Finding solitude above the city

To gaze out over the city and contemplate the almost unfathomable scope of humanity below would not rank high on a hiker’s list of things to do.

But I strongly recommend they do just that, if they find themselves on an afternoon visit to Will Rogers State Historical Park.

Take the Inspiration Loop Trail about a mile to the beginning of the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, turn right and trek upward another mile or so and detour onto any of several small plateaus that overlook the Westside and beyond.

Then thank the powdery-blue heavens that you are where you stand -- and not down there.

It’s amazing how much of the city is visible: hillside mansions, sprawling neighborhoods, clusters of skyscrapers, the Getty Museum, Santa Monica, Venice, Palos Verdes. Even the Pacific Ocean.

The city appears eerily silent, but down there, as sure as the 5-o’clock hour, is the chaotic jockeying of cars, screeching tires, honking horns and one-fingered salutes.

Up here, there is mostly just solitude.

And the farther one travels up the Backbone Trail, the better the view becomes. It’s like rising in a hot-air balloon, but you have tender earth underfoot, birdsong and rustling of critters in bushes.

It is not the purest wilderness experience. “I think the houses kind of spoil it, to tell the truth,” Dianne Sax, 66, a Venice resident, says during her brisk uphill trek.

But it is what you make of it, and with some time, energy and, of course, a little backbone, you really can get away from it all.

Beyond inspiration

The 2 1/2 -mile eucalyptus-lined Inspiration Loop Trail is the main thoroughfare in the park, and Inspiration Point atop the loop is the payoff.

This trail is purely for casual hikers, mountain bikers, joggers and dog-walkers. And the point, or plateau, with its benches and tables, affords an impressive view.

But the most noteworthy feature of this loop is that it marks the beginning of the renown Backbone Trail, which begins opposite the diversion to Inspiration Point, and spans 60 miles in a westerly direction across the Santa Monica Mountains to Point Mugu State Park.

More immediately, it traverses the rugged wilderness of Topanga State Park, which boasts 36 miles of trails and is the world’s largest wild-land within boundaries of a major city.

In fact, the intention of this column was to focus on a fun or interesting hike within Topanga, but nobody answered the phone at the ranger station.

And when a ranger finally called back, he left a message saying the park cannot afford to man its kiosk on weekdays, and that I’d be unable to acquire a trail map until the weekend.

So, I placed Topanga on hold and opted for Will Rogers. It was a Thursday afternoon, first day of summer, balmy, breezy, slightly hazy

Stairway to heaven

At the Inspiration Loop Trail’s beginning, alongside a vast polo field, I’m passed by two joggers. They trot ahead and I walk leisurely and alone for 15 minutes.

Towering eucalyptus trees line the trail, as if to purposely mask the city.

While peering through their white trunks, I trip over a thick root and make note to watch my step, as that could have been a snake!

There is a faint hum of street traffic. A faraway dog bawls to the world. A sluggish white airplane drones monotonously overhead.

The Backbone Trail turnoff, reachable after 20 minutes, appears like a stairway to heaven, meandering upward and away.

A cougar warning greets trail users here, and scat just up ahead is evidence that there are wild animals this close to civilization -- and somehow, that’s reassuring.

Birds walk atop a bed of dry leaves beneath dense underbrush; tiny crunching footsteps reveal their presence.

This is an avenue less traveled by hikers, but it’s clearly popular among mountain bikers, judging from so many tread imprints. Fortunately, you can hear bikers grinding away on the switchbacks long before you see them, and I stand aside to allow four of them to pass on their grueling uphill march.

“I find that most of them are polite,” Sax says, after we meet on the trail. She tells me she hikes here two or three times a week and usually travels to a small foot bridge spanning a steep canyon. “It takes me 38 minutes to get there from the parking lot.”

I mill around, looking for a photo opportunity that will show both the rugged wilderness and its proximity to the city. A downhill jogger rounds a Backbone Trail bend. Click.

More mountain bikers ride by. Click, click. Far down below, another biker traverses the top of the loop trail, with the city as a backdrop. Zoom in. Click, click, click.

I then get curious about the bridge so I trek upward -- passing Sax, who is now returning to trailhead -- and reach the narrow overpass to find that it is beyond sight of the city.

The sun dips beyond the western ridge. Somewhere above are at least four young bikers on dusk patrol. Somewhere below is a 66-year-old hiker completing yet another exhilarating journey.

Here, there is mostly just solitude.

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pete.thomas@latimes.com