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nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|malibu creek state park

Best Trailhead to Start the Bulldog Loop?

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Goat Buttes and Century Lake and Gorge in Malibu Creek State Park.

There are several places runners can start the Bulldog Loop: the main parking lot at MCSP, Piuma & Malibu Canyon, and Malibu Canyon & Mulholland are all popular starting points.



One of the best trailheads for starting this loop is often overlooked — the Cistern Trail and Phantom Trail trailhead on Mulholland Highway. Starting at this trailhead adds about 1.5 mile and 500′ gain/loss to the standard 14+ mile loop. Less than a quarter-mile into the run this variation passes one of the best viewpoints in Malibu Creek State Park. 

The run begins on the Cistern Trail on the south side of Mulholland and follows that trail about a quarter-mile to the Lookout Trail junction. At the junction the route turns right on the Lookout Trail and follows it about 0.4 mile to the Cage Creek Trail, which leads down to Crags Road and the regular Bulldog Loop. Near the end of the loop, after climbing a hill and passing the spur trail down to Century Lake, the Lookout Trail is taken from Crags Road back up to the Cistern Trail and car.



Much of Malibu Creek State Park and the route of the Bulldog Loop can be seen from the Cistern Trail at the beginning of the run. There are excellent views of Reagan Ranch, Brents Mountain, Goat Buttes, Century Lake and Gorge on the way down the Cistern Trail and climbing back up the Lookout Trail at the end of the loop.

The run can be easily extended by tacking on the Yearling and Deer Leg Trails in the Reagan Ranch area or by doing the Phantom Loop when the Grasslands Trail & Crags Road junction is reached after passing the MCSP parking lot.

The title photo is of Goat Buttes and Century Lake & Gorge from this morning’s run of the loop.

Some related posts: Century Lake, Dam and Gorge on Malibu Creek, Malibu Creek State Park Scenic Loop, Vertical Relief

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|wildlife, trails, trails|smmc open space

Acorn Woodpeckers at Ahmanson Ranch

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Acorn Woodpeckers at Ahmanson Ranch

The health of an ecosystem can be measured by the sounds it produces. The more full the spectrum (and the more niches filled) the healthier the habitat.



One of the spectrum-filling sounds you’ll hear at Ahmanson Ranch (now Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve) is the squawking and talking of acorn woodpeckers in the valley oaks and coast live oaks.

Acorn woodpeckers have a surprisingly complex social structure, a part of which is related to the maintenance and protection of acorn granaries within their territory.

Despite last rain season’s meager rainfall, the valley oaks at Ahmanson Ranch have managed to produce a decent crop of acorns this Fall, so much of the banter in the oaks overhead must be about that!

For more info about these birds see Cornell Lab’s All About Birds and the Forest Service’s Fire Effects Information System.

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|black & white, running, trails, trails|smmc open space

Missing Snakes at Ahmanson Ranch

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Legend has it that St. Patrick chased all the snakes from Ireland, and while there have been no reports of the 5th Century cleric being sighted at Ahmanson Ranch, I don’t recall a Spring and Summer when I’ve seen so few snakes in the 3,000 acre preserve.

I’ve run at Ahmanson Ranch — now Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve — more than a decade. I generally run at Ahmanson a few times a week and have become very familiar with the area’s plants and wildlife.

So far this year I’ve seen no mature rattlesnakes and only one gopher snake at Ahmanson. I’ve seen a couple of baby rattlesnakes and a handful of tracks, but that’s it. In some years I’ve counted more than a dozen snake tracks during one 7 mile run.

The reduction in the snake population is likely related to back-to back years with low rainfall. This year Downtown Los Angeles has recorded only 2.72 inches of rain since January 1. That’s a deficit of nearly 8 inches and about 25% of the normal amount of rainfall.

The reduced rainfall not only reduces the population of rodents, reptiles and other prey animals sought by snakes, but also increases the likelihood snakes will be preyed upon by animals higher on the food chain. Snakes, including rattlesnakes, are eaten by a long list of birds and mammals, and may also be preyed upon by other snakes. Humans also kill a large number of snakes.

The title photograph is the track of a Southern Pacific rattlesnake.  The snake was moving from the upper left of the photo to the lower right.

Some related posts: Big Southern Pacific Rattlesnake at Ahmanson Ranch, Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|landscape, photography|trail running, photography|wildlife, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|san gabriels

More Highs and Lows on the PCT Between Inspiration Point & Islip Saddle

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Young deer on the PCT on Blue Ridge in the San Gabriel Mountains

The trail run from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle traverses a rolling section of the PCT along Blue Ridge, descends to Vincent Gap (6565′) and then climbs a switchbacking trail to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (9399′). The run continues along the crest of the San Gabriels on the PCT past several 9000′ peaks to Little Jimmy Spring and campground. From there it is a couple of miles to the parking lot in the saddle between Mt. Islip and Mt. Williamson.



A longer version of the run continues over the shoulder of Mt. Williamson to Eagles Roost. Many runners stop at Eagles Roost because of the now seven year (!) closure of the 3.5 mile segment of the PCT between Eagles Roost and Cooper Canyon. Continuing past Eagles Roost requires running 2.7 miles on Highway 2 to Buckhorn Campground, picking up the Burkhart Trail and following it down to the PCT in Cooper Canyon.



Today we were looking to do under 20 miles and keep the elevation gain to something sensible. Tim had run this stretch just a couple weeks before while doing the Angeles Crest 100 — his first 100 miler. Craig had crewed and paced a friend in the AC100 and was training for an upcoming 50 miler. Over the past several weeks I’d been doing a series of higher altitude runs and was also training for a 50 miler.

So far the run had been really relaxed and low key. We’d encountered a pair of young deer near Jackson Flat. They’d eyed us curiously before bounding off into the trees and the encounter seemed to have set the tone for the run. From time to time we stopped to enjoy a view point, look at the geology, or take a picture of a big ol’ tree. Rabbitbrush was blooming everywhere, adding a bright yellow accent to the rocks and ridges.



Earlier this year I photographed a bumper crop of cones on bigcone Douglas-fir in the Mt. Wilson area and here on Blue Ridge white firs had produced a huge number of cones. Other plants, such as bush chinquapin, had also produced large crops this year. Currant bushes along the trail had been productive, but because it has been so dry the fruit was smaller than normal.



The demeanor of the run changed part way up Baden-Powell. Mt. Baden-Powell is an immensely popular peak, and on a Summer weekend you’ll find an assortment of youth groups, fitness groups, hikers, runners and on rare occasions even an equestrian or two.

I stuffed another just-discarded nut bar wrapper into the back of my pack. That was a bad sign, and about two-thirds of the way up the peak things got a little crazy. The switchbacks above looked like escalators in a mall during the Holidays. People going up; people going down; people cutting switchbacks. A lot of people cutting switchbacks. At one point it seemed more people were short-cutting the trail than were on the trail.

Request: “Please don’t cut the trail…”

Response: “I figure Indians hiked all over this mountain; it’s my choice where I hike…”


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The mindset of the people that throw trash on the trail and shortcut the trail is much the same. They just don’t care. They don’t consider that someone else is going to have to clean up their mess. A person that shortcuts a trail doesn’t realize several other people — usually volunteers — are going to have to repair the damage. Cutting switchbacks causes erosion, tramples plants and looks ugly. It tells others that you are unfit and inexperienced.

A couple of switchbacks above the chaos settled, and when two young boys cut a switchback just ahead of me it was heartening to hear their father explain why that was a bad idea.



The summit of the Baden-Powell was not nearly as busy as I thought it might be. Just a few people were enjoying the great view from the summit. We took a short side trip down the south ridge to look at a lodgepole pine whose limbs and bark had been torn off in an ice storm during the Winter of 2010-11. In the same area was a stout limber pine that has a scar from a lightning strike. Later in the run we would pass another lightning tree near Mt. Hawkins.

The last several miles of the run were as relaxed and low key as the first few miles. Recovery continues among the ghost trees in the area burned in the 2002 Curve Fire, and the water and wildflowers at Little Jimmy Spring were as refreshing as ever!

Some related posts: Highs and Lows on the PCT, Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle Trail Run, PCT from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle

nature, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|wildlife, running, trails, trails|san gabriels

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake on the Burkhart Trail

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Southern Pacific rattlesnake on the Burkhart Trail below Buckhorn at about 6200 feet in the San Gabriel Mountains

This southern Pacific rattlesnake was on the Burkhart Trail below Buckhorn at about 6200′ in the San Gabriel Mountains. We encountered the snake last Saturday while doing a loop from Three Points around Mt. Waterman. It’s the second rattlesnake I’ve seen while doing this loop. The other encounter was on the Three Points – Mt. Waterman trail in a grassy area on the south side of Mt. Waterman at about 7000′.

The highest elevation I recall seeing a southern Pacific rattlesnake was at about 7200′, near the summit of Suicide Rock, in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild. In Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind, Volume 1 (Klauber, University of California Press, 1972) there are accounts of northern Pacific rattlesnake encounters at 11,000′ in the Sierra Nevada, and southern Pacific rattle encounters at 10,000′ and above in the Big Bear area and near the summit of San Jacinto Peak (10,843′).

My most unusual rattlesnake encounter to date was while kayaking the Forks of the Kern in the southern Sierra Nevada. I had just done the entrance move on the rapid Big Bean and had stopped in a small eddy on the left side of the river, just above the most difficult part of the rapid. My kayak was facing up river and was nearly against the bank. I was looking back over my left shoulder, mesmerized by the power of the water pouring over the big drop. Preparing to do the move, I was totally focused on the river, when suddenly — above the roar of the rapid — there was the startling buzz of a rattlesnake at my right ear. I turned to see a rattlesnake on the bank at shoulder level. Fortunately the snake just rattled and did not strike. Double-adrenalized, I peeled out from the eddy and paddled over the drop.

For more information see California Rattlesnakes (CaliforniaHerps.com).

nature, nature|trees, nature|weather, nature|wildfire, nature|wildlife, photography, photography|landscape, photography|trail running, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|pt mugu state park

After the Springs Fire: A Run Through Pt. Mugu State Park

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New growth in Pt. Mugu State Park following the Springs Fire

As we rounded a corner on the Old Boney Trail, Ann spotted a deer bounding through a thick, unburned section of brush. Its behavior was unusual — the deer was a few hundred yards away and in heavy cover. We soon saw the reason — a large coyote was trailing the animal and probably had been doing so for time.

We were in the middle of a 25 mile Odyssey through Pt. Mugu State Park, about three weeks after the Springs Fire ravaged much of the park’s 14,000 acres.

Already the process of recovery was underway. Tufts of green were sprouting in many areas. Yucca was beginning to regrow and a few yucca scorched in the fire were blooming. In addition to the deer and coyote described above, over the course of the run we would see another deer; fresh raccoon, bobcat, fox and rodent tracks; a lizard, grasshoppers, many birds, a bee’s nest, and fresh mountain lion scat.

Here is a slideshow of some photos from the run.

Some related posts: Springs Fire Burn Severity, Springs Fire 2013