A half dozen of us arrived at the 8:00 start time at Trippet Ranch on a rather chilly Sunday morning. No sooner had we set out than we were joined by AaronA who had ridden furiously fast from his home in Topanga Canyon just for the privilege of riding with us. Thus it was a Magnificent 7 on this 79th Academy Award Night day who headed south on the Topanga Fireroad until we came to the Parker Mesa Overlook.

After some chatting and admiring the views, our group began to break up. Aaron decided to head back towards Trippet with plans to climb towards the Hub. Warner said he wanted to spend some quiet meditative time sitting on the bench overlooking the Pacific. Thus it was only 5 of us who continued on down the fireroad towards Paseo Miramar. However, as we looked back towards where we had left Warner, we realized that Warner might have stayed behind for another purpose. Apparently he had been using the bench to wait for not a bus, but rather some other means of transportation more relevant to his purposes.....

Feeling confident that Warner was safe with his brethren, we five remaining riders enjoyed the fast downhill descent to the firegate at Paseo Miramar. Down the pavement to Sunset and over to the base of Palisades Drive brought us to the newly remodeled and expanded coffee house and restaurant that we had used in the past. Some used the facilities while the ever generous Appleman Matthew bought us all a chocolate croissant to share as an appetizer to the apples, banana and mixed nuts he would offer us shortly. Climbing the pavement up to Michael Lane, we stopped for The Appleman's main course. Re-energized, we re-entered the dirt here, climbing the long Trailer Canyon Fireroad up to The Hub. The sky had become more cloudy and the temperature remained cool as we headed up to Eagle Rock and then back down to Trippet Ranch and our cars.

While Joe headed for home, the remaining 4 of us headed on over to one of my favorite spots to eat--Pat's Topanga Grill. As usual, the food was excellent even though the service is a bit slow and sometimes more than casual. But this is Topanga Canyon and one has to expect a layed back, let-it-be atmosphere. Evidence the fact that when Rod and I put cream in our coffee, small solid particles arose in our coffee. We called the gruff, bearded owner Pat over to our table. He smelled the small pitcher of cream and said "it smells okay." Then he took my cup of coffee, put it to his lips and drank a sip and said "it tastes okay," and proceeded to walk away. Yep, that's Topanga Canyon.