Up the canyon

One of my favourite things that we did in LA this time round was hiking Temescal Canyon in the rain. Yes, rain! El Niño changed the weather patterns this year, and so for the first four days it was pouring with rain, but I didn't mind one bit as I've never seen LA so lush - ever. It's such a city of contrasts (on so many levels), and while you have to spend years of your life in traffic, you're also very near nature, be it canyons, deserts, mountains or the ocean. We ended up in the clouds and couldn't see the city at all, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. As LA is pretty empty of parks people use the canyons to the north of the city as their recreational grounds (it's either that or the beach), but on this rainy day there was hardly anyone else there. I will never forget that walk - it's definitely up there as one of the best I've ever taken.