End Pavement

Seen along the Santa Ana River Trail (SART) on a bicycle trip between Redlands and Riverside earlier this week. These are all camera phone shots, though I might have to bring my real camera next time as there’s lots of photogenic stuff along the way.

“Looking for adventure…”

Yes, there’s an actual river here!

County Line between Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Santa Ana Rivulet?

Mt. Rubidoux; more of a large hill, really

Cool towers at Carlson Park, just beneath Mt. Rubidoux. They’re renovating the park at the moment — should be nice.

Memorial for Joel Anthony Figueroa — a sad thing to come across along the path

Cool leaflet found adhered to the side of a railroad bridge. As a side note, I just love riding my bike underneath a passing train. :)

There’s been a lot done to the SART since my last trip. The whole trail, both the Riverside and San Berdoo county sections, looks just awesome, and I can’t wait to ride it to the beach some day. (I also can’t wait for Google Earth to update its imagery so you can see there as well.)

From the LA Times, “For L.A. man, 93, life is a walk in the park”. Sol Shankman has been walking almost every day for over 30 years now, mostly in Griffith Park. And he’s still going strong, despite failing eyesight and other maladies. He guesstimates he’s walked over 40,000 miles.

Shankman is among a handful of people — like Charlie Turner, caretaker of Dante’s View; and Louis Alvarado, the park’s “honorary mayor” — who have asked a diffuse, fast-paced city to stop and remember that one of the largest city parks in the world is smack in the middle of L.A.

Shankman’s story is not one of physical prowess but of relentless dedication — to an urban park, to the restorative capability of a nice walk and to Los Angeles and its extraordinary topography, to which he attributes most of the city’s foibles and charms.

This is what End Pavement is all about. We are blessed by our outdoors here in Southern California, no matter what the air looks like ;) and it’s a real shame if you don’t get out there to experience it.

Way to go Sol!