folks. :)

I'm not sure if I went on an exceptionally busy day or if this trail is just that popular, but there were people everywhere. I wasn't used to that since nearly all of the trails I normally hike are void of human life. I actually prefer to not see anyone whilst footing it because it makes the journey that much more enjoyable and peaceful. However, I sucked it up and began on my way.



























If I could offer any advice for this trail, it would be in two very simple words: Pace Yourself. I'm one of those weirdos that gets really excited like a race horse out of the gate and speed walks until I'm dry heaving and feel my heart pounding in my ears. Don't do that with this trail, no matter how much you want to. Why you ask? The entire first half of the trail, 2.5 miles, is practically straight uphill with no breaks. You'll find yourself zigzagging up the mountain and just when you think you should be at the top soon, you see yet another corner to go around. At one point, I stopped and said, "Seriously?"



Another thing that made this trail slightly unpleasant was the constant line of people coming down as I was going up. Because the trail is very narrow for the most part, it made me feel like I was part of a line of ants passing one another on a leaf stem. There were plenty of other distractions, such as the sound of traffic from the city below and something else that sounded like a marching band practicing somewhere. Perhaps I've turned into the Trail Snob, because one of the things I love most about hiking is the perfect silence you hear. Living in such a large city, you take things like that for granted. On most of the canyon hikes I've done in LA, at any point you can stop and the sound of a bumble bee's wings buzzing will seem extremely loud. It's like Calgon for my eardrums. Don't expect that on the Echo Mountain trail though.

Don't get me wrong though, this is a ruggedly handsome hike. You get great views of downtown LA and Pasadena below... even on an overcast day like when I went.

Once again though, I reiterate, that you'll find yourself saying things like "Are you shitting me?" every time you think you've made it to the top.. only to find another damned turn. Yes, it's a bit ridiculous like that. Extremely ridiculous. As soon as you hit the little 2 mile marker, rest assured that you only have another half mile to reach the top! Make sure to congratulate yourself when you do reach the junction point at the top, though it's not quite the final destination. Note that when you do hit the junction point, to continue straight ahead in the direction you had been going. The trail branches off into a couple of different paths and going left, uphill, will lead you another 3 miles or so to a camp site. You instead want to head toward the Castle Canyon trail.




Fret not, you're really almost there. Along the way, you'll see all kinds of interesting historical items left over from the Mount Lowe Railway and "The White City", which were built in the late 1800s, but were destroyed. Apparently this was the spot for well-to-do folks back in the day, who were lucky enough to take a trolley up the mountain to a nice resort area. Sadly it burned down in the early 1900s.

If anyone was kicking themselves in the ass for not bringing something to snack on, it was me. Tons of people were lounging at the top, where the resort ruins were, lunching. A group had brought boxed meals and when one person called out "Does anyone need mayo?" I almost said yes just so I'd have something to tide me over. I instead tapped my empty water bottle against my leg and decided to explore the historical markers.


One of the more fun attractions was the Echo Horn, which faced the mountain. Everyone was tempted to shout into it to hear themselves echo off of the hills. My favorite was the older hispanic man who literally screamed like a girl, several times. After leaving the fun metal toy of science, I explored the old picnic grounds and found that yes, anything you yell into the echo horn can be heard all over the place. I can only imagine what the picnic goers were thinking of Mr. Girlie Man.

After milling around for a little bit, I decided it'd be a good time to head back down. This was the absolute least favorite part of my entire hike. I'm what is known as "Downhill Walking Challenged". No matter what kind of surface I am on, I will inevitably slip and slide down, tearing up my ankles in the process. Yes, this is far worse for me than hiking straight up a mountain and busting my calves. If anyone can give me pointers on how to walk like a normal human, please let me know! On the hike up, I saw numerous people actually running downhill. One guy even had untied shoe laces. Wtf. Me being the Walk-tard that I am, I did manage to fall down right in front of some nice older ladies. I assured them I was ok and that "I do this all the time". I hurried past them in embarrassment and tried not to land on my hands again. I found myself taking painful baby steps around corners when others were blasting past me. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly twisted my ankles going downhill.

This uphill one way, downhill the other factor is another tally mark of the Echo Mountain trail list of "Things I Didn't Care For". I love hikes that go up and down, giving me a constant challenge by mixing it up. There was very little challenge on the return trip down the hill other than staying on my feet. I almost wished they would have had a zip line from the top of the mountain to the bottom. I'd have paid $20 to go on that. Not because I'm lazy.. but because a one legged ostrich would have an easier time walking down than I would. :-p

Despite all of the bitchery, this was a decently good trail. I made it and felt like I got a moderate workout. Would I go on this trail to relax? Probably not. Would I go to get a nice leg and ankle workout? Yep. I took lots more pictures along the way of the trail, vegetation, etc. Click to view-- Echo Mountain Trail Pictures