Lake Tahoe is about a nine hour drive from USC, but there are still so many wonderful outdoor adventures nearby in LA! I wanted to share some of my rock climbing stories and favorite hikes around LA. Quick disclaimer: I just rock climb for fun! I’ve done some top rope climbing in Arizona, but many of my experiences in LA were impromptu (more to come later). For any pro rock climbers out there, there are definitely many more spots where you can actually bring out gear.
Last year, I went with a couple of friends from an org I’m in, Code the Change, and went on a hike near Lake Arrowhead (about a two hour drive). It was the Arrowhead Pinnacles Trail, which takes you through some pretty intermediate trails to some amazing views of the San Bernardino Mountains.
Of course, we got lost on the way. This trail is pretty popular for rock climbers because of some weirdly shaped rocks, but we were definitely not a group of rock climbers. But we were determined to get to the peak and to do that, we had to climb some rocks:
[/cs_text][x_slider animation=”slide” slide_time=”7000″ slide_speed=”1000″ slideshow=”false” random=”false” control_nav=”false” prev_next_nav=”true” no_container=”false” ][x_slide][/x_slide][x_slide]
[/x_slide][/x_slider][cs_text]After a lot of scrapes and scary looking rocks, we made it to the peak! And we found out we weren’t too far from the trail the whole time, but we made it an adventure to get up there. One of my friends called me a “mountain goat” because of how fast I was moving around the rocks! This started a bit of a tradition for us, so the next time we went hiking, we found some cool rocks by the trail and did a bit of impromptu scaling for fun! [/cs_text][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/IMG_0989-e1521837823746.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” style=”width: 70%;display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;”][cs_text]There are a lot of great opportunities to get outdoors here in LA. Malibu, Runyon Canyon, and the Hollywood Hike are some popular destination spots! If you’re looking for more rock climbing places, there is also a bouldering gym nearby in Culver City named Cliffs of Id. It’s great to get outside during the weekends and explore what LA has to offer! You might end up getting lost like me and my friends and discover a new hobby. Just remember to stay safe out there!
That’s all from me for now! Have a great weekend and fight on :)[/cs_text][cs_block_grid type=”two-up”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/5″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”color: hsl(0, 95%, 18%);”]About the Author[/x_custom_headline][x_image type=”circle” src=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Slack1.jpg” alt=”” link=”true” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/yingyu/” title=”” target=”blank” info=”popover” info_place=”bottom” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”Yingyu Computer Science ’19”][cs_text class=”cs-ta-center”]Yingyu is a junior studying Computer Science. Click above to find out more![/cs_text][cs_icon_list][cs_icon_list_item title=”@yingyu_sun” type=”instagram” link_enabled=”true” link_url=”https://www.instagram.com/yingyu_sun/” link_title=”@yingyu_sun” link_new_tab=”true” style=”font-size:18px;”]@yingyu_sun[/cs_icon_list_item][/cs_icon_list][x_gap size=”50px”][x_custom_headline level=”h5″ looks_like=”h5″ accent=”true” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”color: hsl(0, 95%, 18%);”]Check it Out[/x_custom_headline][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hackathon.jpg” alt=”” link=”true” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/study/computer-science/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][x_button size=”mini” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/study/computer-science/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””]Computer Science[/x_button][x_gap size=”30px”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/los-angeles_1.jpg” alt=”” link=”true” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/free-time/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][x_button size=”mini” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/free-time/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””]LA Life[/x_button][x_gap size=”30px”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/USC-campus-Hahn-plaza.jpg” alt=”” link=”true” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/orgs/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][x_button size=”mini” block=”true” circle=”false” icon_only=”false” href=”https://viterbivoices.usc.edu/orgs/” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””]USC Campus Faves[/x_button][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”false” marginless_columns=”false” class=”cs-ta-left” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column bg_color=”hsla(0, 27%, 74%, 0.03)” fade=”true” fade_animation=”in-from-bottom” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”true” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”color: hsl(0, 96%, 23%);”]More From Viterbi Students[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_recent_posts type=”post” count=”2″ offset=”” category=”” orientation=”horizontal” no_sticky=”true” no_image=”false” fade=”true”][x_recent_posts type=”post” count=”2″ offset=”2″ category=”” orientation=”horizontal” no_sticky=”true” no_image=”false” fade=”true”][x_recent_posts type=”post” count=”2″ offset=”4″ category=”” orientation=”horizontal” no_sticky=”true” no_image=”false” fade=”true”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]