The City of Angels.
It's a place I've visited a few times in the past due to growing up for a time in Central California, but in all those visits, walking was not an activity I really engaged in. Friends and family with cars always shuttled me around when coming to visit. For good reason, as Los Angeles might be the most car-centric city in the world. Cars are the dominant force on the road, and everyone knows this, so you really must be aware at all times of traffic signals and the potential for cars to make a right turn into your walking path.
It's a bit unnerving.
All that being said, West Hollywood is actually a nice place to walk around. My friend happens to have an apartment near a lot of neat tourist destinations, all of which I shunned in favor of hiking up to the Griffith Observatory about an hour and a half away from her.
Frances Howard Goldwyn Regional Branch Library
Maybe it's because I'm always on the lookout for my favorite civic benefit, but I happened upon this library branch just a few blocks into my journey.
Visiting the L.A. area, you can't help but run into famous monuments and such. Waiting for a crosswalk to change, I looked down and noticed Bela Lugosi's star on Hollywood Blvd and Ivar Ave.
"No one takes public transit in L.A." is a refrain you will hear many times from locals and visitors alike. That couldn't be farther from the truth as many buses I saw rambling past me were half or more full. Griffith Park is served by two lines, the 207 and DASH Hollywood. Both connect to the Red Line Metro just down the street at Hollywood and Western. The stop pictured would drop you about a 10 minute walk up Western Ave to the entrance of the park.
Created in 1896 from land donated by Col. Griffith J. Griffith, Griffith Park is a huge wilderness space containing some of the most famous landmarks in Los Angeles, including the Hollywood Sign.
The park has lots of amenities and gathering areas for people to rest or throw a small party with friends.
So many trails wind their way through the park and lead off into areas I unfortunately didn't have time to explore on my way to the observatory. An adventure for another day.
The first view of the observatory from far, far down the mountain.
The hike to the observatory is quite friendly. I saw many families with small children on my way up, though some like to cut a more challenging path, as we see in the distance a woman in a blue shirt making her way up a steep and rocky path. Most people take the switchbacks, like the family in the foreground.
Just after sunset. The buildings in the distance are actually not downtown L.A., but one of the many districts to the west.
The famous Hollywood sign, a few hilltops away.
Coming just at sunset, cresting the trail at the observatory can take your breath away.
Here we see a view of downtown Los Angeles. The lights of the city create a constant haze of light that never allows the night to attain full dark.
The observatory is a very popular destination for hobbyist photographers. Most of the people seemed more than happy to give advise on the technical aspects of capturing the city.
Time to explore the true stars of our universe.
It may just be me and my association to a certain
game store, but the image in that circle looks an awful lot like a gun...
In the foyer of the observatory is this time measuring device. While waiting in line to buy a ticket to the planetarium show, a docent started talking about the process involved in this swinging pendulum knocking down a pin about every six minutes due to the rotation of the earth. The ball never changes the direction it is swinging, but the earth is rotating, which rotates the ground underneath the plate of pins, which puts them in the path of the pendulum.
"Cafe at the End of the Universe"
Because almost all scientists are big nerds, which is why I love them.
(Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference, for those unfamiliar with classic sci-fi)
As night darkened, astronomers working with the observatory came out with telescopes pointed at various celestial entities. This one was pointed to Jupiter as it touched the horizon, so I was unable to get an up close look at the gas giant. I did get to see a set of
double stars, that's two stars that appear as one to the naked eye, but can be seen as two through a powerful telescope.
A good few hours spent examining the mysteries of the universe. A last view of Griffiths Observatory as I started my night hike down the mountain.
