Exploring Islands of Wilderness in the Suburbs

The twilight seems to conjure them, these suburbanites in hiking boots who converge in the parking lot of a Palos Verdes Peninsula shopping center on Thursday evenings.

As darkness gathers, they grab jackets and water bottles, do some quick warmup stretches and sign in on clipboards circulating among the group that sometimes swells to 100 people or more. In just a few minutes, after dividing themselves into smaller clusters according to walking speed and fitness level, the hikers are trudging briskly down the boulevard, heading for starlit trails and a little slice of the great outdoors.

Welcome to one of the Sierra Club Palos Verdes-South Bay group’s “conditioning hikes,” which offer a chance to get in shape, socialize and explore quiet canyons and beaches in the shadows of suburban sprawl.

On this particular night, the route leads hikers up a bank from Crenshaw Boulevard and onto the bridle paths and fire roads looping through Rolling Hills, the gated city that makes an exception to its “no outsiders” rule for Sierra Club outings.

The scent of wild anise and the buzz of night insects greet the walkers as they pick their way along the darkened trail. (Flashlights, which interfere with the eye’s ability to adapt to nighttime, are discouraged.) Some slow briefly as the trail climbs to a ridge top and the lights of Los Angeles spread out below, a sudden reminder of how close the sprawling city really is.

The Palos Verdes hikes are part of a vast network of casual outings Los Angeles-area branches of the Sierra Club have been sponsoring for years to help people appreciate the creeks, canyons, mountains and beaches ringing the nation’s second-largest metropolis.

The hikes range from pleasant strolls through parks and quiet neighborhoods to fast-paced, side-stitch-inducing climbs along mountain trails. They embody Sierra Club founder John Muir’s philosophy of enlisting people in the crusade to save unspoiled land by introducing them to the pleasures of outdoor rambles.

“If people in general could be got out into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish,” wrote the famous naturalist who founded the Sierra Club in 1892.

The suburban hikes, however, are for everybody, not just club members or other dedicated environmentalists. And, if the Palos Verdes-South Bay outings are any indication, they draw a wide range of people, some of whom merely want to get in shape.

“It’s social and it’s exercise,” says management consultant Larry Vivian, speaking for many of those who join him on the hikes he leads along the shore in Redondo Beach.

“I like to walk after work, but I don’t really feel safe going alone after dark,” says Renee Florsheim, who drives to the South Bay from her Westwood home for the beach-side walks.

Another woman comes with a co-worker, and as they move along the sand they get to catch up on events they were too busy to discuss during the workday.

Penny Hull of San Pedro says she joined the Thursday night sessions to train for the upcoming Honolulu Marathon, but likes them so much, “I intend to keep doing this for the rest of my life.”

Hull also says she prefers to stay with the slowest-paced of the four Thursday night groups “because I enjoy talking to people. To me, that’s part of the fun.”

But “slow” is a relative term. The slowest group maintains a breath-catching pace up and down hills and horse and fire trails, and not-so-fit hikers are steered toward outings on flatter terrain.

Casual hikers meet Monday evenings in Redondo Beach and head south along the beach walk to the sand below Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes, a five-mile round trip that takes about an hour and half. On Tuesdays, a conditioning hike takes beginners along a narrow greenbelt, once a railroad right of way, through Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. More strenuous are the Tuesday and Thursday evening hikes starting in San Pedro and Palos Verdes. Then there are the monthly “full moon” hikes and the Sunday “brunch” hikes.

Information about the hikes is available through Sierra Club newsletters and Web sites, https://www.sierraclub.org and https://www.angeleschapter.org (click on “groups”). But many regular hikers say they first learned of the hikes by word of mouth.

“A neighbor told me at a party one night,” recalls Rolling Hills Estates resident John Taber, 76, a retired aerospace engineer who is one of the leaders of the Thursday night hikes. “I told her I liked to walk around the area, and she suggested I do it with the Sierra Club.”

That was in 1987, and Taber has been setting out with the Sierra Club hikers at least twice a week ever since. He also has sampled some of the organization’s hiking trips to wilderness areas and abroad, and will help lead a club-sponsored expedition to New Zealand in March.

Taber says he likes the local walks for their uncomplicated, everybody-welcome nature.

“We don’t have a lot of rules. We just ask everyone to sign in and stay behind the trail leader and in front of the sweeper,” Taber says, referring to the hike leader who brings up the rear and makes sure nobody gets left behind.

Taber says his years of hiking with the Sierra Club have reshaped his perspective.

“I’m a lot more conservation-minded now,” he says.

John Muir would have been happy to hear it.