Wildwood Canyon Hike

And so arrived the day after Thanksgiving where most people work off that turkey by shoving through dazed and confused shoppers at the mall. Instead, since I had punished my stomach by over-eating the day before, I decided to give it some loving by finding a new hike. I looked up suggestions from a few fellow hikers over at http://www.modernhiker.com/ and found out that Wildwood Canyon Park in Glendale has a great "leg-buster" hike for a total of 4 miles round trip and ~2000 ft elevation gain. It's a great workout with beautiful views and is super close to my house. It also only takes about an hour and 45 minutes. I tried it out and loved it so much that I came back Sunday with my cousin Nikki and Tuesday for a night hike with my friends Cory and Hillary. Here are some pictures I took along the way(s):

FRIDAY:

This is probably my favorite picture, a panorama of the Verdugo Mountains (with the lovely Rita, of course):

This is what the trail looks like most of the way... climb, climb, CLIMB!

A view from the top, the trail goes aaaall the way back down to near that grassy area on the right:

 At the top you can see the other side of the mountain (Montrose and the Angeles mountains)

and all the towers along the fire road at the top:

...halfway back down (that's the tower at the top!)

SUNDAY:

Sunset hike, you can see downtown in the distance:

My cousin Nikki!

The turn-around point at the top:

TUESDAY:

My first night-time hike, wearing my headlamp:

We saw several pairs of eyes in the dark, mostly deer.

Luckily I had company, Cory and Hillary:

This hike is halfway up Harvard Rd. in Burbank. There is a parking lot at the bottom of Wildwood Canyon Rd. and you keep taking the trail all the way up til you see a trail sign on the left. You can take this trail all the way up to the tower, or you can keep going straight and take a loop back down to the paved Wildwood Canyon Rd. And there you go! Check it out if you live in the area.