Hiking outside of Seoul

So, this morning, I decided to head back into the Angeles National Forest, to do a morning hike. From where I live (about 10 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles), the closest location that offers some hiking trails is the Chantry Flat recreation area, in the San Gabriel mountains. I used to hike there every weekend, and I noticed that if I got there around 8am, I could get a parking place in the parking lot.

That, however, was last summer. This summer, I've gone a couple of times, and by 8am, I'm already having to park a half mile down the access road from the parking lot. And of course, the vast majority of people are headed to the 1.5 mile trail that leads to Sturdivant Falls, a popular picnic destination. However, why is the rec area so crowded? Koreans!

Yep. You heard me. Koreans. The parking lot is chock full of Koreans, who arrive as early as possible. The access road opens at 6am, and I'm sure that they are lined up, waiting to drive the three miles up the winding road to snag parking places.

Today, I tried to get up a bit earlier, at 6:30am, to see if I could arrive by 7:30, and get a parking spot. I got there at 7:35, and I was out of luck again. But, this time, I didn't have to park a half mile down the road. I was somewhat closer to the parking lot. And once again, as I set off on the Upper Winter Creek Trail, looping around to Hoegee's Campground, I lost track of how many Korean hikers I ran across. I would say that about 80% of the hikers are Korean, at that time of the morning. Of course, there's a reason why I'm there that early; it's summer. It's really hot, and under the canopy, it's really humid. Hiking in the middle of the day is absolutely brutal; 90 degree weather with humidity to match; not a pleasant hiking experience. And so, I share the morning trail with the Koreans.

Later in the morning, as I sat on a large fallen log near the Campground, getting ready to turn around and retrace my steps the 3 miles back to my car, a middle aged Korean man sat next to me. After exchanging greetings, I asked him what was with all of his countrymen (and women! More than half the hikers are women.) hitting Chantry Flat every Saturday. He told me that Koreans love to hike. He said that Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is surrounded by 6 mountains, all accessible by public transport, and all popular hiking spots. So, for Koreans in Southern California, hiking offers them virtually free exercise, a chance to socialize with friends, and it reminds them of their homeland. After a brief 10 minute conversation, he set off to go hike up to Mount Wilson, and I set off back to the ranger station, passing several Koreans along the way.

So, now I understand why they're there; I just wish they would save me one measly compact parking space for my Honda.

A date with MRSA

One of the occupational hazards of representing prisoners for a living is that you get exposed to whatever they are exposed to. The County Jail, in Downtown LA, has had all sorts of outbreaks over the years; chicken pox, tuberculosis, and most recently, MRSA, a particularly virulent outbreak of a staph infection.

In the past year, I've had clients that were treated for MRSA, and, from what they've told me, it's not a pleasant experience.

Which brings me to Wednesday. I was representing one of a pair of defendants charged with carjacking. The two guys were alleged to be gang members, and they were accused of helping two other gang members steal a car from a woman, who knew all 4 men. When I interviewed my client at his arraignment, he was pretty angry that he was in custody, and was really incensed that the female victim was identifying him. So, when the prelim rolled around, I was curious to see what the victim would do.

See, in gang cases, the way that the victim testifies is often more important that what they actually say. Because, when victims say that they can't really ID the defendant in court, or if they say that they can't remember what really happened, judges and DA's always assume that the only reason for the phenomenon is that the witness is so intimidated by the gang members that they are faking. Of course, it can't be that the victim is being honest......

So, when the victim testified, she said that she had given permission for one of the gang bangers (her boyfriend) to borrow the car, and then changed her mind, which is what led to the other guys being involved, and the car being taken, with charges being filed. However, she made it a point to say that the two defendants in court never took the car; and she claimed "I don't remember" to many statements that she told officers the night of the incident. And throughout, she was complaining of pain in her head, and she had what, from my vantage point, looked like like a swollen eye lid, that was leaking.

So, after she testified, but, before the next witness could testify, the judge took a recess and ordered the courtroom cleared of all but court personnel. It was at that point that we were told the victim's eye problem was caused by MRSA, and she had touched her wounded and leaking eye, and then touched everything in the witness area; the desk, the microphone, two exhibits, her chair, etc. MRSA is highly contagious on contact, and hard to kill. So, disinfecting is necessary. And now the court was going to have to be disinfected, and the unit that did that would arrive sometime in the afternoon. So, at 11am, we recessed for the morning, and resumed at 2pm, in another courtroom.

When we resumed in the afternoon, the investigating officer testified as to what the victim's original testimony was, and the defendants were held to answer and bound over for trial. On Thursday morning, the next day, we found out that the disinfecting team didn't arrive until around 4pm, and it took about an hour to clean everything up.

So, later that morning, I decided to have some fun. I became the first person to sit in the disinfected area, which made the court staff really queasy, and very doubtful of my sanity. So far, so good.

Although my butt itches...., could it be from the chair?