One last trip to the Palos Verdes cliffs, for a reminder of a past adventure. While I had the opportunity I had to revisit the cliffs along the Northwestern edge of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. It was here, as a teenager, that I did something remarkably stupid.

We had visited my cousin Judy back in the early 70's and my mother had allowed me to bring along a companion to keep me company. While my mom visited with Judy and another friend, she let Steve and I roam the grassy area in front of the house. Steve looked over the cliff's edge and noticed some Asian people at the bottom collecting shells and rocks. He suggested that we climb down the hillside to see the beach for ourselves. So, we did.

Grabbing trees and bushes to support ourselves, we made the long descent down to the water's edge. Although I was apprehensive, it didn't seem too bad once we reached the bottom. At that point, we took a look around and saw a lot of sea creatures living among the rocks. The sand dollars were particularly interesting.

Then we decided it was time to return. That's when we realized the only way back to the top was up the route we had just taken down. The nearest trail was a considerable distance away. We asked the folks beside us how they intended to exit the beach. They just pointed upward. Soon, they started to climb the sheer cliff face. We gave this some consideration for a moment and decided that if they could do it, so could we, and we proceeded to follow them. It was without doubt the most fearful moment of my life realizing that if I slipped, I would fall to the rocky shore below and probably be killed.