Verdugo Mountain

Glendale

Locate the trailhead.

I've been going up Henninger now and again to stretch the legs. Generally leaving before sunset so I can get through the gate and then coming back out the middle between the two usual spots that close at sunset. I did again the day before and sat at the junction between the trails to draw. I just got a new water system and wanted to give it a try. The mosquitoes were biting and I'd not put repellent into the little pocket, only the lamp. Score one for the usual pack that usually has the repellent in it. I decided not to go all the way up with all the bugs.

I decided to go up in the Verdugo Mountains the next day, again to stretch the legs and try out the water system and this time see a bit I'd not seen before. The hike is along fire roads starting in a seemingly random spot in a neighborhood and climbs up into the emptier mountain surrounded by city, then loops around past some radio towers and back down. I somehow seem to have got Nathan to come along as well, although I think he might be treating this one in a similar way to my treatment of Henninger. They offer similar climbs at similar easy grades. We started around 5 aiming to be at the bench at the top for sunset and almost dallied too long along the way.

Looking down the road to the city at the start of the trail. Beyond is the (generally closed) Angeles National Forest.

We spotted some wild life along the way, but only on a very small scale.

Oh, what a great many eyes you have!

A bird finding a meal in the nearby bushes. They could be holly except they come in singles so they are cherry.

We also found a long, ugly cloud that seemed quite thin to the west, but got fat and gross in the eastward direction until it butted up against the mountains. The downside of getting up high enough to get a good view is you're up high enough to get a good view.

That looks suspiciously like it's the air over my neck of the woods. The city and the city's waste.

As the road goes around near the top of the mountain, different parts of the surrounding cities can be seen. We did make the top in time for the sunset.

Out over Burbank, the sun is setting.

Everywhere was turning colors.

Of course, soon after sunset, it is dark. So the rest of the city views were seen as lights. Out in the lights, islands of dark where similar mountains surrounded by city have not quite succumbed to the encroaching settlement.

Glendale and Burbank at night with planets and planes in the skies.

Southward, the big sky scrapers that were so easy to see in the light become hard to pick out by the lights.

So we picked our way back down the rest of the loop, generally under a large and bright moon.





©2010 Valerie Norton
Posted 2 October 2010