[Hike] Parker Mesa Overlook

A beautiful hike with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, Santa Monica and LA -- and very accessible.
There are two main trailheads to go from Los Liones (off Los Liones Rd, near sunset blvd) or Paseo Miramar (off Paseo Miramar Rd).
I recommend the one from Los Liones (which is what we took).

Either way, you get to a couple overlooks (one barely a mile in and one at the very end) with benches at both locations

[Hike] Hollywood Sign via Mt. Lee

For some reason I never bothered doing this for all the years that I've been hiking in SoCal. Checked this off the list today. It is a fairly easy hike. 6.5 miles around. The trail starts off on Canyon Dr (other option is to take beachwood close by). There are two parking lots and on road parking but this gets a lot of traffic. Make sure you turn right when you get to Mt Lee drive while hiking up.

Some great views of LA downtown (was drizzling when we went up so visibility was low) , Griffith observatory and Hollywood reservoir from up top and of course the famous HOLLYWOOD sign from behind.

[Hike] Sandstone Peak

Sandstone peak is a easy hike with some fun rock scrambling to get to the summit that leaves you with some breathtaking views of Ventura county on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other.
The shortest path is up and down the backbone trail and will total about 3 miles. We decided to go up that way but take a longer loop on the way back via the backbone trail, totaling about 6miles in all. One the way back we got to see some great views from Inspiration Point and some interesting rock formations (split rock and balancing rock)

                                      

Hong Kong Central & Kowloon

Some photos from exploring the central district of hong kong, including the various piers and the famous "Peak Tram". Also took a ferry ride over to Kowloon and walked around there. Felt a lot like a big city in the US (like NY or Chicago). Definitely very accessible from the airport (via the airport express) and very friendly to visitors (rather touristy, may I add)!

Hong Kong downtown skylike from the ferry crossing over to Kowloon...



Tram ride up to the peak from Downtown HK...

Downtown HK from the peak (tallest point in HK)...

The famous clock tower in downtown Kowloon...

[Hike] Echo Mountain - Altadena, CA

Echo mountain is a fairly short (5 mi) out and back hike in Altadena (east of Pasadena) in the LA backcountry. We headed up the mountain from the Sam Merrill trailhead but turned left instead of right at the 2.5 mile point and therefore ended up not reaching the actual Echo Mountain summit but doing a longer hike and reaching some other point. Nonetheless, we did capture some nice shots of the sunset:

                           

[Trail Run] M.A.S.H site - Malibu Creek SP - Calabasas, CA

This one's right in the backyard and a quick and easy hike (many times a trail run actually!). Takes you through some very interesting and varying landscapes includes beautiful mountains, open vistas, tree shaded paths and ultimately the site of the famous M.A.S.H series! -- doesn't get better than this for a quick hike within the city!

[Hike] Temescal Canyon & Skull Rock - Pacific Palisades, CA

Located close to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Pacific Palisades (north of Santa Monica), Temescal Canyon is a very accessible area for quick day hikes and a quick workout without having to drive too much. The trail to skull rock starts at the Temescal Canyon trailhead at the end of Temescal Canyon Road.

There are several trails within the park, but the one we took was a loop, going up via the Temescal Canyon trail and coming back via the Temescal Ridge trail. This worked out well because there was a marine layer (cloud fog) while we were heading up, which cleared on the way back and provided some nice views of Santa Monica on the way back...

[Hike] Devil's Punchbowl - Pearblossom, CA

This was a nice hike in a very secluded area (very few people) and had nice views at the end but I would definitely recommend doing this in cooler weather than when we did (summer).