Winter

Here’s how you get winter in Los Angeles. You go up. The Saturday before Thanksgiving it rained and a cold front came through. The Sunday morning temperature dropped a whopping 5 degrees to 45. This did not daunt us northerners; son Eric and I set out for rock climbing in the San Gabriel Mountains. But just 45 minutes up Route 2, after passing rocks and other debris in the road from wind and rain, we encountered signs requiring chains or snow tires on drive wheels. We were not so equipped, so we parked the car and instead hiked five miles up the road to Mt. Wilson Observatory.

We must have reached an elevation of 5,700 feet; the temperature had dropped to 30 and the wind was relentless. It was snowy and icy underfoot, but we proceeded with determination in anticipation of warmth, a bathroom, and a tour of the observatory. Alas, the observatory was closed due to the weather. But the view was spectacular. The cold front had cleared the air, revealing a breathtaking panaroma of Los Angeles. We could see south to the ocean beyond San Pedro and Long Beach to the left of Palos Verdes, and the ocean beyond Santa Monica to the right of Palos Verdes. Even more remarkable, we could see the islands of Santa Catalina and maybe even San Clemente beyond Palos Verdes!

The day after Thanksgiving was warmer and the entire family drove to the Observatory, hoping for another panaromic view. But alas, the city lay under a white cover. Across the mountains far to the east however we could see the Cogshill Dam, where Eric and I bicycled two weeks before. We also got to see the 100” telescope which Hubble used in his pioneering work on the Big Bang and expansion of the universe.