Bus to Walk: - Day 2 on the Inman 300

Monday morning, 6 am, I was up and packing for the day. Breakfast at 6:30, out to catch bus 115 by 7:15. Upon boarding, I was helped immensely by the bus driver, Darnell who explained much of how the transit system works in regards to payments, transfers and using other transit systems. He offered to stop the bus and wait for me to run into a store to get proper change in order to buy a day pass! I declined, but then he asked the bus full of people to help me out with getting change for my $10 bill. I'm not in Seattle anymore! It was a welcome surprise to have such patient help. I rode 2 more busses in order to arrive back where I left off yesterday evening.

At the start I found this, presumably left over from the Rose Bowl parade. And yes, I was grateful and made good use of it. (Public Bathrooms are few and far between when one can't just find a spot in the wilderness.) 

Here I am at the base of the first stairwell of the day. 

Mid-morning I came upon this beautiful natural area, definitely not what I was expecting on an urban hike of LA. 

The stairwells came in many varieties & configurations. 

Highland Park reminded me of the Mission in San Francisco, where we used to live. I wished that Reed could have been there to soak in its sights, sounds and smells. In his honor, and because I was hungry and needed to use the bathroom again, I took myself out for second lunch. 

I ordered huevos con jamon and got all of this! I gratefully consumed it. 

On Eldred Street - the steepest street in LA, even though this picture doesn't demonstrate how steep it was. Way in the distance can be seen the start of the wooden staircase that would allow me to climb higher on Mount Washington. 

Here is the stair section - wooden, painted stairs, another indication that this is not wet Seattle. 

Another pocket natural area - the route took me along a couple of dirt paths on Mount Washington, where the homes where secured to the sides of precipices. 

My mom requested an up-close view of the wooden stairs, in order to see the grain of the wood. I just couldn't bring myself to hike back to the staircase in question, so I was fortunate that the route included another wooden staircase. 

So much beauty tucked in amidst dense urban living.  

And here I am at the end of the day on board the Gold Line train. I'm wore out, yet looking forward to another day of exploring. This hike is fantastic.