Saturday, February 20, 2010

Bombadil's

I promised the Altadena Hiker I'd post a photo of one of the cabins in Big Santa Anita Canyon. (Knowing her, I'll bet she's seen them all.) Here's Bombadil's Castle, one of the fancier ones. Look at that stone wall, will ya? I may be wrong but I'll bet they put it up because this one's right on the Gabrielino Trail and they wanted to discourage nosy dogs.

The Hermit Falls Trail, also in Big Santa Anita Canyon, is more remote--or, I should say, not as popular. The cabins along there might be a little quieter for the residents.

This, however, would be one drawback of living in the otherwise gorgeous canyon: you have to share your idyll with hikers.

22 comments:

Cafe Pasadena said...

You mean hikers from altadena, P?

I think that wall is actually to discourage nosy & noisy homo sapiens.

Becky said...

Tom Bombadil was my favorite character in the Lord of the Rings! The description of his valley in the books is so beautiful and earthy. I would be glad indeed to find that it exists on Earth.

Dina said...

The roof looks just high enough for Old Tom.

Janet M Kincaid said...

That is one nosy-lookin' dog, I tell ya! ;-) I love old cabins like this that are tucked in places you know were unpopulated only a few decades ago.

Petrea Burchard said...

The canyon's been populated (not heavily) for quite some time. These cabins are all late nineteenth century. The trail is actually a combination of several older trails.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielino_Trail

But I hope it never gets heavily populated. As long as they keep vehicles out I think it'll remain quiet and sweet, like it is now. A fine place for old Tom.

Anonymous said...

Thank you!

Don't suppose you'd consider posting cabin pictures all week, would you? Didn't think so. I could live here, I could, I could, I could.

All from late 19th century? Didn't know that. I thought some were WPA.

Bellis said...

Enter, dear Boz. Old Tom will squeeze you some fresh oranges.

Bombadil lived by the Withywindle - isn't that a great name for a river? Anyone know what the river in this canyon is called? Surely not Big Santa Anita?

Petrea Burchard said...

I got that info from the Big Santa Anita Canyon Website, Karin. http://www.bigsantaanitacanyon.com/
Yeah, you're the only person I know who could live there. Except Mr. Sweet, who probably already does.

I didn't get enough good pictures to post any more, sorry.

Bellis, I was wondering that myself. I couldn't find the name of it on the website.

Louis la Vache said...

hee hee
That dog seems to know exactly which way to go...

-K- said...

Hard to believe that just 15 (20?) miles from where I sit this kind of life once existed. Very, very difficult to see traces of it around here.

And the same is true of your scientific post of yesterday.

Thal Armathura said...

Sturtevant Camp is the only place the public can stay overnight in Big Santa Anita Canyon. See the contact information at the bottom
http://www.bigsantaanitacanyon.com/sturtevant.htm
Also, it is possible for the public to stay overnight in Little Santa Anita here
http://www.naturefriendsla.org/web/
More on the Naturfreunde, our German friends here
http://www.stanford.edu/~galic/rettenbacher/naturfreunde.html
Our mountains have many secrets, and I promise to share more soon on the Avenue to the Sky
http://avenuetotheskylakeavenuepasadena.blogspot.com/

Thal Armathura said...

Long URLs cut-off. The first long URL is
http://www.stanford.edu/~galic/rettenbacher/
naturfreunde.html
The second long URL is
http://avenuetotheskylakeavenuepasadena.
blogspot.com/
Sorry for the repeat.

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Wonderful little Hobbit cabin it is. Plus 67 is my year.

I wouldn't mind living in a picturesque canyon populated by storybook characters. But then I remember the shopping bags...

Ciao
Ele xx

Kat said...

I had a friend who lived in a tiny cabin up in Baldy Village... while she at least had propane and electricity, a lot of her neighbors didn't. It takes a person very dedicated to that life... in other words (as I get ready to go crawl into a hot bath because I'm slightly chilly) not me!

Virginia said...

What a treat and i hope Boz got to nose right in.
V

Petrea Burchard said...

Smart dog, eh Louis?

-K-, we still have a few traces. Come on up and see.

Many thanks, Thal. I welcome your info.

Me too, Eleonora. I have a romantic view of it. Then there's reality. Probably not closely related.

My guess, Kat, is that it takes some work and dedication. Fires and floods come down our canyons. These cabins have outlasted it all.

Petrea Burchard said...

Virginia, he didn't get to go in. I don't know if anyone was home or not, but we didn't talk to the residents. If Karin had been with us we might have been bolder.

Hilda said...

Beautiful stonework! And I love the name, for the same reasons that Becky mentioned.

As long as the hikers are quiet and neat, it wouldn't be bad to live here at all.

Petrea Burchard said...

That's the problem, Hilda. Some are, some aren't. I picked up quite a bit of trash. I imagine weekdays are better than weekends.

Amy said...

And now the Tom Bombadil song is in my head! :D

Look at all the moss on this stone wall, so pretty!

Cafe Pasadena said...

I'm surprised Sweet Greg has visited you in your time of mtn postings. I hope he's ok.

Petrea Burchard said...

It's sweet of you to be concerned, Cafe. I don't know. I love it when he shows up, but he's not a daily commenter. Maybe he's up in the mountains without internet access right now. I think he likes it that way.