Mystery clearcutting

One of the larger islands south of Hyperion shows evidence of pretty large-scale clearing. Refuse and debris have been removed, and the bamboo-like canes have been uniformly whacked. But for what purpose? Why leave the rest of the debris in the River? Somebody said they had recently seen an LAFD crew doing something down there… Anybody know what’s going on?

(photo Jay Babcock, 29 April 02007)

Ducklings on a pond…

A mama duck and her ducklings go for a midday swim in the River…

(vid by Jay Babcock 29 April 02007)

Mystery suitcase

Someone has fetched a suitcase out of the L.A. River and is drying its contents at riverside…

(vid Jay Babcock, 30 April 02007)

Wading through the Mickey and Donald Tunnel

A wade through the L.A. River’s Mickey and Donald Tunnel beneath the Hyperion Bridge in Atwater Village … warm flowing water, pigeons, paintings (“you try painting with a scrap outline”) , Greg and Molly’s harmonica …

(pics and vid by Jay Babcock, 29 April 02007)

Expedition to the fallen outpost “Shizor.”

Last year an urban camper dude and a dog lived in the shaded grove on the island pictured here in the background. He decorated the area with painted rocks (polkadots and solids), a riverside potted plant with rug, “found sculptures” (brightly colored plastic frogs, etc) in the flowing water, two deck chairs in the middle of the river beneath the bamboo-like canes from which were strung counterfeit dollar bills, and flew a pirate’s flag from his semi-fortress. He was forcibly evicted last November in a woefully misguided multi-agency City operation. Still, remnants of the beauty he’d brought to the River remain…

(photos Jay Babcock, 28 April 02007)

California poppy

Just south of the Los Feliz bridge, 28 April 02007: nature wins again.
Photo Jay Babcock

Darth’s head.

Darth Vader’s head in the L.A. River, just south of the Crying Girl of Atwater.
(Photo Jay Babcock, 28 April 02007)

Walking upriver underneath the Hyperion Bridge.

Above: Looking south from below the Hyperion Bridge, standing in the River.

Above: Looking north.

Above: Looking north, from the middle of the River just north of the Bridge. That’s Griffith Park in the distance.

Above: Vid of the walk.

(Pics and vid by Jay Babcock, 28 April 02007).