I am in Los Angeles now, having flown in yesterday for a week of work/vacation. I'm staying with my friend Tory at his house. This morning I got up at 6am and drove out to Studio City, where I used to live, to run up in on the Betty B. Dearing trail, where I used to run consistently when I lived here. Most people think of LA as a vast concrete wasteland and they are 90% right, but the other 10% is spectacular. The little portion I'm talking about here is the Santa Monica mountains, which divide LA from the San Fernando Valley. I lived for four years on Laurel Canyon, right at the bottom of the Hollywood Hills and right next to the trailhead going up into an extensive network of side canyons and trails. Starting at the trailhead off of Laurel Canyon, I ran up through the single track trail into the meadow and then continued on the spine of the mountain. I crossed over Coldwater Canyon, and then dropped down into Franklin Canyon, which is protected parkland/habitat area. It's amazingly close to a lot of chaos, but remarkably isolated and there is a lot of solitude to be found there. I was disturbed, but not surprised to see that a few more hilltops had been leveled and replaced with hotel-sized mansions. I ran down through Franklin Canyon to the Hastain Trail, and climbed another 300 feet before turning back. It is a challenging run wih lots of climbing-but one of my all time favorites anywhere in the world. | 