NATURAL RESOURCES WALKING IN L.A.

Los Angeles area hikers should check out www.localhikes.com for places to explore that aren't far away. The site lists 74 trails from Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties. Several are reviewed near the San Fernando Valley, including Calabasas Peak.

``This pleasant little (3.7-mile) hike gives you a good aerobic workout, with a moderate but steady uphill trek for a little less than two miles to the summit,'' the site said.

Each hike received a rating for scenery (the famous Vasquez Rocks area around the 14 Freeway between the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys received five stars).

In all, this is one of the more informative locally flavored sites we've researched if exploring nearby hidden gems is a passion of yours. Local ranger contacts are included with most, if not all, of the areas mentioned.

--It's for the dogs: The hunting-inspired dogtrial.com Web site touts itself as ``Home of United States Shooting Dog Invitational Champion Hickory Dickory Dot.'' The dog is a Pointer, one of the most prized canines for hunters.

This site includes message boards focusing on specific breeds like English Pointers and English Setters, and a ``Training, Tips, Tools, Techniques and Q and A'' forum.

- Chris Cocoles

WINTER WONDERLAND

``Magic Yosemite Winters: A Century of Winter Sports''

By Gene Rose (Coldstream Press, 1999) $40

A visitor to Yosemite the other day saw but two standing tents. Now, and throughout California history, Yosemite has been a tough sell in the winter.

And that's a shame, as this older but readily available and generously illustrated text makes clear. There's nothing more beautiful than Yosemite in the winter.

As early as the late 1800s, winter sports were being enjoyed in Yosemite Valley. By the early 1900s, and especially in the years after World War I, park officials were actively recruiting tourists for their winter sports offerings, and Yosemite made a strong, though ultimately unsuccessful, bid to host the 1932 Olympic Winter Games (awarded instead to Lake Placid, N.Y.).

Until downhill skiing and the Lake Tahoe region's multitude of resorts were in fashion, Yosemite was the place to ski in California, and that history surrounding the development of that sport alone makes this book worthwhile. Beyond that, though, are intriguing tales of pioneers, places and politics. For instance, Yosemite's winter grandeur was practically a state secret for many years because many officials in Sacramento felt it clashed with the nation's perception of California as a land of sunshine.

The park's winter history is fascinating and inspiring and well told in this work. And it's got me wondering how much snow fell there this week.

- Michael A. Anastasi

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