Yesterday, November 15th, the temperature reached into the 90s. At 3:30 p.m., I took off for a bike ride through Griffith Park, circling around it to the east, then climbing up to a high point on a portion of the park closed to motor vehicles. After a nice descent, I climbed a little more to reach the Griffith Park Observatory. 

The view out over the city showed the seriousness of the Sylmar Fire, which raged to the north and northwest. Smoke from the fire had created a giant hell-cloud that was drifting toward the southwest, and more smoke, mixed with coastal fog and smog, lay below the heights on which sits the famed observatory. A couple seemed largely oblivious to the fire - their own passion was ignited from within.

It would have made me feel better if I'd slipped a real camera into my jersey pocket. Instead, I made do with the basic camera in my phone. I stayed just long enough to watch the sun sink into that dark, lower cloud, before returning to the flatlands.