Not far from Downtown Los Angeles is the small town of Sierra Madre. Founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1907, Sierra Madre is a pioneer town built on the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Many buildings still stand from that era, making this township a nice place to drive through, walk or stop for a cup of coffee.
But not many know about The Canyon. As you drive up towards the mountain, the road narrows, the trees become more dense and the homes unique. Hairpin turns wind up the steep, single-lane ways with eye-catching vistas and dwellings looking more like cabins or tree houses than your typical LA home.
Five minutes down the hill lies "Metropolis," but up here, one can find serenity, fresh air and even a grin of discovery on a newcomer's face. Many residents still display their Obama banners, stickers and homemade signs. In fact, there is a lot of "home made" around these parts. This is an art community--individualist in Birkenstocks, peace signs and Subarus, expressing their creativity in a most beautiful wooded community.Me? On nice days like today, I don my cargo shorts, Birks and ride the Vespa into the enchanted sanctuary of Sierra Madre Canyon and try to blend in....
5 comments:
what a sign. good description. I will have to visit this area next time I am in the LA area.
The sign about hippies using the back door reminds me of a canoe outfitter in the Ozarks in the 1960's who tried to keep "hippies" from taking canoe trips. The guy wore six-guns in a holster and would shoot above the heads of hippies that he saw. He would tell them to move on because if he shot one of them he would be tried in his own, local county in the Ozarks and, he predicted, "There's no jury in this county that would convict me for shooting the likes of you."
I have never heard of Sierra Madre canyon. I go to Newport Beach each summer and enjoyed your series on Balboa Island and am adding myself as a follower of your blog.
Love the Hippies sign. This part of LA sounds like Gabriola South. Cheers from Gabriola North.
Fantastic sign.
Even though we used to live in "penny" Arcadia (below Huntington, I always drove my kids up the hill to Sierra Madre for swimming lessons, art lessons, gymnastics and friends. When we left almost 16 years ago, Sierra Madre was on the forefront at the time with an amazing coffee shop and the best pastries around! I wish I could remember its name. I love Sierra Madre! Thanks for the memories.
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