The Mystery Hike (Monument Peak) was terrific. The weather was perfect, sunny and clear. Ed R. Levin County Park is a beautiful place. It is nestled in a small valley and has a fishing lake, gazebo, clean restrooms, a dog park and even a hang gliding area.
  
The hike started out at elevation 500 or so. Patrick Smith ASPL led the outing, making sure that all of the participants knew the how, why and what of hiking basics. We crossed flowing creeks and ambled upward and upward. We passed unusual rock outcroppings and lots of bright orange poppies. When we got to the ridgeline, just below the summit at 2600 ft - we saw them: the mysterious rock walls. They were clearly built by an advanced culture. The rocks were carefully set, and many were quarried - being cut into rectilinear shapes and blocks. Some individual blocks were large and heavy, more than six grown men could move. And some wall sections were as high as six feet. Early Spanish explorers of the 1700's noted them in their journals, and they wrote that the walls seemed very old at that time already.
  
So who built them? Our ASPL Patrick Smith has a theory, which he'll share at the COH.
  
This hike qualifies for a Rim-of-the-Bay segment patch. Good outing & great spirit. Kudos to all the participants.
  
Bruce Chan, ASM (Photos by Bruce Chan)