A Pleasant Surprise - 01/03/2008

I have been fascinated by this mountain ever since I was a kid and I had a great view of it in Granada Hills.

On Thursday, 01/03/2008, I decided to Hike Lukens from the backside. To my dismay, The road to the parking lot (Doske Road) was closed. Therefore, I decided to go back north on Big Tujunga Road to Ottie Road and park in Delta Flats where I decided to do the northernmost of what I affectionately call the avalanche routes..(The reason I call it this is because when I was a teenager, 20 years ago, myself and a few friends decided to do the southermost avalanche route, and actually caused a small rock avalanche....Didn't kill us, but it did give us a good scare).

Anyhow, So I started my climb as soon as I crossed the river and I went up the loose rock and scree for about an hour. None of it was a scramble, but it is ankle breaking territory if you do not pay attention..I reached a Fork after the first hour and had to make a decision whether to go right or left...I decided to go left, and hiked up more rock and scree another half an hour. To my surprise, I reached a very wooded area and as soon as I turned around a small corner, I was in amazement to a 40 foot waterfall right in front of me.....Boy did this make my day. check out the pictures. It only took me 45 minutes to get down after relaxing under the quiet waterfall for about an hour.

Tim Bilotta

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