Oh Deer, California Is On Fire!

This week has been one of simple fun. I decided to get out of Los Angeles for a bit and head up into the Santa Monica Mountains to do some camping.







One deer in a herd grazing near my campsite:



Tailgate party!



It was a good time, lots of wildlife to be seen and the weather was great. Great that is until I woke up early Saturday morning. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air and the moon was a deep orange color. That's right, California was on fire again.

Wildfire ash on my car:



Coming down the canyon towards Malibu:



Saturday morning I headed back into Los Angeles. We played disc golf at Elysian Park and then hit Santa Monica in the afternoon for some more bodyboarding. It was a little cooler than last week and unfortunately the waves weren't as good. It was kind of funny, though. All the surfers were wearing wetsuits and we were just wearing regular swimsuits. People may have thought we were strange but compared to Oregon the water felt downright warm.

The air is usually a bit polluted in LA. But with the fires it is considerably worse. Saturday night Jon and I headed over to the USC track for more marathon training. But after just half a mile Jon threw in the towel. The smoke was so thick that exerted breathing was impossible.

Sunday night found us up at Griffith Observatory, looking out over a smoke-filled city as the sun went down. It was very surreal. The coloring of the sky was amazing. The view from the observatory really showed just how big the Los Angeles area is. The haze from the wildfires and the resulting sky color just added to it all and created an indescribable feeling.

The Hollywood sign:



The observatory:



The city:



Well, there used to be some skyscrapers here:





Definitely a dramatic start to the end of my trip.