Kenneth-
There are many more kindred spirits in this area than you could possibly imagine. I remember a few years ago when I lived in Orange County and thought I was alone on this path... how wrong I was.

Tribe is a good starting point. Jason mentions one community, the greensector/moontribe guys. There are dozens more communities like them (not to diminish their uniqueness), and within each are hundred of people on paths similar to yours. I'd tell you about more, but finding them for yourself is half the fun!

Evolver.net also has regular gatherings/ spore collectives related to specifically to shamanism. You're bound to find some geeky engineers interested in entheogenic exploration in that crowd. The list goes on. LA Decom, or the full moon gathering that night, are both going to be rife with people who share your interests. Its amazing how large our community is here, I'm in the IE and there are fellow souls coming out of the woodwork!

As for the whole older dudes preying on spiritual neophytes, I've never experienced it but have heard too many examples of it for it to be a fluke. I even started a thread on it called "Darkness on the Path Towards Spirit" : shamanism.tribe.net/thread/5...ba977054e , it would be interesting to hear your perspective if its not too personal...