I’ll never forget the X-ray of my spine on display in the office of my orthopedic surgeon at Children’s Hospital in LA: It was so curved it looked like a snake. When I was 16 years old, I had spinal fusion surgery to correct severe scoliosis.
I pitched my tent, the only one at the campsite, beside the cottontail rabbits, and made dinner over my camp stove. Sitting under the sandstone outcrop of Eagle Rock, I looked out upon a landscape that had been scorched by fire in May 2021, and I admired the oak trees that were growing back, green leaves on black branches. It’s a beautiful trail, with layers of mountains gently rolling and rising toward the sky, the ocean in the distance sparkling in the sun. I used a National Geographic paper map and the Gaia app to navigate. The Backbone is well-marked, with brown signs on wooden posts, but there are forks in the road. My mother dropped me off at the Will Rogers Trailhead, and I hiked 10 miles to Musch Camp in Topanga. Though I’d spent many hours walking in the Santa Monica Mountains, I hadn’t before walked continuously for days through this coastal range. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and my parents moved to Malibu after my brother and I left for college. I hiked the Backbone Trail, spanning 67 miles from Pacific Palisades to Malibu, over five days in October 2021. Years after back surgery, hiker walked 67 miles over five days through Santa Monica Mountains Erica Broer (right) was joined by her father for part of her hike on the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.
0 kommentar(er)
