What's nice about this hike is, it's relatively close if you are near the LA area and easy to get to from a few directions. The trails are marked and signs are everywhere to get you to the sign and to Griffith Observatory. We took the Trail Canyon route where at the start you could check out the bat cave from the 1960's. We didn't, but plenty of walkers headed that way first.
The sign is in the hills, so the hike is up hill...all the way. At times, pretty steep and pretty dirty and dusty. It wasn't a particularly hot day, so we made it easily through the winding uphill climb.
As someone who works indoors all day, every day, getting out on the weekends is a must, but getting out with family can be challenging with schedules that consume us. Since it was Mother's Day, no complaints or excuses were made. We got up, ate breakfast, and headed out. What I love on our hikes together is not just breathing in the fresh air and appreciating all God has given us to enjoy, but the conversations and the challenges of the day. When you are out in the open and free, you share your dreams and your ideas, you sometimes have to struggle through the heat of the climb or the windy day and work together to get to the top. With an 18-year-old getting ready to graduate in a few weeks, I cherish each of these days.
I listen to his dreams, his fears, and his triumphs.
I hear him concerned about the future and what life will be like. And I want to tell him it is all going to work out but sometimes, he just needs me to listen and hear.
Instead, I keep quiet or ask questions.
I try not to advise, although sometimes it's difficult.
I try not to judge and let him figure it out, but it is hard.
I love him and tell him I am proud of who he has become.
I tell him it will be different, but it is good.
At the end of the day, we conquered the hill and we saw the the sign but most important, we lived and breathed and learned...together.
"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
-Proverbs 22:6
