cherry canyon
4.59 miles
i didn’t see anyone on the entire uphill of this hike, then a group of young bikers at the top. on my way down, a middle-aged man on a bike stopped me to ask for directions. i tried to help but told him it was my first time in the area (maybe not the best thing to say). normally i’m more efficacious when someone talks to me on a hike, would usually pull out my phone to help with directions, but something about him was a little suspiciously too friendly, so i tried to keep on walking even as he continued to try to talk to me.
then towards the end of the trail, i saw him waiting up a hill by a fence from a couple hundred feet away, and again he wanted to talk to me as i approached. he told me i had indeed been right (incorrect as i gave him unhelpful directions earlier) and how thankful he was and how he knew i would find him if he got lost…
i hate the fact that this indeed may have just been a friendly man, but my interactions of late have made me more suspicious than usual. but also, as a friend reminded me, i ought to trust my gut. and normally i am not suspicious of my friendly encounters on hikes. and men ought to be aware of the suspicions of a lone woman, especially when the sky is growing dark…
(sorry to my parents if they are reading this)
last weekend, twice at two different bars, a man started chatting me up and told me he was into asian women, and was then confused when i promptly exited the conversation (i used to have trouble even doing this). these comments don’t usually get to me, and certainly there are far far worse things to be concerned with in the world right now, but these comments haven’t made it out of my head yet.
too many similar comments on dating apps, too many slightly suspicious conversations with men…
more mistrustful than usual these days.
on not actually a lighter note, this was my first la hike since the fires. when i came back to my apartment after evacuating to my parents’ home, i thought i’d start crying when i saw the mountains from my car. i didn’t, they weren’t as striking as i expected, our mountains have always been dry. but these days i keep peering at the mountains from the highway or from my home or from these other mountains today and they do look different and it does make me sad.
perhaps soon i’ll write up some of my favorite la hikes that won’t be trekkable again for a long while.
i’ve been volunteering at the donation center right by my house and it’s heartbreaking and encouraging and it’s made me think about what i want to do with my life for the first time really ever. i’m still thinking.
the clouds have been particularly mesmerizing post-rain post-fires. even as i was walking around monrovia today i was struck by how the clouds float in front of the mountains. the clouds always look low but maybe it’s just perspective. whenever i’m in the mountains, it doesn’t usually feel like you’re inside the clouds, but then sometimes suddenly you’re above the clouds (did not mean this to be metaphorical but hm).