Modernist ruins tucked away

I will need hair spray for my hike with Jayne Osborne.

It’s for the ticks.

Jayne, an avid hiker who has visited Solstice Canyon four times, knows an elementary schoolteacher who coats her hair with Aqua Net to ward off lice. Jayne figures ticks won’t like the sticky stuff either.

“Of all the people I’ve gone hiking with, I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten a tick on her head,” she says.

Having found a tick embedded in my neck years ago, I spray the upper half of my body for good measure and head off to meet Jayne and her boyfriend, Rick Senger, for an 8 a.m. hike in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu.

For people who like a little mystery while they sweat, the loop trail at Solstice Canyon can’t be beat.

The lower half of the canyon is packed with mini-waterfalls, rock ponds, exotics planted by former residents, flocks of wild parrots, strange handprints in concrete and the ruins of a 1950s Modernist house.

Surrounded by sycamores and alders, we walk up the gentle slope of the Solstice Canyon Trail headed toward Tropical Terrace and what’s left of Fred and Florence Roberts’ home, which burned down in 1982.

Jayne pulls out photos that were featured in Architectural Digest during the home’s heyday.

The house was designed by architect Paul Williams, and many of its sprawling terraces and hidden staircases can still be explored.

On a side trail, we find a statue of the Virgin Mary nestled in a mossy grotto. After decades of watching over the Roberts family, the statue remains eerily undisturbed.

Heading onto the Rising Sun Trail, we pass groups of older hikers using ski poles to get up the mountain.

Rick, who must have the Virgin Mary on his mind, spots a boulder in the middle of the canyon that he says resembles a veiled woman.

The canyon holds other secrets as well. At the top of the trail, we find two wooden structures that are all that’s left of Space Technology Laboratories Inc.

From 1961 to 1973, this TRW subsidiary tested satellite equipment for space missions.

Or at least, that’s what they say they did.

In keeping with the space theme, Jayne and Rick tell me to look over my left shoulder. Jutting over the canyon is a smoked-glass house that strongly resembles Darth Vader’s head. Rick does the Vader voice, while I hum the theme from “Star Wars.”

Before we go back to our cars, I peek inside one of the TRW buildings. Buckets and dozens of Ziploc bags crowd the circular space. Someone or something has torn the door handle off.

For our next hike, Jayne suggests we go to a Palos Verdes Peninsula beach where dozens of dead sea animals wash up weekly next to the scattered remnants of a Greek freighter. I can’t wait.

The particulars

Where: Solstice Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Malibu.

What: 3-mile round-trip loop hike with about 500 feet of gain along a fire road and dirt trail.

How: Head north on Pacific Coast Highway about 3 1/2 miles beyond Malibu Canyon Road and take a right on Corral Canyon Road. The stone entrance gate is on the left less than a quarter-mile away. Follow the road past the first parking lot, cross the bridge and park in the second lot.

Back story: The Chumash village of Loxostoxni once stood at the mouth of the canyon. Ranchers grazed cattle in the area for decades. The Robertses finished their modern ranch house, which blended waterfalls and trees into its design, in the 1950s.

Where are you going now that super-dry fire conditions have closed many forest trails? Take us along so we can get the word out. E-mail takeme@latimes.com.