This evening, I discovered the ultimate in mountain hiking
in the LA area—Griffith Park.
Though I had already navigated a couple of the trails with a group of
hiking enthusiast friends, I’d never been on this trail that lead away and up from the Griffith Observatory into
the surrounding hills and neighboring mountains. This is the trail my friends and I navigated tonight.
Must say, from the get go, I was impressed with this
trail. Not for its ability to be
strenuous, but because it offered a lot of amenities not often found on LA
trails. Since a lot of folks bring
horses up there, watering troughs and also water fountains for people and pets
are available throughout the trail—all the way up to and including at the
summit. Also, there were a series
of horse hitching horizontal poles at the summit that folks could tie their
steed to or use to work out on.
Though nice features, those weren’t the selling points of the
trail.
For me, it was the unobstructed panoramic view, complete with
the Observatory, quite a distance in front of and below the summit, that won me
over. The view was breathtaking
with a host of mountains and hills rolled out in every which direction as if
someone had draped the land with billowy mounds of green velvet. As far as I could see, the mountains
stretched out. And beyond that, I
could see the ocean. Yes, the
actual, waves-crashing-to-the-shore ocean.
Don’t often find spectacular views like this in LA! But for adventuresome type, such as my
friends and I, we go out of our way to acquaint ourselves with sides of where
we live that most don’t ever see.
To us, it’s not always about how strenuous a hike can be, but rather,
how much our trek and afforded views can steal our breath away. Make us feel infinitesimal as we stand
atop towering mountains and gaze out at the ever-expanding land that falls away
from us.
Tonight’s hike was one of those—a rare treat where we become
privy to little-known secrets that made us stand in awe of our surroundings as
our minds struggled to grasp that this…all this majesty was right in our very
own backyard. That it was here,
laying in wait, just hoping others like my friends and I would come and explore
her wonders.
Sounds amazing. I only know Griffith Park from the movies.
ReplyDeleteHey Tracy,
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is, I've lived relatively close to Griffith Park my whole life but never had a clue just how amazing it was or how extensive its trails are. : -)
What's truly unique is that such an environment exists within the urban context of Los Angeles. Very rare in a megalopolis.
ReplyDeleteHey Eli O,
ReplyDeleteRight? And that it does makes it that much more magical, IMHO. : -)