Workout of the Day: Take a Hike

I'm not much of an outdoorsman, camping for me would need to include the ability to shower twice a day and preferably sleeping in a camper like Tim Allen did on his wilderness treks on Home Improvement.  But with a lunch planned, a suggestion to take a hike before hand sounded like a great way to earn what was to be a delicious yet deep fried affair after.  Malibu, the 21 mile strip of beach side property and affluent home of the stars is a weird place.  Located just north of Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast Highway, it's a serene and seemingly underdeveloped piece of paradise where Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men lives along with Mel Gibson, Cher and Oprah Winfrey.  There's been a brouhaha between locals and visitors as fake parking signs and garage facades seek to protect the public beaches from the masses. Everything seems spread out and looks like it's been there a long time with that rustic, dusty and made from wood motif that most beach towns have.

Just off the PCH and Sunset is the entrance to the Los Liones Trails, a surprisingly uncrowded bit of natural exercise and sightseeing.  There's several trails but we opted for the main, not that hard one.  It took about a half hour to get to the top and I was sweating if not dripping one.  There's plenty of shade throughout but a bottle of water is a good idea to bring with.  Never too steep or hard to navigate, I'm sure my calves will be feeling it tomorrow.  It's kind of a narrow trail, much of it isn't wide enough for two people to walk side by side.  But people were friendly and made room for each other while a few fitness buffs were running the trail to up the ante.  At the top is a beautiful view of the beach which made the trek well worth it to take a break from being indoors and challenge the muscles in a different way.  Parking at the bottom is ample unlike that overcrowded, dog crap infested Hollywood scene, Runyan Canyon so I definitely wouldn't mind doing the hike again.