The phone rang at 5:30 AM and I decided to take Wednesday’s training up into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. I got the call to fill in for a teacher at Highland Oaks Elementary. Wednesday, I was a 4th grade teacher. Highland Oaks is in Arcadia up on Santa Anita Blvd. It’s close to Sierra Madre and The Old Mount Wilson Trail so I planned on running up to First Water after work.
The kids were great. I usually work w/ middle schoolers or high school age students so this was something a bit refreshing. I shake my head a bit at the technology that’s in some of these classrooms these days. They had a microphone for the teacher , big screen monitor, something they call a document camera, some kind of funky pen to outline stuff on the screen ala John Madden and a few other assorted electronics. This is 4th grade…Ramona The Brave, Crayons, California History…an occasional “accident” in the pants. There are some universities that don’t have this kind of technology. Towards the end of the day the kids had a section on robotics. The kids construct robots then use software to program their robots to perform certain movements. Times have changed some since I was in 4th grade, however it’s good to see kids still enjoy a good story read to them. Today's Story was a Christmas tale called The Silver Package. Work was enjoyable today. I tried the microphone very temporarily but I felt ridiculous using it. Too much like a game show host…. "Johnny Smith, come on down! It's time for you to share!"
Work ended and since I was close to Sierra Madre I figured I’d head to The Old Mount Wilson Trail. Turns out that trail is closed (for now) during the week due to trail repair. Since that was the case I traveled a bit West to the top of Lake Avenue in Pasadena and the Sam Merrill Trail to Echo Mountain.
The trail is named after the man who tended it for years. During the 1940s Sam Merrill was a familiar sight along the trail to Echo Mountain. Several times a week he would rise early, grab his tools and work all day long on the pathway. Merrill vastly improved the trail that had long since overgrown. In 1948, while on the trail, Merrill lent a hand and helped the Forest Service put out a brush fire. Perhaps he overexerted himself. Merrill died in his sleep a few days later at the age of 80.
BELOW: Looking Westward from the Sam Merrill Trail. Las Flores Canyon and Cobb Estates
Echo lies in the foothills and was once the site of two hotels along the Mount Lowe Railway. Passengers would arrive at Rubio Canyon via the Red Car, hop on The Great Cable Incline and arrive at the Echo Mountain Hotel. There, they were rewarded with beautiful views of the basin below and could spend there time hiking, lounging, playing tennis on the tennis courts, cutting the rug in the dancehall, or visiting the little zoo.
Below: Echo Mountain then:
Below: Echo now from approximately the same vantage point:
If patrons wanted a more alpine experience they could continue further on the route via rail to the Mt. Lowe Hotel. All structures of the Mount Lowe Railway have long since been reclaimed by mother nature. Financial and natural disaster proved too much for these two unique Southern California landmarks. Mt Lowe Railway 1893-1936.
Below: Looking East at the top of the Great Cable Incline
Below: Atop the stairs looking down the Great Incline:
Below: The last remnant of the Great Incline Section. An old cablewheel
Tennis anyone? May I have this dance? Foundations of dancehall and courts. Now a picnic area
Bits of old hardware, pottery and glass from the hotel:
A hundred-year-old nail against the sky:
Running up the Sam Merrill Trail. Actually a combo of running and fast power hiking. Made good time to the top and then got a good quad workout with the downhill return:
2 comments:
Cool pictures; nice history on the region.
Where did you get the Blogspot gadget for uploading 30 sec. clips?
Blog gadget to upload videos..... I don't know. It's just there. I didn't add it. It's on the toolbar next to the picture upload. Takes forever to upload.
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