Hiking - Solstice Canyon

We took the boys hiking today at Solstice Canyon in Malibu. Nicholas has a cold and kept telling me he didn't want to go play soccer (I told him we were going to the park to go for a walk). We got there and were lucky to get a decent parking spot at the beginning of the trail. There was an incline most of the way up, and the trail was not completely paved like I thought. But both boys seemed to enjoy it and even got out of the stroller and walked a little bit. Christopher kept picking up rocks and sticks along the way and happily called out to all of the dogs that passed us.

The short hike along the Solstice Canyon trail brought us to the ruins of a burned down ranch house. The ranch house belonged to a "supermarket magnate" Fred Roberts, and was designed by Paul Williams, who also designed homes for Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra. The house burned down in 1982 but the general blueprint remains, including fireplaces, a bathtub, an old stove, an old oven, and some partially intact walls. The house is surrounded by a number of non-native plants, and a little stream flows nearby creating a waterfall. You can scramble up the waterfall to catch some additional falls and ruins, including a set of the Roberts family handprints carved into the cement.

Surprisingly, Nicholas climbed up the rocks with me and sat on a log overlooking the waterfall to take a picture with me.

The hike down was so much easier and both boys sat in the stroller enjoying a snack on the way down, and thankfully fell asleep after they got in the car.