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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On the Road and In Your Backyard

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  September 11, 20175:00 am| 44 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

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On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Good Morning All,

This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.

So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.

You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.

For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

Please keep all those folks in Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean in mind and prayer. There’s a lot of misery and destruction to recover from. I believe that our front pagers in Florida are doing ok, and I’ve not read of any commenters in peril. I hope that remains the case!

Folks, in light of Irma, I decided not to write up “my 9/11 story”; perhaps another time. Let’s keep in mind those who were victims, heroes, and first responders (who are dying at alarming rates due to exposure to horrible chemicals and materials), and all of their families. And all the people killed, and their families, due to our “use the attack as justification to invade Iraq”. So much misery and death, spawned by 19 terrorists.

 

Have a good day, let’s hope that Bill’s great pictures and accompanying narrative is just what you need to help set the week up right!

Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.

Behind the Hollywood Sign

There’s probably not a more recognizable sight in Los Angeles than the iconic Hollywood Sign(LA City Hall might come close ). The sign was originally built in the early 20’s on Mt. Lee(it’s not on Mt. Hollywood, that’s just north of Griffith Observatory) as and advertisement for the “Hollywoodland” development in the hills directly below the sign. It was not the only sign in the area with the Outlook sign that was further to the west across Cuhuenga Pass and both were lit up at night! After it’s advertising purpose was served the sign began to fall into disrepair with the “land” portion of the sign falling off. In the mid 1970’s the rest of the sign was also beginning to fall down as well(probably a metaphor for Hollywood as well, which had become pretty seedy). There was a big fundraising drive to rebuild the sign, since it had become a symbol of Hollywood(embodying the film industry) and Los Angeles itself. The raised enough funds(mainly due to the work of Hugh Hefner) and rebuilt the sign, replacing the wood with steel and adding additional support so the rest of the sign wouldn’t go the way of the “land” portion.

So how do you get to the Hollywood Sign? First off, you can’t actually go to the Sign, it’s fenced off with security cameras and the LAPD is ready to greet you if you try to scale the fence. However you can hike up the hill(Mt. Lee) above the sign; but that can be a bit tricky too, mainly due to the residents of Hollywoodland, who don’t care much for folk treking through their neighborhood leaving trash and worse. They’re pretty wealthy up there and have quite a bit of political power, so they’ve put up some obstacles. If you ask Google Maps for “Hollywood Sign” it will take you to Griffith Observatory, where you can see a nice view of the sign but it’s not the location OF THE SIGN. Until recently, you’d be able to go up Beachwood Canyon Drive and park(though you had to be mindful of the parking regulations) and hike up past the horse stables; but they welded shut that route a few months ago. You can also approach from the east using a trail off Mt. Hollywood Dr. or hiking up from Bronson Canyon(my first hike up there used this approach, though from a trailhead close to the zoo). There’s also a more rustic route from the west, starting near Hollywood Reservoir climbing to Burbank Peak, then east to Caheunga Peak and then to Mt. Lee. There’s one more route that just goes up Mt. Lee Drive, there’s a locked gate where the it enters the residential neighborhood but there’s a foot path that goes under an arch. I’ve not seen much on-line about this route, but it’s the route I took on my return for this hike.

Gates to Hollywoodland

Taken on 2016-08-30

Hollywoodland, Los Angeles, CA

Every upscale development needs some nice gates, right? Hollywoodland is no exception. This is the gate on the east side, there’s another on the west side of Beachwood Canyon Drive.

Verdugo Hills

Taken on 2016-08-30

Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA

This is Verdugo Hills taken from Mt Lee Drive where the recent La Tuna fire was. The fire was in the hills in the left half of the picture. The city in the left half of the photo is Burbank, the city in the right portion if Glendale. The grassy area in the lower left is Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills.

Downtown Los Angeles from Mt. Lee

Taken on 2016-08-30

Mt. Lee, Los Angeles, CA

View to the southeast from Mt. Lee. From left to right you see: Mt. Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, Downtown Los Angeles, and mid-Wilshire. At the bottom of the picture you can see a portion of the back of the Hollywood sign and the fence that surrounds it.

Mt. Lee is not named after the Civil War General, it’s named after Don Lee who had an auto dealership and had branched out into broadcasting. The towers you seen in pictures of the Hollywood Sign are where he set up a studio and broadcast facility on the top of the mountain. It’s now owned by the City of Los Angeles and used for city communications.

Hollywood Reservoir from Mt. Lee

Taken on 2016-08-30

Mt. Lee, Los Angeles, CA

You can see a portion of the Hollywood sign in the lower left corner. To the left of Hollywood Reservoir you can see the buildings of Hollywood itself. The hills that you can faintly see due to the marine layer is the Baldwin Hills and to the right of them you can faintly see the outlines of the buildings in West LA. The dam that creates Hollywood Reservoir is called the Mulholland Dam and had a twin in the Saint Francis dam that ruptured and killed over 60 people in the Santa Clara river valley north of Los Angeles.

Fisheye view of the back of the Hollywood Sign

Taken on 2016-08-30

Mt. Lee, Los Angeles, CA

One of the reasons I took this second visit to the Sign is to take picutres with my better camera and I had just bought my fisheye lens.

The Hollywood Sign

Taken on 2016-08-30

Hollywoodland, Los Angeles, CA

This is my favorite picture of the Sign that I’ve taken. You can see the summit of Mt. Lee right above the first “L” and it’s nicely framed with the Hollywoodland neighborhood below it.

Saroyan Stairs

Taken on 2016-08-30

Hollywoodland, Los Angeles, CA

Not just in Hollywoodland, but thoughout the older neighborhoods in Los Angeles, you will find stairs up the hills. The Red and Yellow cars ran in the valley areas and there were these stairs that went up the hills between people’s houses to get up to the next street*. There are whole books about all the hidden stairs in Los Angeles. These stairs originally had water flowing down the center but that was taken out and it’s now a planter.

*Probably the most famous of these stairs are the “Music Box Steps” that were in a Laurel and Hardy film.

 

Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

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Reader Interactions

44Comments

  1. 1.

    raven

    September 11, 2017 at 6:03 am

    Nice, as usual!

  2. 2.

    JPL

    September 11, 2017 at 6:08 am

    The story of the stairs is fascinating, and I wonder how many are now under private ownership. Get off my lawn!

  3. 3.

    raven

    September 11, 2017 at 6:23 am

    @JPL: Angels Flight is a landmark 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge[3] funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It has two funicular cars, Sinai and Olivet, running in opposite directions on a shared cable on the 298 feet (91 m) long inclined railway.[4]

  4. 4.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 6:24 am

    @raven: Thanks.
    @JPL:

    I wonder how many are now under private ownership.

    The answer would be few to none. They are a public right-of-way, while some of the Red Car right-of-way has been sold and developed, the stairs are still public property.

  5. 5.

    Ben Cisco

    September 11, 2017 at 6:28 am

    Awesome pictures!

  6. 6.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 6:30 am

    @raven: Heh, I rode on Angel’s Flight last Thursday(it reopened Aug 31).

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 6:30 am

    @Ben Cisco: Thanks, I’m thinking Watts Towers next.

  8. 8.

    JPL

    September 11, 2017 at 6:42 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Nice.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    September 11, 2017 at 6:48 am

    Have you posted these before in a comment thread? They look familiar. Very nice.

  10. 10.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 6:59 am

    @Baud: I’ve posted a link to the full album of pics from that hike sometime last year. However, when I put pics together for an OTR post I almost always do some tweaking, since I’ve learned quite a bit more about Lightroom/Photoshop in the past year.

  11. 11.

    Mary G

    September 11, 2017 at 7:00 am

    Your pictures always make me homesick for LA. They are beautiful; I especially liked the fisheye back of the sign.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 7:15 am

    @Mary G: I do love my fisheye, funny thing is that I went on a shoot last night in DTLA and didn’t use my fisheye.

  13. 13.

    Quinerly

    September 11, 2017 at 7:18 am

    ??❤

  14. 14.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 7:20 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: One other thing as well, I also have some new tools that I didn’t have last year; most importantly is the camera calibration files which really make a difference in the rendition of greens in the pics I take with my camera.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    September 11, 2017 at 7:30 am

    Bill,
    Thanks again for the beautiful pictures ?

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 7:37 am

    @rikyrah: Thanks.

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 11, 2017 at 7:46 am

    The stairway is particularly nice, intimate even.

  18. 18.

    eclare

    September 11, 2017 at 7:59 am

    Amazing pictures! Liked the Hollywood sign from the back.

  19. 19.

    eclare

    September 11, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Also, if you like sort of noir mysteries, I recommend Angels Flight by Michael Connelly.

  20. 20.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 8:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The stairs make for a nice shortcut and most folk in LA are unaware of their existance.

    @eclare: The back of the Hollywood Sign isn’t something you see everyday.

  21. 21.

    eclare

    September 11, 2017 at 8:15 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, I was wondering how you got there.

  22. 22.

    MomSense

    September 11, 2017 at 8:17 am

    The effect with the fisheye lens is so cool.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    September 11, 2017 at 8:19 am

    @MomSense: The fisheye lens gives the false impression that the earth is round.

  24. 24.

    satby

    September 11, 2017 at 8:22 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I was just downstairs wondering if you were feeling better!

  25. 25.

    satby

    September 11, 2017 at 8:24 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: so cool! I never knew about them, now if I ever get back to LA I’ll have to look for one to climb!

  26. 26.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 8:26 am

    @MomSense: Here’s a pic I shot last nightit was shot with my kit(the one that came with my camera) lens, but since it’s a panorama, it’s got a fisheye effect.
    @Baud: Shhhh.

  27. 27.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 8:28 am

    @satby: If you look at the map view in Google Maps, you can see the stairways, once you get to a detailed enough zoom view.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    September 11, 2017 at 8:29 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: That’s pretty.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 11, 2017 at 8:35 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Looking at them, I imagine a young couple stealing a private moment.

  30. 30.

    satby

    September 11, 2017 at 8:37 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: damn, you’re good!

  31. 31.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 8:42 am

    @satby:
    @Baud: I got a few pics last night that turned out really well. That one is a HDR panorama composed of 15 shots(3 exposures for each section). I got some new stitching software last month, it helps quite a bit.

  32. 32.

    lurker dean

    September 11, 2017 at 10:10 am

    nice pics, @billinglendaleca!

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    September 11, 2017 at 10:20 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    That is awesome!

  34. 34.

    Montanareddog

    September 11, 2017 at 10:27 am

    My one trip to California involved visiting lots of movie-related sites, including the “Music Box” steps – they are in Silverlake (923-935 Vendome Street)

  35. 35.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 11, 2017 at 10:50 am

    Wow, these are great! Not like Bill’s usual pictures at all ??

  36. 36.

    sharl

    September 11, 2017 at 11:19 am

    Betty on Twitter just a few minutes ago (also posted on following thread):

    So, we fled directly into the path of Irma. Luckily it was only a Cat 1 when it got to us. People and beasts OK. No power. No gas. No sleep.— Betty Cracker (@bettycrackerfl) September 11, 2017

  37. 37.

    PhoenixRising

    September 11, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    You can also do that hike on top of a horse you lease for the afternoon, at the stables you have to pass on the way up to the trailhead. Not that I’m recommending them, but if you’re not able to do that hike but have always dreamed of getting to the POV beautifully rendered here…

  38. 38.

    PhoenixRising

    September 11, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: we saw what you did there

    (and resent being beaten to it)

  39. 39.

    TenguPhule

    September 11, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    @sharl:

    No power. No gas. No sleep.

    I think she had plenty of gas from the dogs.

  40. 40.

    Just One More Canuck

    September 11, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    @sharl: and noxious, dog-based fumes

  41. 41.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    @lurker dean:
    @MomSense: Thanks much.

  42. 42.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    @Montanareddog: Oddly enough I’ve never been to the Music Box Steps.

  43. 43.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Not like Bill’s usual pictures at all ??

    @PhoenixRising: It was a Tuesday.

  44. 44.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 11, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    You can also do that hike on top of a horse you lease for the afternoon, at the stables you have to pass on the way up to the trailhead.

    Griffith Park is quite horsey friendly, but I don’t remember any horses or evidence of their presence on Mt. Lee Drive. The trailhead for the trail that goes by the stables is the one the welded shut the gate, so you can’t go that way now.

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