Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Arroyo Seco - A Slow Meander Dec. 28, 2012

The Arroyo Seco is a concrete tamed waterway. It can be a green trickle, or a roaring flash flood. The arroyo's watershed,  from the nearby San Gabriel Mountains and surrounding city storm drains provides ample square miles of run-off to fill the channel for it's eventual exit to the Pacific as it cuts through Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Highland Park, Lincoln Park and finally the artery links to the Los Angeles River. 

I walked for a couple of dawdling hours with my camera,  a section of the Arroyo between the Mission St. Bridge and Ave. 60 Bridge that is open to the public when the water is not above a couple of feet. A raised concrete service road at the bottom of the concrete river channel is accessed by a string of park land along the creek's crest. The Pasadena Freeway follows the course of the Arroyo here, and is never quite out of mind and sight despite the greenery between waterway and freeway. This is an urban creek -  no doubt about it.  The raised road down along the water has been painted to indicate bicycle right-a-way. Walker, walkers with dogs, runners, runners with dogs,  joggers, vandals and graffiti "artists" share this stretch of the Arroyo. 

To the camera, this winding thing can be lush or stark. I played it a both ends.













Jim Staub ~ Dec. 29, 2012

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