Look to the right and I see the Hollywood sign

It is a causal Sunday morning... what to do, what to do?
Oh how about a hike with views of downtown LA, the Hollywood sign, the very very expensive villas in the hills, the smog?

Los Angeles is kind of a beast. You have to kind of know where to go, where not to go, what's hoppin' and what's just not that great. It is really hard just to wander into someplace cool here because it is just so spread out, and as Allison and I found out the other day, sometimes just wandering will lead you into areas you don't want to explore.

That's why I think tapping the local network can be sooo beneficial in this city. I met my friend Tom at the Fund for American Studies program I did at Georgetown two summers ago. He was born and raised in LA, went to USC for undergrad - and he introduced Allison and me to a very cool park for a Sunday morning hike today.

We went up to Runyon Canyon, this 130 acre park right outside of Hollywood.


Such a cool trail. We took a casual pace but it was still a good workout with a few challenging hills. (We made sure to take photo breaks when we were panting). The view of the city was a little clouded... you could CLEARLY see the smog. There are white puffy clouds, blue skies and then as you get closer to the skyscrapers, a dense gray haze. The skyscrapers are barely even visible in the photos because of the smog. Gross. So glad I'll be living in the beach communities, so I'll get a little coastal, ocean air and I'm not breathing that in EVERY DAY.



Tried to get a pictures of the Hollywood sign in the haze of the hills. I don't think I've ever been able to get a clear picture of it - even when my mom and I or Marie and I were in LA before - it has always been smoggy.


Otherwise, though, the trail was BEAUTIFUL.

Tom made the comment as we came in the park "it is like this sky is painted, like it is a movie set" and it definitely could have been. Such good sights. So many super cute dogs. I don't even know how some of those little pooches made it on those trails. These little dachshunds with three inch legs are scaling cliffs with a happy little pant, tugging the leashes - or if they aren't on leashes, they are barreling by 20 feet ahead of their owners, leading the way. And my legs are 10 times longer than theirs, and I'm barely surviving the incline. My justification for this is the fact that those dogs and their owners probably come to Runyon all the time, and they are properly trained and conditioned for that walk. (I know, in truth, I'm just out of shape, but let me believe otherwise.)

We did one trail at Runyon, but there are apparently others as well. We might have to work our way up to those. I'm excited to go back again though. Tom also recommended a place for lunch to refuel after our hike - a build-your-own burger place called Counter in El Segundo. I'll admit - it was delicious, and I can't imagine the infinite number of possible combinations. You pick your meat, your cheese, up to four toppings (cool toppings too - not just lettuce and tomato), specialty items (like bacon or ham), what type of bun and what type of sauce. The menu is here: http://www.thecounterburger.com/menu. Plus, Allison and I saw a guy there wearing a Columbus Crew shirt. Didn't get to catch him before he left, but it made us feel a connection to home. :)