santa susana mountains

Still glowing from my visit to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, I hiked the fourth (or sixth) highest peak in the Santa Susana Mountains.

Hey, Boeing, don't have a meltdown, I'm going to give it a glowing review.

Did you know there was a partial nuclear meltdown just 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles? Back in 1959, we almost had our own Chernobyl in the Chatsworth/Simi Valley area at a location named the Santa Susana Field Lab ("SSFL").

Not only was there a meltdown, they were testing rocket propulsion systems and dumping highly dangerous rocket fuel into the ground.

It was another pleasant Simi Valley Saturday there in steep ridge land...

I did the "Las Llajas Canyon and Ridge Loop" (link) and it was... OK. There were four basic parts to it and the first was the best. That was a couple miles of at times steep sections. Not as steep as the Lawlor firebreak but steep enough to give you a good calf workout. I probably wouldn't want to descend that section if I could avoid it.

This is more of a road walk than an hike, but it is to the highest point in the Santa Susana Mountains along the north edge of the San Fernando Valley. Due to the wildfires I needed somewhere to go and that seemed like the best option. I just drove up there and, because I'd had Oat Mountain on my list, I looked that up and went to the trailhead.