Review - Escondido Falls, Malibu

So, the other day I saw some photos that a friend of mine on Facebook took of Escondido Falls in Malibu. I didn't know there were waterfalls in Malibu! That's only 20-30 minutes away from me (depending on traffic)! Sweet! I would've gone the next day, but it threatened to rain, and I figured that if it did rain, it would be better to go the day after, because the falls would have more water.

Escondido Falls are really easy to get to. The entrance is on Winding Way, which is right off Pacific Coast Highway, about a mile south of Kanan Dume and a mile north of Pepperdine University. It's a small street with free parking right there. You walk about a 3/4 of a mile along a road past some million dollar homes, enjoy a gorgeous view of the Pacific, and then head into a field when you see a small dirt track going down into it on your left. The fist half of the 'hike' is little more than a walk through a park and crossing a rivulet every so often. Then you get to the waterfall. You can be happy just hanging out here, or you can go further to the top.

To get there, though, isn't quite the same stroll through the meadow, and if you're afraid of heights, you shouldn't go further. On my Day Hike Difficulty Scale (patent pending), 1 being a walk in the park, 10 being free climbing a sheer cliff face, getting to the top is a 6 or a 7, and that's only because it's not that long. There are several sections where you're going to have to free climb up a sheer face. But the reward is this:

To get up there, you'll have to climb up a gully that is on the right of the base waterfall (when you're facing the fall), and just keep going until you see that view. Along the way, you'll pass a wading pool that the waterfall creates where someone made a rope swing, so you can do your best Tarzan impersonation and dive in, if you want.

Another word of caution: getting down is about twice as difficult as going up. There were times where I slid 6-8 feet, and there's this part where you have to angle yourself between two narrow rocks, it took me about 4 minutes to figure out how to get down through there without falling. I recommend what I call the '5+ point method' of descending: use your hands, feet, and butt (and sometimes your head, hips, back, elbows, or knees) to brace yourself, and you should do just fine.

But would I do it again? Of course, I plan on going again this week! It's an awful lot of fun. I would say that the only demerit would be it's actually not all that long of a hike, it's maybe 6 miles, round trip from your car.

If you're going to the top, I suggest you wear a quick drying long sleeve shirt and pants; shorts and short sleeves are kind of stupid on something like this because there will be times where you're going to want to use your elbows or knees to brace yourself, but you're liable to cut yourself on a rock if you do, and sometimes the easiest thing to do is to slide a bit, but you're not going to want to do that if your legs are exposed. Make sure it's nothing that restricts your range of motion, because you're going to need it all. If you're going to carry a water bottle, you're going to need to either clip it a belt loop or carry it in a small backpack, because you're going to need both hands free for the climb. If you ignore this advice and are forced to abandon your water bottle at the lower falls, make sure you pick it back up on your way down: the Art of Sport does not condone littering. A backpack is also useful when you really have no choice but to slide a bit, too.

As for footwear, if you go when there's a good amount of water going (probably until June), your shoes will get wet; there were times when I was in water up to knees, actually, because it was the easiest way to get to where I wanted to be. Make sure whatever shoes you're wearing have plenty of grip and aren't too slippery when wet. Ideally, the shoes won't have too tall or wide of a toe box: there were a few ideally-placed footholds/handholds that I couldn't use because my Merrell Chameleon II's just didn't fit in there. Also, the Chameleons have a rounded heel; I'm not sure that is ideal because there were times where my heel slipped, although it could have been just the fact that the soles were wet. Still, a more squared-off heel, like most hiking and athletic shoes have, would be better, I think, because I could have perched myself on the edge of the heel without slipping. I think something like a Teva sandal, or any sort of sandal designed for hiking/climbing might be ideal for this sort of endeavor, and I plan trying my Vibram Fivefingers KSO's next time I try the climb (I'll post a review of the KSO's when I get around to putting them through all stuff I want to try them out with). I'll update this review when I try those out.

Final Verdict: 9/10 (losing a point bcause I wish it was a longer hike).