A flashback to March 2010 when LA Friday Coffee visited the Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park, Los Angeles.
Last Saturday, while the boy was rehearsing for his school play, Rosanne and I took to the mountains, but we never really left the city. I have been poking around in Google Maps for a while now, looking through the Santa Monica Mountains for small pieces of green that donate public lands. Recently I located two such places, Trebek Open Space, just above Hollywood and just to the west of the much more popular and busy Runyon Canyon — and Briar Summit Open Space Preserve, closer to the Valley side of the mountains above Universal City.
A few photos from our walk
Trebek Open Space is accessible from Nicholas Canyon Road and the up and back route we took was about 1.3 miles in length. You can extend the hike by coming up from Hollywood and/or using streets to create a round-trip route. The trails are decomposed granite covered, yet well maintained fire roads. Briar Summit Open Space Preserve is LA DWP property and also the home to many radio towers on the summit. It is a nice .75 round trip to the top of the mountain and back on a paved access road.
Both locations are quite quiet for being in the middle of the city and both offer excellent views of the surrounding city, too. From Trebek you can see to Downtown LA and beyond and all the way to the ocean in Santa Monica. There were much fewer people at Trebek than the adjacent Runyon Canyon. Where we passed maybe 10 people during our walk the ridge line of Runyon Canyon, visible from the trail, was covered with people.
Below is a slide show from Flickr with shots of the scenery, birds and native plant life.
Click to see all the photos in high resolution on Flickr
Three years ago at the Places LA – Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.
A walk through the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles from February 3, 2010.
You’ve got just 2 nights left to catch Comedy of Errors for free with the Independent Shakespeare Company. We have seen all three shows this summer and had a GREAT time! Check them out before you have to wait for another 6 months!.
Can’t see the video about? Watch “Place LA – Independent Shakespeare Company” on YouTube
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From the archives, here is a video I shot back in 2010, but the location remains much the same. This is one of my favorite places to visit and it is just over a mile from the house. It is also right next to the archery fields where my son and I shoot with the SCA.
A walk through the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.
Don’t see the video above? Watch “Places LA – Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve” on YouTube
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A short scene from our camping weekend at Sycamore Canyon in Malibu.
During National Train Day 2011 we hopped on the Gold lIne to ride a portion that was recently (last several months) opened. We rode from Union Station to Mariachi Plaza and back. I grabbed this quick video on my iPhone as our train arrived.
Watch “Gold Line Train Arrives at union Station” – iPod Ready Video
Just saw this announcement from the Museum of the San Fernando Valley — Douglas
North Hollywood “NoHo” Historic Walking Tour
Please join us on Saturday, January 22nd from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. to learn about real cowboys, pioneer families, movie television and recording stars, the Spanish conquest, Mexican ranchos, great steam trains, vast ranches and orchards, land barons, wars, architecture, and much more!
Tour highlights include:
RSVP: 1-818-347-9665 or email at events@TheMuseumSFV.org
Please leave name, address and phone number
Cost: $10 per person suggested donation
Parking: Street and metered parking in area
Tour meets at Amelia Earhart Statue; NW corner of Tujunga St. & Magnolia Blvd. (at corner of Library)
Please visit us on the web at www.theMuseumSFV.org.
Thank you to sponsor Universal City/North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
It was a lovely day today here in Los Angeles so I made a point to stop by the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve this afternoon to try out the 360 Panorama iPhone App I purchased a couple of weeks ago This 99 cent app makes it very easy to capture panoramas without taking individual pictures and stitching them together. Sure, I can probably get higher quality using my digital camera, but the camera on the iPhone 4 is very capable and the convenience cannot be beat.
Below are a series of panoramas I shot over the course of about 30 minutes. I have cropped them to remove edge artifacts from the panorama creation, but left the exposure unaltered.
Click each small thumbnail to see the full-size panorama
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