I love the smell of sunscreen in the winter...

Today Gina and I hiked Runyon Canyon. It is a 160-acre park in LA, located at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is a rare example of wild nature, with it's evergreen trees and shrubs only a yard or two from the hustle and bustle of the Hollywood community. The highest point in the park is at an elevation of 1,320 ft and is known as Indian Rock. Because of its proximity to residential areas of Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills, celebrity sightings are not uncommon. However, we don't think we saw any today. We did see lots and lots of beautiful people and highly enjoyed all the man candy! In fact, before we even had been hiking long, I pointed out to Gina that the view was already nice.. haha! : )

The park is also noted for having a fairly liberal dog policy, with dogs allowed off-leash in 90 of the park's 160 acres. And boy were they! We saw some adorable dogs and pretty much any and all breeds were out there. The upper canyon trail is home to a variety of wildlife including birds, owls and hawks; snakes and lizards; and deer and coyote. Additionally, there are several hundred plant species throughout Runyon Canyon including black sage, elderberry, California sagebrush, wild buckwheat, golden yarrow, laurel sumac, scrub oak, sugar bush and toyon. I even saw some cactus but it didn't look quite the same as the cactus back in AZ. I was especially excited to see the "Hollywood" sign so close up and definitely got some good pictures of it. There definitely were a lot of people on the trail, yet the views of the LA /Beverly Hills skyline were so breathtaking that I didn't mind all the people. The hike was not too difficult, but the change in elevation made it a great workout.

Don’t worry – if a tiny little Chiwawa can do it, so can you.