Tier Point Run to Los Angeles in May 2024: Day 5 – Los Angeles – Afternoon

Knowing that the clouds would lift in the afternoon, and having had disappointing views from the Hollywood sign yesterday, I wanted to climb up to the sign again. This time from a different starting point.

Yesterday I started from the Innsdale Trailhead. Today I decided to start from the Brush Canyon Trailhead, located at the end of Canyon Drive.

To get there, I could have picked up an Uber from the Griffiths Observatory, but it was possible to walk, so that’s what I did.

On the initial stretch of the trail from the observatory, it was all plain sailing! It was downhill all the way.

To be honest, what I was more concerned about was the risk of slipping over due to how steep it was in places. At times, the surface was quite slippery.

All along this initial stretch, there were amazing views of Downtown LA and the surrounding areas.

I felt quite bullish at this point, that I would be able to hike across to the Brush Canyon Trailhead, climb up to the junction with Mt Lee Drive and then continue up to the Hollywood Sign.

I didn’t remain as confident as this, once I started the climb up Brush Canyon Trail.

After reaching the main road, I was directed along Red Oak Drive, on to Park Oak Drive and finally Spring Oak Drive, which connected to Canyon Drive.

This was a beautiful residential area and signs had been erected to advise this was no route through to the Hollywood Sign.

I walked through keeping myself to myself and avoiding opportunities to engage with anyone.

Walking up along Canyon Drive, I reached an official parking lot. It had all of the right facilities for hikers.

I was aware that another trail called the Holyridge Trail, which was previously accessible from Beachwood Gate had been closed due to a court order in 2017.

I assume that was due to Holyridge trail being a shorter route up to the sign, but Beachwood Gate not having any of the right faciliities to support visitors.

I can only assume homeowners were being impacted by tourists parking on the road. I can sympathise with their concerns.

I continued to use a free 7-day trial of AllTrails to navigate along the Hollyridge Trail to Hollywood Sign Viewpoint to make sure I stuck to the correct path.

This AllTrails trail guide took me to the junction with Mt Lee Drive, but rather than head up to the sign, it directed the user the other way to access the best viewpoint for the sign.

Consequently, I only used the trail guide for a portion of this hike.

The trail immediately starts its incline up the mountain. It’s not steep, but its incessant and it grinds you down after a while.

It’s a relief when there’s a brief decline that allows you to relax a little.

But ultimately, to get to the Hollywood Sign, you need to climb, climb, climb!

But as with all of the trails leading up to the Hollywood Sign, the views are stunning.

I passed quite a few hikers heading up and indeed one or two overtook me.

I also saw a lot of hikers who were on the way back down the trail. It was clearly a popular trail.

As I headed up, I started wondering whether pushing for the summit again was worthwhile.

I was sweating like a pig and my t-shirt was showing wet patches as a result.

Everyone coming down looked really cool (which of course they would be).

Fair to say that I was relieved to reach the junction with Mt Lee Drive. By that point, I had convinced myself that it was worth the extra push to head up to the sign again.

It was also fairly evident that the clouds were dispersing, so the view from the top would be worth the effort.

I went straight to the top from the junction with Mt Lee Drive. I wanted to start the hike back down as soon as I could.

I was starting to feel hungry and there’s no reasoning with a hangry Billingham!

The view across to the Griffiths Observatory was impressive.

Interestingly, the grass was being cut around the Hollywood Sign. There were a number of men working in a line up the hill, all strimming down the long grass.

That provided a bit of a hum as a backdrop to the stunning views.

I probably only spent five mins at the top, before I started my trek back down to civilisation, so that I could order an Uber!

Just before reaching that 4-way junction on Mulholland Hwy, I took one of my last photos of the sign from THE best location.

The sky was so clear now. In terms of climbing up to the sign, it’s a bit of a balancing act:

• Go early, avoid the crowds, stay cool, but it’s likely to be cloudy, so the view won’t be that good.
• Or go late, deal with loads of other people doing the same thing as you, get very hot, need to carry loads of water with you, but get a much better view.

Hopefully, I’ve done both on this trip!

At the 4-way junction, I bumped into 4 or 5 cars that were looking to park up and take a photo of the sign. They were getting in the way of each other.

I could understand why the locals are fed up of rental vehicles driving through their neighbourhood.

I picked up my Uber and headed to In n Out Burger on Sunset Boulevard, which was a hoot.

It’s a relatively small place with perhaps 20 tables.

There were people everywhere: some placing orders for food, some waiting for food, some hanging around tables to grab them when they became free.

I ordered a Double Double (not entirely sure what that meant), fries, and a vanilla shake (made with real ice cream).

I wanted to order Animal Fries, which Bosch and Maddie ordered, but that must be a seasonal thing.

After placing my order, I had to wait at least 20 mins for my guest number to be called out. They had someone calling out guest numbers with a mic, which worked really well.

My number was 49 and I heard almost all 100 numbers cycle around whilst I was waiting.

Anyway, the food was fab; very tasty and the shake was just what I needed to cool me down.

Back to the HGI to pick up my stuff, get another Uber to get down to my next hotel.

I considered walking the one and a half miles, but my heel was really painful by this stage.

Checked in to the hotel and crashed. I set my alarm for 4am. It was going to be an early dash to the airport to get my Starbucks!

Follow the whole story here: Tier Point Run to Los Angeles in May 2024