Going to Murphy's Ranch

I have successfully done one of the things I wanted to do this summer/ year.

I went to Murphy's Ranch!

I wanted to find some older photos of the area but I couldn't find them, but this is my experience to the wreck.

For those that haven't read the THOUSANDS of blog posts based on the history of Murphy's Ranch, nor seen the thousands of television segments based on the site, I will give you a small rundown.

Murphy's Ranch was built in 1930 in Rustic Canyon. It was owned by Winona and Norman Stephens, who were Nazi sympathizers. It was designed to be a base for the Nazi regime but it was raided on December 7th 1941 after Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, it was occupied by various other groups, hippies, homeless, whatever, and eventually it became abandoned in 1990. 

I've read about this, and I've seen a lot of the segments, but I never knew it was so easy to get to. I literally put it on my Apple maps and I found it. 

One of the first things I found was an abandoned car at the bottom of the cliff.

The initial journey starts off with a long hiking pathway. Being in Los Angeles hiking is a main component of life, so generally going to Murphy's Ranch wasn't a solo journey. 

Then, after a short walk, I found a gate with an opening. I went through the opening and walked down the stairs. 

Truthfully, the stairs were the best part about Murphy's Ranch. I found the stairs had so much to tell.

The stairs were our history. They were the path to evil comfortably placed in the center of nature. These stairs were covered completely with graffiti. The mixture of the urban and natural environments make a strong contrast that have to be seen. Walking down those stairs and seeing the last remnants of man made construction, you can see how weak we truly are compared to our planet. 

The other great thing that has to be seen is the graffiti art. Everywhere you look there is something awesome.

It is quite easy to break into the gates that are blocking the structures. However I didn't really want to see it. It didn't really bother me. I was more focused on the stairs.

Sometimes the clearest things are right in front of you. Los Angeles is a land of things that might seem boring, but with a deeper look, there is so much fun to do. I managed to do Murphy's Ranch in the morning and I really enjoyed it. Maybe next time I will check more inside the compound.

My Hopefully Glorious Summer and Year

I really shouldn't be doing this. I know it's May. I had my chance. This is wrong. I know I shouldn't make a "to do" list but I feel like my circumstances are different this year, so fuck it, I'll make my "summer and 2014 to do list".

So here it is...

Things to do in 2014

□ Learn how to make my own special blends of teas

□ Read 25 books (I've read five so far)

□ Go or shop at the Rosebowl Flea Market 3 times!

□ Go to the beach

□ Go to Disneyland

□ Go to four parties

□ Shop at Farmacia Y Botanica Million Dollar

□ Have a drink at No Vacancy

□ Visit the Museum of Neon Art

□ Run around the Tempest Freerunning Academy

□ Go to the Great wall of LA

□ Go to two concerts

□ go on a detox

□ Shop at the Last Bookstore

□ Go to Rustic Canyon's Murphy's Ranch

□ Go to the California Institute of Abnormalarts (CIA)

□ Go to an outdoor movie

□ check out the art walk

□ See 3 festivals

□ Get my tattoo

I think that's a good start!

What I Didn't Realize...

Coming back home there was something I realized that I really didn't understand before...

We live in paradise.

Growing up in this city, I've always heard the same thing about Los Angeles being a haven for not exhibiting the extremes of weather. As I got older, I understood that. I understood others flocked here to get away from the cold, I understood that the temperature in LA has always remained consistent throughout the year (except for August and September), and I understood that here, the sun always shines. However, I always wondered why people didn't want to experience the seasons. 

I thought that until I dealt with it myself. Then I finally got it. However, that is not why I think LA is paradise.

Traveling last year and seeing LA in the past couple of weeks, I realized Los Angeles is a paradise because it is a city that didn't accept its role as a concrete jungle. 

I have always considered my town a city, but I never realized that it took a different role to that. I don't know why, or I don't know how, but Los Angeles deliberately took the role of sustaining nature as a essential aspect of its image. 

I didn't see how nature or foliage was so abundant in this town. I always figured that other towns and cities were like my own. I assumed that during the 1970s the government decided to destroy the real natural beauty of LA like it did with Jimmy Carter's reputation, but it didn't, it used it as a source of energy. 

LA is a safe haven of vegetation. Wildlife roam free, and food is abundant. Each morning there is a cool breeze omitted from the dew drops formed on the leaves, and walking around you free clean and refreshed. This was something that I did not experience last year.

Last year I was sick most of the year. I was dealing with various forms of depression based on health. Going outside was tearing away at my insides. Getting off the plane I would walk around with massive headaches. Every night, when I would wash my face, I would have a residue of black gunk. The issues of pollution in asia were endless.

However above all, I felt a large portion of Asia didn't let nature naturally run its course in the city. It never integrated itself comfortably in the city's individual atmospheres. It became two separate entities. With LA, nature and modernity, go hand in hand.  

What I didn't realize was that LA has always taken the initiative to keep the true beauty of the world alive. The city might be a growing metropolis, but it's a land that still wants Mother Earth to be apart of it.

And I am now grateful for that.