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Looking for Storm Damage in Point Mugu State Park

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Boney Mountain crags

Continuing the theme of checking out local trails following the December 2022 – January 2023 series of rainstorms, this morning I did a trail run/hike from the Wendy Drive Trailhead in Newbury Park.

Vernal stream on the Chamberlain segment of the Backbone Trail
Vernal stream on the Chamberlain segment of the Backbone Trail

I was able to check out several trails — and get in a little climbing — by doing Sandstone Peak via Boney Mountain’s Western Ridge and Tri Peaks and then returning by way of the Backbone Trail, Big Sycamore Canyon, and the Upper Sycamore Trail.

The surprising headline is that the trails on this route held up better than expected. Although there was a lot of rain, the rain rates in this area must not have been excessive. Generally, it looked like streams were able to handle the runoff.

It didn’t come out of it unscathed, but the Blue Canyon segment of the Backbone Trail was less damaged than usual. Some route-finding through the cobble was required, but a new use trail was already starting to emerge. I was also surprised to see that several oft-repaired sections of the Upper Sycamore Trail were mostly intact. There was a lot of creek hopping on these trails, but it was good to hear the burble and gurgle of the rejuvenated streams.

This section of Old Boney segment of the Backbone Trail repaired by the SMMTC withstood the Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 storms.
Section of the Old Boney/Backbone Trail repaired by the SMMTC that withstood the Dec 2022 – Jan 2023 storms.

Work done by the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council prevented additional damage. In the past, a section of Old Boney segment of the Backbone Trail between the Chamberlain Trail junction and Blue Canyon has always had significant problems following rainstorms. Water would run down the trail, eroding ruts and exposing rocks. In one place, most of the trail had collapsed into the canyon. Thanks to the SMMTC, I ran it today without a second thought. A steep section of the Backbone Trail above Chamberlain Rock, repaired by the SMMTC, also held up well.

Speaking of which… As I was running down the Chamberlain Trail, I’d noticed some shoe tracks that were also headed down. This was a bit odd because there weren’t any tracks coming up. The puzzle was solved when I caught up to three hikers near Chamberlain Rock. They had also done the Western Ridge of Boney Mountain and were going to complete the loop via Sycamore Canyon.

Here is an interactive, 3D terrain view of a GPS track (yellow) to Sandstone Peak from Wendy Drive via Boney Mountain’s Western Ridge and Tri Peaks, then returning via Big Sycamore Canyon and the Upper Sycamore Trail. Two alternate routes are also shown (red). To change the view, use the control on the upper right side of the screen. Track and placename locations are approximate and subject to errors. Poor weather and other conditions may make this route unsuitable for this activity.

Some related posts: Looking for Boney Mountain, Pt. Mugu State Park Debris Flows and Flash Floods (December 2014), Sandstone Peak from Wendy Drive

adventures, landscape, los angeles, nature, news, photography, running, southern california, topanga state park, trails, weather, weather

Popular Trails in Topanga State Park Damaged by Winter Storms

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Mudslide on Fire Road #30 below the Hub in Topanga State Park
Mudslide on Fire Road #30 below the Hub

Several popular trails and fire roads in Topanga State Park have been damaged by the cumulative effects of Winter 2022-2023 rainstorms.

Since December 1, 2022, the Topanga Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) has recorded nearly 16 inches of rain. The most rainfall occurred January 9-10, when about 5.4 inches was measured.

On Sunday, January 15, I did an exploratory trail run from the Top of Reseda that took me through some popular areas of the Park. This included Fire Road #30, the Hub, Temescal Peak, Temescal Lookout, Temescal Ridge Fire Road, Eagle Springs Fire Road, Eagle Rock Fire Road, the Garapito Trail, and the Bent Arrow Trail.

There were numerous mudslides on the fire roads. The larger slides were on Fire Road #30 below the Hub and Temescal Ridge Fire Road between the Backbone Trail junction and Temescal Lookout. There was also significant roadbed and shoulder erosion in places. At the time, all were passable on foot.

The trails were a different matter. Unfortunately, much of the repair work done on the Bent Arrow Trail following last year’s rain was damaged or destroyed.

The Garapito Trail was blocked in two places on the upper part of the trail. One problem was from a sluff of soil and brush sliding onto the trail. The other was from the collapse of a section of trail. There were additional sluffs, limbs, and washouts on the trail that were passable at the time.

Update February 5, 2023.  The Bent Arrow Trail is closed. Fire Road #30, Eagle Springs Fire Road, and East Topanga Fire Road to Parker Mesa Overlook had all been cleared. The Musch Trail was eroded in spots but OK. Use of the Garapito Trail has moderated its condition. Some brush had been cleared and paths have evolved through the sections of collapsed trail. Extra care is required in some spots.

Here are a few photos taken along the way.

Other trails and fire roads in Topanga State Park likely had similar impacts. I would expect, like last year, sections of the Santa Ynez Trail lower in the canyon to be washed out.

Related post: Trippet Ranch Loop Plus the Santa Ynez Trail

landscape, los angeles, nature, photography, southern california, weather, weather

Downtown Los Angeles (USC) Already at 94% of Normal Annual Rainfall

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Loss Angeles Basin with storm approaching
Increasing clouds over the Los Angeles Basin

La Ninas are fickle beasts, and particularly in a time of climate change, the existence of La Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific is no guarantee of a dry rain season in Southern California.

According to preliminary rainfall data, from December 1, 2022, to January 16, 2023, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) recorded 11.01 inches of rain. This was 77% of the normal rainfall for an entire year.

This brings the Rain Year total precipitation for Los Angeles up to 13.38 inches — the sixth wettest for the date going back to 1877 — and 94% of the normal ANNUAL rainfall.

birds, nature, photography|wildlife, running, topanga state park, trails, weather

Crow Meetup on Eagle Springs Road

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Winter congregation of crows along Eagle Springs Fire Road in Topanga State Park

It was the day before the strongest of a series of Pacific storms was forecast to move into Southern California. It would add several inches of rain to an already impressive total. I was curious to see how the trails and roads in Topanga State Park were holding up before the big one hit.

I’d just run up Fire Road #30 to the Hub and was part way down Eagle Springs Fire Road when I heard the caw, caw, cawing of hundreds of crows. They were everywhere — perched on burned branches of chaparral, on the road, and soaring overhead. Anywhere I looked, there were crows.

Here is a very short (19-second) video of the crow congregation.

The run went well. Most of the mud could be avoided, and I didn’t have to wade through any puddles or creeks. Except for the Bent Arrow Trail, the damage to the roads and trails at this point wasn’t too bad. But that was going to change.

Related posts: Winter Colony of Crows in Cheeseboro Canyon, Congregating Crows on Lasky Mesa, Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Temescal Peak

adventures, backbone trail, landscape, los angeles, nature, photography, running, running|adventures, santa monica mountains, southern california, topanga state park, trails, weather, weather, wildflowers

Racing the Weather to High Point (Goat Peak) and Back

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High Point (Goat Peak), Santa Monica Bay, and clouds.
High Point (Goat Peak)

The forecast for the Los Angeles area (Saturday, December 10) was for a chance of rain in the afternoon, with rain developing overnight and continuing into Sunday morning. There was also a slight chance of light rain or drizzle in the Santa Monica Mountains in the morning.

It was overcast in the West Valley as I drove to the trailhead, and I wondered if my run would be dank and drizzly. But as I drove up Reseda Blvd. toward Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park, I was surprised to find patches of blue sky overhead.

Sunrise view of Hondo Canyon, Topanga Lookout, and Henry Ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Hondo Canyon, Topanga Lookout, and Henry Ridge from the top of Fire Road 30.

I started the run a little before 7:00 a.m. and headed up the connecting single-track trail to dirt Mulholland and Fire Road 30. Many runs from the Top of Reseda start this way, and I turned onto Fire Road 30 and continued up to the Hub — about 2.5 miles from the trailhead.

For the first couple of miles, I wasn’t sure how long a run I would do or where I was headed. But as I neared the Hub, I had to make a decision. To a large extent, a decision that depended on the weather.

What had been partly cloudy skies had coalesced into a layer of clouds that just touched the top of the highest peaks. I’d been thinking about doing an out-and-back to High Point (Goat Peak), but if the weather continued to deteriorate, the only view I would see from the peak would be the interior of a cloud. I finally decided to give it a go and hope the peak didn’t get socked in with clouds and fog.

Chaparral currant (Ribes malvaceum) along the Backbone Trail
Chaparral currant

Turning left at the Hub onto the Temescal Ridge Fire Road segment of the Backbone Trail, I ran about a half-mile to where the Backbone Trail forks left off the fire road and becomes a single-track trail. This is the popular Rogers Road segment of the Backbone Trail that eventually ends at Will Rogers Historic State Park.

From Temescal Ridge Fire Road, it’s about 4.25 miles on the Backbone Trail to the unsigned junction with the High Point use trail. It’s on the right and easy to miss. The turnoff is about a half-mile before “The Oak Tree” landmark on the Backbone Trail.

The High Point trail is an unofficial, unmaintained path but is usually in decent shape. There are a couple of short, steep, loose sections on the way to the peak. Nothing is signed, and some side paths diverge from the main trail.

Summit of High Point (Goat Peak), with the San Gabriels, Downtown, and West L.A in the background
Summit of High Point (Goat Peak)

When I reached High Point’s summit, the weather was holding but looked more threatening. Even so, the view was excellent. Panning from east to west underneath the ceiling of clouds, the view included the San Gabriels, Downtown, West L.A., the South Bay, Santa Monica, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Santa Monica Bay, and Catalina.

There were a couple of rogue sprinkles on the way back to the Top of Reseda, but the rain held off in the West Valley until late in the day.

Here is an interactive, 3D terrain view of the High Point (Goat Peak) Out and Back from the Top of Reseda. The map can be zoomed, tilted, rotated, and panned using the navigation control on the right. Track and placename locations are approximate and subject to errors. Poor weather and other conditions may make this route unsuitable for this activity.

Some related posts: High Point (Goat Peak) Via the Rivas Ridge Use Trail, Goat Peak and the High Point Trail

adventures, glaciers, landscape, nature, photography, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, san gorgonio mountain, southern california, trails, trails|san gorgonio, weather, weather

What’s the Shortest Route From South Fork to San Gorgonio’s Summit?

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Spectacular afternoon on the Dry Lake Trail while running/hiking the Dollar Lake - Dry Lake keyhole loop on San Gorgonio Mountain.
Spectacular afternoon on the Dry Lake Trail.

I wondered what the hikers would think when they reached this part of the Dollar Lake Trail.

A few minutes before, we had all reached the junction of the Dollar Lake and Dry Lake Trails at the same time. They hadn’t done the peak before and were debating which trail to take. When I mentioned that the Dollar Lake Trail is the shorter route to the summit, that’s the route they chose.

I guessed there might be a few choice words directed my way. About a half-mile beyond the junction, there is a long switchback on the Dollar Lake Trail that seems to never end. It’s about twice as long as any switchback on the Dry Lake Trail or Sky High Trail. With the mountain at your back, it takes the disbelieving hiker farther and farther away from their goal. How could it possibly be the shortest way to the summit?

But it is. The Dollar Lake Trail route is shorter — by about two miles. Following are the estimated mileages from the South Fork Trailhead to Gorgonio’s summit via the Dollar Lake and Dry Lake routes*:

SGWA handout – Dollar: 9.4  Dry: 11.3  Difference: 1.9

My GPS tracks – Dollar: 9.8  Dry: 11.5  Difference: 1.7

Tom Harrison Maps – Dollar: 10.0  Dry: 12.0  Difference: 2.0

*The Dollar Lake route uses the South Fork, Dollar Lake, Divide, and Summit Trails. The Dry Lake route uses the South Fork, Dry Lake, Sky High, and Summit Trails.

The combined route — Dollar up and Dry down — is one of the best mountain trail runs in Southern California. It’s a favorite, and the route I was doing today.

This morning the sky was mostly clear, and the temperature was mild. Later in the day, there was a chance of a thunderstorm, but I expected to be off the exposed trails higher on the mountain well before thunderstorms had a chance to build.

The first cumulus clouds popped up over the mountain around 10:00 a.m. An hour later — as I was crossing the summit plateau — the clouds were more extensive but with little vertical development.

Defaced survey marker on the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain.
Defaced survey marker on the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain.

There were only a few people in the summit area. Some were on the west summit and some on the east. The twin summits are about 80 feet apart and nearly at the same elevation. Oddly, someone has defaced the survey marker on the west peak since the last time I was there — June 2021. With clouds all around, and 12 miles to go, I snapped a few photos and headed down.

I only saw one group of hikers on the Sky High Trail. They were working up the switchbacks at a good clip and would probably make the summit in an hour or so. Hopefully, the weather would hold for them!

It wasn’t until I was between the C-47 memorial and Mineshaft Saddle that I heard the first rumbles of thunder somewhere in the distance to the east or northeast.

As I continued down the mountain, I occasionally heard thunder in the distance but nothing nearby. There were some sizable cells to the east, but the weather behaved itself. At least where I was. I later heard it dumped at Onyx Summit, and flash flooding was reported at Joshua Tree.

For me, the weather was nearly ideal. Mild temperatures, light winds, and picturesque, sun-shielding clouds. It was short sleeves and shorts up and down. But on another day, it might not have worked out that way.

Here are a few photos taken along the way, and an interactive, 3D terrain view of the Dollar Lake – Dry Lake Loop.

Some related posts: San Gorgonio Mountain – June 2021; San Gorgonio Mountain Snow, Avalanches and Glaciers; San Gorgonio High Line