The Hiding Man of Griffith Park

I FIRST HEAR ABOUT THE HIDING MAN back in mid-March, when I accompany a ranger for the city’s Recreation and Parks Department on a ride-along in his pickup in Griffith Park. It’s a three-hour tour that takes us from the ranger station on Crystal Springs Drive to a trail near the 101 (tourist with a twisted ankle), and then up to the radio tower above the Hollywood Sign (great view, secret bunker). On our way back to headquarters, I begin to make inquiries about strange or scary things the ranger has heard about, or stumbled across, in the park…things like dead bodies, ghosts, and weird religious rituals that involve chickens. Though the ranger is amused by my questions, he declines to get into specifics about things like suicides or animal sacrifices. He is, however, more than willing to tell me about something he is not amused by, namely, the story of a creepy-looking local denizen named The Hiding Man who, it is said, lives in the pipes and tunnels underneath the park.