Over the past three weeks I’ve been trying to organize a trip to Chatwworth South Park for myself and two coworkers.  Both expressed earlier interest in going there to hike.  Both had been there previously but their interest was bolstered by my “getting lost” story.

Every time we set a time to go it falls through (I think we’ve set up at least 5 n ow that haven’t happened).  So on Saturday I became frustrated and decided to go by myself.  Unfortunately the entrance to the hiking trail/s in South Park are fenced off.  I proceeded to Chatsworth North Park, a park I’d visited once in June 2008 and again in July 2008 (this is the spot where my ex-girlfriend and I went to discuss the terms of our disentanglement), but not since.   The lower part of the park has typical basketball courts, picnic tables and so on, but just at the back of each area there are a multitude of entrances into the hills.  Most of the larger entrances have large warning signs about rattlesnakes and mountain lions.

I began hiking up into the hills and discovered that North Park is far easier for the casual hiker.  One can boulder if one wishes, but the paths are so well travelled that there are obvious “easy out” routes up to any cliff.  Also, unlike South Park there are several peaks that are built of nothing but loose soil and dead weeds.

However, at the tops of the cliffs there are always “no trespassing” signs just before you can go the final stretch.

Despite these obstacles, there were still some nice peaks that the “owners” of this land left us to enjoy.

through the key-hole:

While I was up there I had a clear view of the smoke from the Station Fire.  From where I was it often took the form of a bomb blast, which, despite it’s means of production was eerily beautiful (at least at the top).

So, as I sat there and watched, what I saw was somewhat like this:

Time Lapse Test: Station Fire from Eric Spiegelman on Vimeo.