Gold Standard: Fred Armisen’s favorite Runyon Canyon trail may be different from yours

In between writing the next season of “Portlandia” and gigging as bandleader on “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” Fred Armisen stopped by The Times’ TV studio recently and had plenty to say on a variety of topics -- kale, celery, beets -- and even a few that aren’t vegetable-related.

“Portlandia,” IFC’s fantastic sketch comedy show that Armisen writes and performs on with Carrie Brownstein, just finished its fourth season on the air, and the show has been staging a number of fun promotional events around Los Angeles. One turned Runyon Canyon’s hiking trail into Beaver Canyon, pegged to “Portlandia’s” season finale, in which the show’s feminist characters join hands in the middle of the river to stop a flood.

“It’s freezing. Water looks so nice, [but] I can’t believe how ice cold a river can be,” Armisen says, recalling the shoot. “So once we sort of locked arms, I just remember I wanted them to shoot and get the scene over with.”

As for the Runyon Canyon event, Armisen, who lives in Silver Lake, was happy to stop by and greet fans, even if his feet never actually hit the hiking trail.

“Parking was so hard, so the hike for me was going from the car to the entrance,” Armisen says. “That did tire me out. So I shook some hands, took some pictures, then turned on the air conditioning in my car. I was in heaven again.”

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