Vasquez Rocks

One of the things on my Los Angeles Resident to-do list was going to Vasquez Rocks Park, so when a friend asked us to join her and some of her friends I said yes without hesitation, dispute the fact that I was still having serious back issues. Luckily, it was getting better by now so Dan didn't override my invitation acceptance.

You may not know what Vasquez Rocks is just by hearing the name, but it is a Trekkie heritage site. It has had multiple appearances throughout the many, many years of Star Trek (including the planet Vulcan in that crap they call "new" Star Trek), but it is perhaps the most well known for the fight between Kirk and the Gorn.

If you watch even just the first minute or so, you can see that I'm standing right about where they are fighting, the only thing missing is the dead tree.




Remember this? So epic.

We made it out there in the early afternoon and I could recognize the iconic rock right away. With a squee of excitement we climbed it for the view. The park was practically empty, perhaps because it was a hot day. We shared our perch with one other family just as they were about to leave.

Someone in the parking lot told us that the hiking was pretty much go where you please, so we ended up doing just that. Originally, we attempted to follow a well worn path, but quickly turned off course when that path continued forward for quite a ways, did I mention it was hot?

We decided to try and make a loop back to the Star Trek rock by following some of the smaller paths. This created quite the adventure.

You may have noticed that these rock formations make plateau like platforms. This created some issue when we would follow a path, that disappeared onto a rock, which in turn would lead toward a cliff. Did I mention it was about 100 degrees hot?

We seemed to wander for quite a while, twisting and turning in our attempt to get back to the air conditioned car. After two hours and 3.5 miles, we triumphantly made it back to our vehicle. At the time, I don't think I could have been more excited to be inside a car than at that moment. I was even able to show off my magical ability of turning cherry red and not sweat but actually get the chills from heat! It's a cool trick.

In reality, it was a great time and and amazing hike. The rocks were unique to what I've seen before and the adventure in and of itself was fun.

But, I think next time I'll wait till winter. :)