Carousel to the Stars: Fern Canyon to Mt. Hollywood Sunday 3/15

The Brand Ramblers 'spring forward' to celebrate Daylight Saving Time with this first weekend hike of 2009.

Carousel to the Stars is just a clever name for this pleasant and scenic light-to-moderate hike from the eastern side of Griffith Park to the center point peak Mt. Hollywood which sits behind the Griffith Observatory.

It's spring in the park already, now almost 2-years since the devastating brush fires of May 2007. With the reseeding and recent rains the hillsides are a lush green and are not to be missed. See the accompanying picture of Hogsback Ridge for a winter view - the vibrant spring green will soon give way to the typical summer/fall scrubby brown in no time at all. Just another reason to get up close and enjoy the renewal of the park first hand by a stroll across this backbone ridge to Mt. Hollywood.

We'll meet at the Merry-Go-Round parking lot at 8:15-8:30 AM, Sunday 3/15 and head up Fern Canyon, around Mt. Glendale (really, there's a Mt. Glendale!) and proceed across Hogsback Ridge to Mt. Hollywood (see map below).


View Larger Map
Total round trip should be about 5-miles and depending on our pace we can return to the parking lot by 10:30 or so. Alternately some 'Bramblers' might consider descending to Griffith Observatory after Mt. Hollywood for a break at the cafe or a peak inside for exhibits.


There's more hikes planned - see the calendar at the bottom of the page. Next Wednesday at 5 PM we'll kickoff the first afterwork 'Sunset Hike' of 2009 with a return to Vital Link in Burbank. This fitness/conditioning trail is well known by 'Bramblers' and we expect many more visits as some of us prepare for more strenuous hike later in the year (Mt. Whitney and the Big 3 of SoCal are already in planning).