LA Hiking Group has enough members to fill half a Taylor Swift stadium concert! Which is kind of crazy when your goal is to meetup with a half dozen peeps and go for a simple walk in the hills around Los Angeles.
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Sometimes it can be hard to get a spot because the walks fill so fast. Fortunately this walk didn’t fill too fast and I booked one of the 25 spaces. Almost more amazing, nearly all 25 walkers showed up!
10:58 am — The walk to the helipad is a short mile-and-a-half stroll with about 700 feet of elevation gain. Like the Griffith Observatory, the helipad features amazing views of Los Angeles.
Perfect Weather Hike in Griffith Park!
I’m not sure why walk organizer Tiffany T. called it a “Perfect Weather Hike”, but it sure is. Saturday 13 January 2024 is one gorgeous LA day!
The loop starts & finishes at the parklet where Griffith Park Blvd ends at Cadman Drive. 3610 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. After our walk we head up Los Feliz Blvd to Village Bakery & Cafe. This being LA, after our 4 mile outdoor experience, we get in cars and drive the 0.8 mile to the cafe!!! I’m saving myself the driving and parking by walking to the cafe. Even before the pandemic, and more so since it, I’ve tried to make walking not just an occasional activity in the hills, but the way I live my life. If I can drive my car only once a week, that’s awesome!
10:59 am — Dog friendly hike! But take care, there are coyotes in the hills!
Tiffany & the Los Angeles Hiking Group. Photo from Lena’s phone and snapped by a helipad hiker not with our group. Thanks, Lena & unknown hiker!! :)
Organizer Tiffany!
I’ve only been to a handful of Meetup events. Hiking, photography, and so on. The organizers are all friendly and helpful. They typically say things like “OK, let’s go! Turn around if you get tired. See you at the end if you make it that far. Try not to get killed.” I wouldn’t expect more from someone who posts a “let’s walk” notice and accompanies a ragtag group of wanderers on an outing.
Tiffany is a whole other kind of organizer. Somehow, when you arrive, she already knows your name and whether she’s met you before. As the hike progresses through its various meanders, she’s counting heads to make sure everyone is still with the group. It’s simple, yet I doubt I could actually do all that. Tiffany makes it look easy. And she’s giving us a gorgeous trail on a sunny and crisp, “Perfect Weather Day” in Los Angeles.
(don’t worry, if March ‘24 is anything like March ‘23, we’ve got many weeks of “atmospheric rivers” ahead of us before the Spring hiking season begins.)
11:01 am — When I was at the Ball Court at Chichen Itza I meandered and sat and experienced that space for hours. The Helipad is as different from a Mayan Ball Court as can be, yet it is also a place to be slow. A place to let the nature and the city, the past and the present, all dance through your mind in their slow-motion ballet. Perhaps a bit like Jane Jacobs’ “Spontaneous ballet of the street.” Except, instead of a dance number by many New Yorkers going about their many lives, this dance number is all in your mind as you contemplate the sprawl of Los Angeles and its many ecologies.
11:06 am — looking across the valley to another hiking group making their way through Griffith Park’s million hiking trails.
11:07:14 am — the green of Griffith Park and the towers of Downtown Los Angeles
11:07:36 am — the capacious helipad has room for many visitors to all find their space. It’s a place to interact, or find your little piece of solitude.
11:21:27 am — taking a moment at a clearing on the trail. A great picnic spot, I call it “The Conference Center”.
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2:33 pm — the William Mulholland Memorial fountain at Los Feliz Blvd & Riverside Drive isn’t looking its best. Dry, chipped, and surrounded by temporary fencing and debris. Its seen better days.
2:32 pm — however the Aqueduct Centennial Garden that surrounds the Mulholland Fountain looks great. The garden celebrated its 10th anniversary in October. Who’s Tom Labonge? The city councilperson for the district. I never cease to be amazed at how much politicians love to put their names on things.
2:28 pm — Los Angeles Aqueduct Mile 340. The LA Aqueduct runs 340 miles from Mono Lake to the Cascades in Sylmar.
2:30 pm - Bishop. The park features corten steel flanges naming the cities the aqueduct runs through.
2:28 pm — The LA Aqueduct! The memorial garden includes a section of the original aqueduct pipe. Richard Harasick, Manager of Operations and Maintenance at LADWP, told The Architect’s Newspaper, “The idea is that when you stand in the pipe, behind you is the remembrance of Mulholland. Looking forward, you see what he accomplished. Looking forward is what we will continue to do in the future with bringing water to Los Angeles.”
4:08 pm — across the street from Village Bakery & Cafe is India Sweets & Spices. I buy a 1-pound tin of cardamom-black tea there. It should cross my mind that cardamom is one of the most expensive spices and that a $13 pound of “cardamom-black tea” can’t be made with real cardamom. It’s actually “Ceylon Tea with Cardamom Flavor”. Nonetheless, I’m sipping a hot cup of it as I type and it’s good with a distinct cardamom experience.
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