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Yesterday, I was thinking about joinging Hike the Geek, but a series of plans changing, then changing back, then changing again left me unwilling to rush to drive all the way out to Agoura. (Sorry guys.) Instead, I went to my own backyard (as it were) to hike up to Cahuenga Peak.
Here's the Google Map, and here's the Google Earth file.
I spent some time organizing my geocaches and GPS and eventually settled on a route from the Hollywood Reservoir area to the west. It meant a short hike, but a kind of brutal one: I'd be gaining about eight hundred feet of altitude in three quarters of a mile.
The ascent was as rough as I expected, and expecting it didn't make it feel any better, but I was amazed when I finally made my way to the top of the ridge. You see, the whole way up, I was walking through the standard Southern California chaparral—the same stuff you'd find on any hillside in LA. But when I got to the top, in addition to a stunning view of the Valley, there was a huge landscape of black.
See, the fires had completely wiped out the north side of the hills, but the south side, where I was climbing, was untouched. So as I walked east to the peak, I could see a normal landscape to my right and a wasteland to my left.
Most of this you'll have to take my word on, though, because I left my camera at my parents' house during Thanksgiving. Still, I think I need to go back up there on another clear day when I do have it.
Here's the Google Map, and here's the Google Earth file.
I spent some time organizing my geocaches and GPS and eventually settled on a route from the Hollywood Reservoir area to the west. It meant a short hike, but a kind of brutal one: I'd be gaining about eight hundred feet of altitude in three quarters of a mile.
The ascent was as rough as I expected, and expecting it didn't make it feel any better, but I was amazed when I finally made my way to the top of the ridge. You see, the whole way up, I was walking through the standard Southern California chaparral—the same stuff you'd find on any hillside in LA. But when I got to the top, in addition to a stunning view of the Valley, there was a huge landscape of black.
See, the fires had completely wiped out the north side of the hills, but the south side, where I was climbing, was untouched. So as I walked east to the peak, I could see a normal landscape to my right and a wasteland to my left.
Most of this you'll have to take my word on, though, because I left my camera at my parents' house during Thanksgiving. Still, I think I need to go back up there on another clear day when I do have it.