The hiking trail leading from the Griffith Park ranger station on Crystal Springs Drive up to Five Points is now open, as is the "hogsback" trail that leads from there up to Mount Hollywood. Unfortunately, as I started hiking up the latter yesterday I screamed out at the top of my lungs, "what the ##&@ did they do?" For, the wise geniuses that recently used helicopters to flock the park with a mulch compound after the recent fire (in order to prevent the natural process of erosion) have graded the hogsback trail. What that lacked in rocks it made up for in being a bit steep, including dirt steps and various other features that made it an entertaining place to engage in some trail running. It also featured unused and rusty pipes that were good for practicing balancing. That's all gone now, and it basically looks like a fire road. I don't know exactly what work they had to do that they had to bring vehicles down it (something not possible before), but the only thing that makes sense is that they wanted to build a berm in order to prevent the mulch from being washed away or to prevent a deepening of natural crevices along the sides. However, as it was the water would have run down the center, and as it is now the water will run down in a wide sheet. While that might prevent the berm they built from being breeched, I tend to think that as it was would have taken care of it. I note also that I was strongly tempted to walk cross-country at the start, but decided against it lest I displace any of their **#*@#*@#@#*@#&@#& mulch.