Category Archives: nature

Lasky Mesa Prickly Pear

Prickly pear on Lasky Mesa in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

This prickly pear on Lasky Mesa appears to have many of the characteristics of the Engelmann prickly-pear, Opuntia engelmannii, but is more likely a cross involving O. engelmannii. One such cross is O. littoralis X (O. engelmannii X O. phaeacantha ) which is referred to as O. ×occidentalis in the Jepson Manual. Here’s a closer view of the stamens and pistil.

From a run in in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch) on May 23, 2007.

Little Jimmy Spring Incense Cedar

A large incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) near Little Jimmy Spring in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California.

This is the large incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) mentioned in the post Snowless San Gabriels. It is located on a northeast facing slope near Little Jimmy Spring at an elevation of about 7460′ in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. A vertical panorama better shows the size of this tree.

The scar from the 2002 Curve Fire can be seen on the left side of the tree. The black and white cap is about 7 inches wide and suggests a diameter of perhaps 70-80 inches. According to the species information in the FEIS database, in Southern California the largest incense-cedars generally have a diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) of 36-48 inches, but in the Sierra Nevada frequently reach diameters of 84 inches. According to the database, trees over about 200 years old are subject to dry rot, but large trees are often over 500 years old.

Related posts: Pine Mountain Juniper, Heat Wave, Lightning Tree

Snowless San Gabriels

Ridge between Mt. Baden-Powell and Mt. Burnham in the San Gabriel Mountains. 
Ridge between Mt. Baden-Powell and Mt. Burnham

Standing on the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (9399′), I squinted through the haze at Mt. Baldy (10,064′). Nope, no snow.

It’s not often that the highest elevations of the San Gabriel Mountains are snowless on Memorial Day weekend. If nowhere else, there will usually be a patch of white on the north side of Mt. Baldy. Two years ago there were 10-15 ft. drifts on Baden-Powell that persisted into July. Not this year.

This year, usually dependable water sources might not make it through the Summer. On the way to Baden-Powell I  stopped at Little Jimmy Springs. Descending to the spring, I didn’t hear the usual splitter-splatter of water streaming onto the rocks. For a worried moment I wondered if the spring could already dry.

It wasn’t dry, but the spring was nearly as low as it was in August 2002, following the driest water year ever recorded in Los Angeles. Whether Little Jimmy Spring will last through this Summer, after what is likely to be an even drier year, we’ll just have to see. To date, Los Angeles has received only 3.21 inches of rain since July 1, 2006, and will very likely break the record set in 2001-2002.

When on the trail between Islip Saddle and Mt. Baden-Powell, I almost always visit Little Jimmy Spring. The area surrounding the spring is lush and green, and in midsummer is accentuated with the yellows and reds of wildflowers. There are several impressive Incense Cedars nearby, and one huge tree must have enjoyed the idyllic setting and refreshing waters for at least a few centuries. The tree was threatened by the 2002 Curve Fire, but fortunately only a part of its fire-resistant trunk was burned.

At the spring, I filled my Camelbak to the brim. On the way back from Mt. Baden-Powell, I was planning to climb Mt. Burnham, Throop Peak, Mt. Hawkins and Mt. Islip. Most of these peaks are relatively easy ascents requiring short detours from the main trail. Mt. Islip requires a little more effort, and is about a mile by trail from Windy Gap.

According to my Forerunner 205, the distance from Islip Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell is about 8.1 miles. Depending on how Islip is done, the total mileage including the five peaks is in the neighborhood of 17-18 miles, with an elevation gain and loss of about 4700′.

Note: Angeles Crest Highway (SR2) was open to Islip Saddle.

Related post: PCT Above Windy Gap.

Blazing Star

Blazing Star (Mentzelia laevicaulis)

Blazing star,
Dancing shadows,
It looms above…

The Baldy Peaks 50K (currently in hiatus) is without a doubt the most challenging 50K I’ve done. This race climbs to the summit of Mt. Baldy twice, once from the village and once from Manker Flats. And after climbing Baldy twice, you get to amble over to Thunder Mountain as well. The total elevation gain (and loss) is reported to be 10,775 ft.

Race organizers asked endorphin influenced runners to write a poem on the second ascent of the peak.

This particular Blazing Star (Mentzelia laevicaulis) was on the Manzanita Trail, between South Fork Campground and Vincent Gap. In the Baldy Peaks race they were along the service road between the Notch and Manker Flats.

Google search: $g(poetry), $g(Mt. Baldy)

Three Points – Mt. Waterman Loop

Trail sign on the Mt. Waterman Trail in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Five miles of (mostly) downhill to go. Running through an old growth forest of Jeffrey Pine, Sugar Pine and Incense Cedar, I relished being on a pine needle covered trail at 7000 ft. in the San Gabriel Mountains.

In a record dry water year, I had been curious to see how the mountains were faring. Although creeks were very low and grasses dry, my impression was that groundwater resources were not quite as bad. The usual springs and seeps still muddied the trail. In 2005 the San Gabriel Mountains were deluged with rain, and in the 2006 the rainfall was nearly normal, so some carryover would be expected.

Update May 27, 2007. My impression of groundwater resources may have been overly optimistic. On a run to Mt. Baden-Powell from Islip Saddle, I stopped by Little Jimmy Spring. It was nearly as low as in late August 2002, when Los Angeles had just experienced its driest water year on record. This year will likely break the 2001-2002 record.

Even so, it was obviously much drier than normal. There were fewer wildflowers, and some young Incense Cedars looked as if they might be stressed. On the plus side, manzanita and currant were blooming in profusion, and perhaps 30-35 scarlet red stalks of snow plant were seen on the loop.

About three miles from Three Points I happened upon another Jeffrey Pine that had been struck by lightning. This strike appeared to more energetic than the bolt that struck the tree on the Baldy North Backbone Trail. The spiral scar was wider and braided at some points, and the strike ignited the tree. Where the Baldy tree was on a sharp ridge crest, this tree was several hundred feet below the main crest in an area where the trail started to work around a projecting ridge.

More about this loop and a Google Earth image of the course can be found in the post Manzanita Morning.