I've never been much of a hiker. In fact, I haven't embraced nature in quite some time - mainly because I never had the desire to do so. However, the other day I thought I would practice what I've been preaching and try something new. So, after spending the morning searching wheresmynextjob.com for any new job postings and then checking my voice mail to discover no messages, I decided to take a hike!

Turns out, I really didn't have to travel far from my front door to become "one with nature". Fifteen minutes away from here up off Mulholland Drive is Coldwater Canyon Park, made up of a bunch of fire road trails and the home of TreePeople, an environmental non-profit that maintains and operates the park.


Founded in 1973 by teenagers, TreePeople is dedicated to helping nature heal our cities. So far, they've planted more than two million trees, and each year the organization educates thousands of kids about environmental responsibility. I really like that.

The trails up there are wide enough and not too steep at all - perfect for a novice hiker like myself. You know, it's easy to temporarily forget your troubles when you're huffin' and puffin' up one of those trails. Ah, nature...who knew?



Check out these pictures. This is what it actually looks like up there!