Colorful sunburst lichen on a valley oak in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Reserve. Might be Xanthoria tenax.
Category Archives: nature|trees
Waiting for the Storm
Sculpted in an Elfin Forest
Sculpted in an elfin forest, this fused, twisted and fluted trunk of a big pod Ceanothus is accented with gold dust lichen, a lichen of the genus Chrysothrix — probably C. granulosa or C. xanthina.
From this morning’s Trippet Ranch Loop trail run from the End of Reseda (Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park).
The Tree
As I climbed the long hill, the wind began to increase, gusting fitfully in one direction and then another. Chilled, I stopped to pull on my sleeves. As I tugged at one sleeve the setting sun suddenly broke under the patchwork of clouds, illuminating the hills in a wonderful — but fleeting — golden light.
Such situations can be anticipated, but not planned. In a matter of minutes the sun would set, or a stray cloud would block the sun. Camera in hand I continued to the top of the hill, hoping to see and not just shoot for the sake of shooting.
Advancing Clouds
On my run today (Tuesday), the leading edge of the cloud shield associated with a cut-off upper level low southwest of the Los Angeles began to move into the area.
Systems such as this are notoriously difficult to forecast and computer models (and forecasters) often disagree. In this case the wetter solution won the day with a half-inch of rainfall being recorded at Downtown Los Angeles (USC) Wednesday evening.
The storm increased December’s rainfall total in Los Angeles to 2.26 inches — about 0.88 inch above normal for the month.
Musch Trail Morning Sun
From this morning’s run to Temescal Peak, Eagle Springs, Trippet Ranch, Eagle Rock and Garapito Canyon.