Hiking Hollywood

Looking south from Mt. Hollywood

It was a typical December day here in Southern California - 74 degrees and sunny - so I took the opportunity to bail out of work a little early and go for a short, sunset hike up Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park.

After battling traffic for half an hour to go 8 miles (this sort of thing makes me absolutely hate LA), I was relieved to park the car and scamper quickly up the short but steep (~0.5mi/600') trail to the peak. I arrived just in time for sunset, and shared the view with some obviously hardcore outdoor enthusiasts who were busy taking iPhone snapshots for their Facebook page. Their mere presence honestly was kind of annoying, but it is LA after all, and I knew they wouldn't last long. True to form, as soon as the sun had dipped below the horizon, everybody bailed ("Alright dude, let's kill it!").

Too bad for them, for as those who have watched many sunsets know, the best scenery usually shows up once the sun's gone down:

Post-sunset view

I stayed to enjoy the view for a while and eat some leftover spaghetti. Tragically, I'd forgotten to bring a fork or spoon, so once again I had to improvise. For future reference:


Should you ever find yourself in the [admittedly unlikely] situation of being in the wilderness without a fork and wanting to eat some spaghetti, the Leatherman file tool is serviceable.

I was feeling pretty smug about having the spot to myself when some dingbats came gasping up the hill blasting bad pop music out of their phone. What the hell - who wants to hear Beyonce when they're sitting on a mountaintop? Seriously. I patiently tolerated it for a few minutes before realizing they had no intention of turning it off, nor any apparent awareness that the behavior in itself might be strange. So I politely asked them if they'd mind turning the music down. They mumbled something back in Korean, then walked away. Whatever, works for me. I really don't understand what the deal is with public music on the trail.

Dude, trail foul.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the view for a little while longer before making my way back down to the observatory and taking a few more pictures:

Griffith Observatory

Observatory walkway

This will probably be my last snow-free December hike. Soon, to Utah!