Full Moon Easy and Fun Wine and Picnic Hike

This will be the last full moon on a weekend until September, so we have to go on a full moon hike!

Los Leones is still closed, but I have a great location that in a sense is even better: It's a very short and easy hike: Henry Cook Lookout Point from Stough Canyon in Burbank. The hike is about 3/4 of a mile each way (yup!), and takes you to a nice plateau with a beautiful view of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Also, there is plenty of parking until 3 am!

THE PLAN:

Sunset is at 5:23 PM, and moonrise is at 4:12 PM. We'll meet at the parking lot by the trailhead at 4:30 PM and get going right away. the hike is so short and easy that we will be at the plateau before 5:00 PM to be able to see the sun and the moon at the same time.

We'll share wine, snacks, and have an amazing time at a beautiful place. Since this is such a short hike, we'll have more time to hang out, won't be tired from the hike, and can bring more stuff to share if we want. Our cars will be just 20 minutes away, so whenever you feel like leaving, you can leave. I figure most people will leave at around 8:00.

- MAKE SURE TO PARK BEFORE THE GATE, even if it's open, so you don't get locked in. There is plenty of parking on Walnut, right before the gate, and we can park until 3:00 AM.

BRING:

- If you are a good photographer, bring your good camera and a tripod, because you will get some amazing pictures of the moon over LA.

- A headlamp or flashlight. It's full moon, but we're coming back down at night.

- A nice jacket. It will be chilly

- Water. At least one liter.

- A bottle of wine or whatever you will want to drink and share (juice, soda, water on-the-rocks).

- Something to eat and share. Some good ideas are fruits, cheese & crackers, chips, or anything that is easy to carry and eat on a picnic. But as always feel free to bring fried chicken, shepherd’s pie, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, or soup. This is such an easy hike, you can even bring your BBQ! :-D

- Your own reusable plastic cup, plastic plate, and utensils.

- Paper towels or napkins. Yup, I bet you weren't thinking about that, and would have gone, "oh shit!" when you needed it. Now you will have it. :-)

- A blanket to lay on the ground, so we can have our picnic.

- A plastic bag to bring back whatever trash you produce.

DO NOT BRING:

- Dogs. Sorry, we had an incident with a dog on a recent hike, so, as much as I love dogs, we can't have them on our hikes anymore.

- A bad and whining attitude. We'll already have enough wine. If you are a wino, yes, come! If you are not a wino, but are a watero, a sodo, or a juico, you are welcome, too. But if you are a whiner, nope! You stay home! :-D

- Hard liquor. We're not there to get shitfaced and fall off the trail on the way back. That did happen once, which is why I now make sure to mention it. We're there to have a good time. Drinking to the point nobody is having a good time anymore is never our goal.

OK! Let's have all the full moon fun we can handle!

See you guys at the trailhead.

Eduardo