I've had a stress fracture for 2 months now, but it's finally starting to heal, and the podiatrist (who I met with and talked to for all of 10 minutes) said that I can start walking normally now. In fact, I might even be able to run by mid-April.
I started following his advice. Although my left foot felt pressure walking barefoot, and I had random pangs at random times when I was resting, I felt a lot better. This encouraged me to do some hiking during my trip to California this spring break.
I did some research and immediately felt compelled to do the hike to the Hollywood sign. Well, it wasn't really a hike - more of a tedious walk, but it was outdoors and some form of exercise. My sister and I arrived at the trailhead in Griffith Park lacking sunscreen and cell phone reception, but nevertheless excited for what was to come.
The hike began in the shade with trees and green things surrounding us. The lighting was nice, and there were hills and mountains surrounding us on all sides. Soon, we reached what was the rest of the hike - open sunlight and no shade. We started taking photos of the nice scenery. However, we realized that that was slowing us down and made a pact to significantly limit our photo-taking.
We continued to climb. I knew from the beginning that no sunscreen was a big no no and started to notice the effects not too long out of the shade. I decided to keep my arms inside my t-shirt in order to prevent them front getting sunburned. Only my hands were sticking out, and even though I looked like a deranged T-Rex holding 2 bananas and a bottle of water, I decided that this would be worth it in the long term.
The climb was continuous. However, at one point, the incline did start to ease off. There was horse poo and whatnot at various points in the path, but the view and the good workout was nice.
The trail was pretty easy to follow. Eventually, it turns into pavement at a 3-way intersection. We started to head towards the right (the supposed path to the top of Mt. Lee and the closest you can get to the letters), but my sister had some house-hunting to do, so we chose the left turn instead. I assumed that this way would be shorten. However, we would only reach a yellow gate a ways away from the Hollywood sign. The only upside would be that that is the best place to take direct photos of the front of the sign - that is, unless you disobey the yellow gate and continue. It's probably against the law, though.
We turned around and headed back down. I discovered that I did have a slight fear of heights (and that going down is less fun than going up), but we made it to the trail head aright, and we had a good hike. It took us 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 38 seconds, but we took a few stops for photos and for phone calls (near the top, the reception is better).
And so concluded my time getting to do a full hike in LA. Next time, when I have more time, I'll turn right and summit the mountain. Outdoors and athletics aside, I got to meet famous people, touch an Emmy, and went to a concert. It was a really nice trip.
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EDIT (04/27/2013)
I found some pictures!
