Carol Lee’s Experience of the San Gabriel Mountain

I’ve been a HikeAPI participant since the group’s first official hike on the San Gabriel Mountains’ Eaton Canyon Trail in late-2015. At the time, folx in the community who were involved with APIFM (then known as Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance) expressed an interest in hiking, but didn’t like the idea of hiking on their own. So APIFM organized a monthly series of group hikes led by a volunteer to give community members a chance to learn about and easily navigate local trails. We wanted these hikes to be accessible to folx of all ages and hiking abilities, so we set a model of having a hike leader up front while another hike leader brought up the rear to ensure no one was left behind.
HikeAPI’s group hikes have taken us on a range of trails throughout the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, and Verdugo Mountains over the years — but that first hike in Eaton Canyon was particularly memorable. Though Eaton Canyon is arguably one of the most popular local trails and close proximity to where many of the participants live, for some it was their first time there. I’m so happy that APIFM was able to introduce community members to such a beautiful local recreation area and it was a joy to experience it again as a first-timer might. I carried over that excitement into helping to plan future hikes. Going on these monthly hikes have helped me forge new friendships.
從2015年的年底,自從這個組織最初開始正式徒步遊覽聖加布裏埃爾山脈的伊頓峽谷小路以來,我一直是HikeAPI的參與者。從那時起,社區裏參與APIFM(當時被稱為亞洲太平洋島民預防肥胖聯盟)的人表示了他們對遠足的興趣,但是不喜歡自己單獨遠足。所以,APIFM每個月組織一系列由自願者而帶領的群體遠足,讓社區成員都有一個機會去瞭解並且輕鬆掌握當地的一些特色。我們希望所有年齡段的人們和有遠足能力的人都能進行遠足,所以我們製作了一個模型,讓一個自行車領隊在前面同時另一個自行車領隊在後面,這樣可以確保沒有任何人被落在後面。
這麼多年以來,HikeAPI的團隊遠足已經帶著我們穿越了聖加布裡埃爾山脈、聖塔莫尼卡山脈和維杜戈山脈,但是第一次在伊頓峽谷的遠足最讓我難忘。雖然伊頓峽谷可以被稱為一個最受歡迎的當地小徑之一,而且離很多參與者居住的地方很近,但是對一些人來說,這是他們第一次去那裡。我非常高興APIFM能够把社區成員介紹到如此美麗的當地娛樂場所,而且作為新手再一次地去體驗它是一種樂趣。我帶著這種興奮用來幫助計畫未來的遠足。每個月的遠足幫助我結交了許多新朋友。