The Hollywood Sign
As a native Angeleno the Hollywood Sign has always been a bit cliché. To visit the Hollywood sign would be akin to going to Grauman's Mann Chinese theatre and comparing my hands to DeNiro's, or else paying for admission to the Hollywood Wax Museum. And let me promise you that it wasn't my intent this time either, I was just looking for an enjoyable hike in the Hollywood Hills, preferably starting at the Griffith Park Observatory (recently remodled, and supposed to be amazing).
I set out with friends at a trailhead adjacent to the observatory and after reaching the summit, a mere mile later, we weren't ready to turn around. With the iconic sign in the distance we flirted with the idea of hiking towards it, and several wrong turns and dead ends later we found ourselves on a not so well marked path to the summit of the hill. The sign sits right below a tower which claims to be dangerous to approach (toxic, radioactive, or something equally scary), however, if you stop just before the tower you can look out at the back side of the sign which has donned postcards for the past several decades.
Hopping the fence and hiking down to actually touch the sign is illegal and punishable by a moderate fine, which, didn't stop some people from attaching a 50 foot rope from the fence down to the sign to assist with the otherwise trecherous final portion of the hike. Other than that the roughly 4 mile round trip hike was moderate with only moments of steep incline, and can easily be done in an hour or two. And standing atop this mountain looking through the back of the two OOs (in HollywOOd) you can't help but feel in touch with this city that has created the standard for pop culture since the thirties.
Bring water and a snack!
