Griffith Park

Functioning on a little more than four hours sleep because of my body’s refusal to still adjust to the Pacific Time Zone, I woke up fairly early in the morning and made myself breakfast. Not long after, Corey rolled herself off the couch and we sat down to plan out our day over some peanut butter toast and Earl Grey tea. We both knew that we wanted to go hiking, but we couldn’t decide whether we wanted to hit the more rugged Santa Monica mountains, or the all-encompassing view of Griffith Park. Almost immediately we decided on Griffith Park due to easy access to the Observatory and the ease of getting there.

Two hours later we parked her car on the hill and started up towards the Observatory. I’ve seen plenty of photos, but I’ve never been there, so we went inside and took a good look around the first floor of exhibits. One of the most interesting pieces to me was the Tesla Coil, which was unfortunately not in working condition at the moment. For those that don’t know what the Tesla Coil is, it’s a wireless converter of low wattage currents into high voltage electricity constructed by Nicoli Tesla in the late 19th century. Although it’s practical use was never used outside of his lab, today’s high voltage wire systems and grids still use aspect of this concept across the globe. Tesla was an innovator and an engineering genius, and I find his work completely fascinating.

The Observatory started to get crowded, so we left the main building and stocked with fruit, raisins and a few bottles of water, we headed up the steep incline to the peak of Griffith Park. It was about an hour walk in each direction, mainly because we took our time exploring the side paths and bouldering opportunities. The land up here is still somewhat scorched from the fires a few years back, but there is a lot of new growth forming, and the mountain, although speckled with burnt shrubbery and gnarled wood, is once again turning green again.

From the summit you can view practically all of Los Angeles, from the eastern mountain ranges to the Pacific Ocean, and everything in between. Downtown is clearly visible, as is West Hollywood, Santa Monica, San Fernando, Anaheim, The Valley to the north and even El Segundo and Redondo Beach to the south. On a clear, smog-light day, it’s said that you can even see San Diego. I wouldn’t doubt it.

Following a few snacks and some re-hydration time on the summit, we headed back down the hill towards the car, loaded up our stuff and headed into downtown LA to see Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. Gehry buildings fascinate me and they’re an excellent outlet for abstract photography, so I didn’t waste any time snapping as many shots of the angles and curves of its outer shell as possible. What’s interesting about this particular structure is that you can actually weave your way through the building while never actually going inside. Along the way are hidden terraces and secret gardens, all built within the outside shell. It was beautiful.

We had big plans later that evening, so as dusk began to set in, Corey and I headed back to El Segundo so that we’d have enough time to change and get something to eat before setting off to West Hollywood.