Tag Archives: Griffith Park Observatory

Humpty Dumpty

10 Thursday Oct 2013

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Earlier this week one of my good friends, Martha, came over for dinner.  Post food while we were chatting over whatever TV we were watching I excused myself and came back with a giant bottle of hydrogen peroxide that I have turned into a spray bottle, pulled up my pants and sprayed down one of my newest scrapes.  Martha’s responses:

photo (17)* “You hurt yourself so much you have a hydrogen peroxide SPRAY BOTTLE?” – Yes.  Well technically the spray bottle’s actual purpose is to make using hydrogen peroxide for house cleaning easier (search on Pinterest will offer suggestions on what exactly to use it on) the fact that it makes disinfecting my tortured body easier too is just a happy accident.  No pun intended.

* “Aren’t you suppose to be all graceful and junk in that class you take?  Aren’t ballerina’s good at balance?” (Perhaps not an exact quote but this is how I remember it.)  Sigh … yes.   First of all let’s get one thing straight.  I’m not a ballerina.  Sure my exercise of choice utilizes a barre but, tragically enough, it is used mostly to help balance yourself while you do near to impossible exercises.  I’m extra clumsy in Bar Method class.  I ALMOST fall over at least 1/2 dozen times a session.  Every class starts with leg raises (just march really … that’s all it is … marching).  Which I constantly fumble at.  After basic bicep and shoulder work you move to a position that was created by the devil.  You stand with your feet parallel then move one foot (let’s say right) back and turn it out a bit.  Then you lean over at the waist, roll your shoulders down and pull them together, align you neck, hold in your stomach, open up your chest, lift your right arm (in this case) above your hip as high as you can while keeping your shoulders and hips level, then straighten your arm as much as possible.  Once you get all that together you spend the next 3 minutes or so going through little arm motions continuing to keep it above your hip and as straight as possible.  You can use the mirrors around you in the room to make sure your back is flat (which is what really kills me) and that your shoulders are level (which they probably aren’t).  Each time I check a mirror I don’t gracefully return my gaze down to a few inches ahead of my toes, as suggested.  I bobble my way back to position barely making it there without tripping over my own feet.  There are a number of times during heel raises (is what it sounds like … raise up on your toes and down a bunch of times) and stretching where you are encouraged to “take a balance.”  Every now and then a nice supportive teacher will call me out and tell me to give a balance a try.  In my head I scoff at her/him and think, “Yah right.  I almost fell over and died when I put my leg on the bar for stretch earlier.  I know you saw that.”

photo (16)So there you go.  I am destined to be covered in bumps, bruises and scrapes.  I have a number of dog related paw sized bruises and nail scrapes but right now my big issue comes from falling down on my hike with the dogs on Tue.  We were coming down the trail from the Griffith Park Observatory.  Wide path.  Very little incline.  No reason at all to fall.  I stepped wrong, twisted my ankle, and fell down on hands and knees.  To add insult to injury NO ONE came to help me and/or check on me.  5 people actually walked by me without saying a thing.  Can you imagine?  Oh well at least I had the dogs.  Nope!  Riggins, who is normally very loyal in these situations, just kept walking down the hill with Asscher following (after she tried to steal my hat when I was down on the ground).  Only little Creature stayed to keep me company as I picked myself back up.  From this incident I have an ankle that hurts and a giant scrape on my right knee.  The burn  and chunk of missing skin on my finger from crafts a couple of weeks ago is still healing and, if hit wrong, hurting.  Then Tuesday as I was dropping off Asscher at home I parked on a steep incline.  I got out of the car and moved to open the back door for her as my door swung itself closed into the back of my head.  That’s right folks.  For the second time in less than a year I hit myself in the head with my own car door.  I screamed, “YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME.” when it happened.  Then, while cooking dinner for my friend, I casually cut my finger while chopping something.  I estimate this happens about 33.33% of the time I have a knife in my hand.

I suppose the lesson here is stay far away from me and if you do get close make sure you have a first aid kit packed somewhere on your person!

(My clumsy self.  One of my favorite topics was also written about here.  In case you want/need to read more.)

Hiking LA’s Big Park

28 Tuesday May 2013

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image (31)I’ve lived in LA my entire life. I grew up in Whittier (45 minutes-ish from the city) and went to Whittier College. After college I moved closer to the “city” into West Hollywood. I hopped around that area for a while with a short stint on the West Side (aka doucheville. Did I say that out loud? I’m sorry people who live out there. You are not a douche. I’m sorry I suggested you were. For non-LA-ians the “West Side” is the side of the city that hits the ocean.). 7 (or was it 8) years ago Riggins and I ditched what I consider the “fun” side of LA to act more grown up and come to the “valley.” Now we live about 5 minutes from Griffith Park. Although I’ve never lived further than an hour from the giant chunk of wilderness (or as wilderness-y as we get here) I have never, until this weekend, been on the park’s hiking trails.

It’s a little ridiculous of me but my excuse is, I hike to go out with Riggins and if I’m going to do that I want to go somewhere that he can be off leash without me being yelled at by other hikers. That means Runyon. This past weekend Bud was back with us. Bud has become a fickle fellow and has decided not to like any other canines. That really cuts down on where I can take him to poop him out and he NEEDS to get pooped out or he will spend his time beating up poor Riggins. So minutes after he was dropped off I leashed him up and set off for Griffith Park. I knew there was a trail head behind the Observatory so decided to give it a shot!

imageQuick lesson on Griffith Park history (as told by Wikipedia). Mining investor, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith (seriously) purchased Rancho Los Feliz in 1882 to start an ostrich farm. He donated 3,015 acres to the city of LA in 1896. In 1903 the Colonel was tried and convicted for shooting and severely wounding his wife … oops. After that his plans for the land went to hell in a handbag since his reputation was kinda shot (No pun intended. I’m paraphrasing Wikipedia at this point). Obviously it eventually all got built giving you the Griffith Park you know and love. Today’s park covers 4,310 acres of land and is the second largest city park in CA and one of the largest in the US. (Now quoting Wikipedia so none of my NY friends get angry with me …) “It [Griffith Park] has also been referred to as the Central Park of Los Angeles but is much larger and more untamed and rugged than its New York City counterpart.”

The park is very large so let me give you the Wendy tips on what is where. The entrance off of Forest Lawn using Zoo Drive is the north most way into the park. This road (when not under construction) will take you to Travel Town (train museum – a hit with young boys everywhere), the steam train (which is rarely open so look it up open day/hours first if you wanna go), the golf course, the Los Angeles Zoo, and the Gene Autry Museum. There is also a camp tucked away up there. It’s a good place to see horses as there is a horse ring thing and the equestrian center is just a tunnel away on the other side of the LA River and 134 freeway.

There are 3 main entrances on the south side of the park off of Los Feliz Blvd. Starting from the 5 and heading west, the first is Crystal Springs. This will take you immediately to the Wendy Train (named by my nephew Logan since it is a train and he gets to go there when he visits me) and pony rides. Keep driving and you will hit thecarousel and the best (in my opinion) playgrounds in the park. This is the “kids” entrance and Crystal Springs will eventually link up with Zoo Drive (honestly all the roads link up so when they are open you can keep driving in loops if you want). The next entrance is on Hillhurst. It will take you to the Greek Theatre and to the Observatory. The final entrance (well official entrance) is further down Los Feliz on Fern Dell. This road will take you to the Ferndell trail (known to Californians because of Huell Howser) and the Trails Cafe.

Bud and I parked near the observatory and headed off. It was hot and being a short snout breed I was a little worried about Bud overheating. He’s a ball of energy, so it was no problem (I was suited up and prepared for a long hike. Later this week I’ll post what I bring with me in my backpack while going out with the dogs.). The path is wide with an easy grade. We found a magical little spot called, Dante’s View. Named for the gentleman who started the garden, it is a sweet oasis on a mountain with wonderful views. It has a number of steps making it tri-level with benches to sit down and chill at. In addition there is water available for both dogs and humans. We went a little further until I figured Bud had chilled out and then we headed home.

image (1)Since Bud isn’t great off leash and isn’t great around other dogs the Griffith Park hike was PERFECT for him. Although a popular path (which I like … I won’t go on paths that aren’t well-traveled unless I’m hiking with another human) it thins out the higher you go and there aren’t a ton of other dogs around. When we drove home I took the other road looping around and coming down Fern Dell. I noticed that this was a very popular place to park so I assumed it was a good place to hike! I decided Bud and I should try it the next day.

After waking and suiting up with stocked backpack and leash, Bud and I said goodbye to Riggins and headed off. This trail was adorable. The first part is a man-made trail that includes a fun garden and stream (sadly the cute path was closed when we were heading back to the car … a tree had fallen down across the path and Fern Dell … it was a bit of a traffic mess). After you pass through the cute little fairy land you can keep hiking. The two roads available will circle around, merging together and eventually take you up to the Griffith Observatory. Bud and I took our time heading up and hanging out at the top forcing us to have to run down to get home in time for his folks to pick him up.

I had a feeling Riggins would love the Fern Dell trail so I decided to take him the next day. It won’t be something he can do when it gets hotter. None of the Griffith Park trails (and there are miles and miles of them … I’ve just scratched the surface) have much shade and the dirt can get hot on paws very quickly with the direct So. Cal. sun. Much to Riggin’s dismay photoI slapped on his cooling vest (it always takes him a few minutes to get use to the fact that it isn’t coming off) and took him up the mountain. He was in HEAVEN. I did unleash him so he could go at his own pace (which was usually faster than me). I was waiting to get yelled at by fellow hikers … which would be allowed as they would be in the right and I was in the wrong … but you know my theory on hiking on leash. Riggins thought he was the king of the mountain strutting up to humans to get love and attention, head held high as he passed dogs on leash, and policing the folks that thought they could go off the path. When we got close to the top I put his leash back on. The Observatory is always busy but being a holiday weekend it was packed. Unlike Bud, Riggins was willing to “sit and stay” so I could take more pictures of him. In fact people gathered around and stared to watch the dog sit and not move as I would say, “Look at me … stay …. ” walk away from him and snap some photos. He was a pure gentleman and oddly well-behaved doing exactly what I asked. Honestly I think he liked putting on a show and was happy people were watching him.

I’m so excited to have discovered the fun paths just minutes from my house and I’m kicking myself for not being open to checking them out earlier!

Please enjoy the video below of Riggins on the Ferndell trail ….