Baldwin Hills Stairs
We started up Baldwin Hills before sunrise, the city still half asleep under a soft orange glow. The steps looked small compared to the peaks I’m used to, but for Sello, this was Everest. He’s on high blood pressure meds, the kind most people never get off once they start.
Step by step, we climbed together — lungs working, legs burning, silence giving way to breath and laughter. At the top, the sun cracked the horizon, painting LA gold. We snapped a photo — not of the view, but of the victory. A reminder that sometimes the hardest summit is the first one.
Watching the LA basin light up at sunrise from the overlook. Sharing the stairs with everyday grinders — moms, students, athletes — all pushing against gravity in their own way.
Whitney tests endurance. Baldwin tests consistency. That morning wasn’t about miles or gain. It was about proving that small climbs can rewrite big stories.
For me, it was conditioning — another brick in the wall of Sierra training. For Sello, it was a chance to step away from the pill bottle and toward the trail. If he keeps showing up at Baldwin, sunrise after sunrise, he may trade medication for movement.
TrailGenic isn’t about chasing the biggest peaks. It’s about earning your health, one climb at a time. And sometimes, 335 feet at dawn means more than 14,505 at noon.
👉 Conditioning climb = minimal kit. The goal was metabolic training + consistency, not load carrying.