So I decided to finally tackle the Hollywood Sign hike, and snap a pic or two while I was up there. Or actually it was more like I wanted to snap some photos from above the sign and the hike up was just part of the deal. Ahhhh, at 34, and as lazy as I have been lately, I can't just do that stuff so easily anymore. BIG contrast to 13 years ago when I was out here for college and my roomate and I hiked from the Oakwoods all the way up the face of the mountain, and made it over to the sign. That hike took us a couple hours and was pretty tough. But we were both in decent shape.
It's not that I didn't know it was going to be steep—but rather that I am not used to hiking up trails like that. Footing was really unstable, my gear was weighing me down, and I was most certainly experiencing a build up of lactic acid in my legs. I had my camera gear, and my tripod to carry. The whole time I was climbing up I was thinking how much of a bitch it would be to get down. Ascending may be tough, but it's generally slow, methodical, and controlled. Descending, should be slow, methodical, and controlled too. But on trails like this one, with loose dirt, narrow trails, and nothing to hold on to, is recipe for good slip and slide. Though I currently have health coverage, and won't be in SICKO II explaining how I sold my car to pay hospital bills, I didn't want to be injured in the hills unable to get help. The sun was starting to set. So at a certain point, I knew that hiking down was not really an option. Since I wasn't sure exactly how I was getting down at that point, I was somewhat concerned that I had gone up so late.
When I was just about at the 20' tall D I heard a chopper approaching—my first thought was that I tripped some alarm, which alerts security that someone is trespassing. The chopper slowly passed by and headed over the mountain towards Burbank. I realized it was one of those chopper tours. I wiped the sweat from by brow—not from fear but but because it was fairly warm and that level of exertion for me now, is rather intense. I don't still got it.
Before even heading up there, I had it in my mind that I would try a few different shots. A panorama, a time lapse, some different stuff. But as I passed underneath the H, I realized that doing a time lapse was probably not a great idea for a couple of reasons. First, a good time lapse shows movement of some sort, and since the sign and skyline weren't going anywhere, the only thing was the setting of the sun. But a sun setting time lapse should start when the sun is still beaming—and I had made it up too late for that. Second, the time it would take to do a proper time lapse would be at least two hours. I knew that was not going to happen. I was limited to a panorama shot from behind the sign.
Now if you've lived in LA for a while you know that visibility here quite frankly sucks. The phrase "on a good day..." is heard often, but that good day seems to come less and less. Now generally the best time to catch those good days are in the spring and fall. But occasionally you'll get a clear one this time of year. On a good day—you can see the San Bernardino mountains—now that's a clear day. This wasn't one of those days. But it was good enough to bother hiking up there.
I perched myself at the highest point I could. Right next to the fence separating the access road from the hill. Now I didn't see any guards or anything like that. But I did see cameras. Now mind you, there clearly were trails, and recent foot prints from other hikers, so I know that people hike this all the time, but nonetheless I was concerned that I was too close. It's kinda like, when the cops come to break up a party because of noise, they might smell pot, but unless some idot sparks up a joint in plain sight, they're gonna let people disperse and then leave. Well I was worried that I was THAT guy. I had hiked up and now I was hovering around in plain sight, and was asking to be spoken to. Well after I had gotten my panorama—11 shots to later be stiched— I was taking it all in when I hear "sir...can you please stay away from the fence" or something like that. I said something like "yes, I was just leaving." I packed up my stuff and hugged the fence hoping there would be some opening so I could follow the paved road down the mountain. But I didn't see an opening. So I climbed the fence, but didn't feel comfortable throwing my $150 tripod over, so I held on to it. I used my forearm to steady myself over have a mark to show for it. I made it over the fence, and started the long hike down. Not five minutes into my descent, I pass a family walking up the road, admiring the view of Forrest Lawn Memorial Park & Mortuary. I say hello, and the man says, "how are you?" and I respond with "tired." At this point we had passed each other and instead of ending there, he turns around and says "Jesus still loves you even when you're tired..." Huh? Ok, thanks for that. The road was very windy and I knew was going to take me a while to get back to my car, but it sure was better than hiking down in the dark. Maybe next time "on a good day" I'll go back again.
