 | Gathered for the last day of the Geotrek from the L.A. Zoo to Point Mugu are (left to right in the front row) Michael Lillis and Vicki Pedone and (left to right in the second row) Gene Fritsche, Sue Fritsche, John Alderson, Diane Thompson (KNX 1070 News Radio broadcaster), and Bill Tracy. Peeking over the ridge behind us is our first destination for the day, Sandstone Peak.
 | Diane Thompson had already interviewed Gene at his home the previous day. She started the morning by interviewing each of the other participants as we gathered in the parking lot. Shown in this collage (clockwise from upper left) are her interviews with Sue, Vicki, Michael, and John with Bill waiting for his turn. After the interviews we started off about 8:55 a.m., with Diane accompanying us for the first quarter mile or so.
 | Here we are on a short downhill portion of the trail to Sandstone Peak that was steeply up for the most part. Behind us is a resistant exposure of andesite flow breccia belonging to the Conejo Volcanics.
 | We reached the top of Sandstone Peak at 10:00 a.m., took in the view, and signed the log book. For the first six days of the hike, fog had always covered the ocean, obscuring it from our view. Finally, on this seventh day, we could see the ocean.
 | Here is the mandatory photo of the group at the top of Sandstone Peak. And why is this so important, you might ask? Because Sandstone Peak is the highest mountain in the Santa Monica Mountains (3,111 feet above sea level). For the rest of the day we would be descending those 3,111 feet to reach our ultimate destination of Point Mugu at sea level. Of further note are the facts that (1) the plaque at the top says that the peak is really Mount Allen and (2) it is made of andesite breccia, not sandstone.
 | Here we are descending off the east slopes of Sandstone Peak and Boney Mountain toward Big Sycamore Canyon.
 | Lunch on Day 7 was in the shade of some large oak trees in a small meadow.
 | Hiking got a lot easier for awhile as we coasted our way along Big Sycamore Canyon.
 | In order to get from Big Sycamore Canyon to Point Mugu we had to climb up over one more ridgeline. Here we are climbing up the La Jolla Valley Loop Trail toward the final crest.
 | Near the last crest on the La Jolla Valley Loop Trail we found ourselves in this beautiful, green meadow land. We started the Day 7 hike on the back side of the mountains in the background. A little beyond this point we met Roberta Harma, Adriano DeFreitas, and Laura Williams, who drove to the final parking area in the late afternoon and hiked up from the ocean to meet us.
 | We finally reached the last crest where we could look down on the Pacific Ocean and the Point Mugu Naval Air Station. From here all we had to do was descend 900 feet on a steep, switch-backed trail to the end.
 | Here we are descending the last switchbacks. From the front of the line to the back are Vicki, Laura, Bill, John, Adriano, Roberta, and Sue. Not far to go from here.
 | We paused at the end for a toast of sparkling grape cider to a safe and successful end to the L.A. Zoo to Point Mugu Geotrek.
 | Gene and Sue had a special private completion toast, because they were the ones that instigated the event and the only ones to complete the entire 75 miles.
 | We found a friendly and cooperative alligator lizard in La Jolla Canyon.
 | On Day 7 we found Indian Paintbrush to be common along the trail.
 | Ceanothus kept all seven days on the trail both beautiful and fragrant. Here is an exceptionally beautiful example.
 | Geology along the trail on Day 7 was pretty simple. For the first half of the day we were in the 17,000,000-year-old Conejo Volcanics, most of it being andesite flow breccia like the exposure shown here.
 | After crossing the Boney Mountain fault just east of Big Sycamore Canyon, we spent the rest of the day in the Lower Topanga Formation, which is about 20,000,000 years old. Most of the Lower Topanga Formation in this west end of the Santa Monica Mountains is dark gray shale, like shown on the right side of this photo. Additionally, the shale has been intruded by abundant dikes of diabase, like the brown rock that cuts across the shale on the left side of the photo.
 | Gene and Sue completed the Geotrek by crossing the highway and raising a victory handshake as they wet their feet in the surf zone. Behind them is the rock at Point Mugu.
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