Not the green of shamrocks or jade, or an emerald sea,
but of new growth along a trail, softly seen.
From a run of the Trailer Canyon – Trippet Ranch loop, described in Garapito Trail Runs.
Here is a Live Browser View of the run.
Related post: Ferns Along the Garapito Trail
As we’ve seen this Winter, it is the norm for Southern California’s weather to be abnormal. Cool, wet weather in December was followed by weeks of warm, dry weather in January. It is hard to predict when it will be wet and when it will be dry. Especially if you are a plant.
This photograph of a shooting star (Dodecatheon clevelandii ssp. patulum) is from early February, when the weather was dry. Droplets of moisture can be seen clinging to the interior walls of the seed capsules. These climate moderated capsules helps ensure that the plant will produce viable seeds, even if an extended period of dry weather should occur after the plant blooms.
Saddle Peak and Malibu Canyon from the Backbone Trail, in the Santa Monica Mountains, near Los Angeles.
According to geologist Thomas Dibblee, Jr., Malibu Creek may be an ancestral stream that predated the uplift of the Santa Monica Mountains. Another possibility, suggested in this technical paper, is that a coastal stream eroded inland, and captured an inland drainage. Such a process may be occurring in Big Sycamore Canyon, which appears to be eroding headward along the Sycamore Canyon Fault, and may eventually capture a drainage in the Potrero Valley.
My trail running shoes had not been wet or muddy since sometime in December. During the entire month of January, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) recorded about one-third of an inch of rain. Not only had it been dry, it had been warm. On a dozen of those January days, the high temperature topped eighty degrees, setting a new record!
But Winter had returned. The past three days, Los Angeles had received about 1.5 inches of rain, valley and foothill locations 2-4 inches, and some mountain stations as much as 5-7 inches. And more Winter weather was on the way. Excited about the change in the weather, today’s run was one with good muck and mire potential — the Bulldog Loop in Malibu Creek State Park.
We were not disappointed. Near Century Lake, mud the consistency of peanut butter pulled at our shoes and slowed the climb up Crags Rd, Further west, near the M*A*S*H site, calf-deep water on the trail washed the gunk off.
The trail conditions on the remainder of the loop were more straightforward. From time to time, shafts of sun would pierce the clouds, resulting in a patchwork of shadow and sun that emphasized the rugged terrain. Along the crest, the ocean views were superb! Before descending to Tapia Park we ran out to Mesa Peak, and then followed the ridgeline to an overlook of the coast. (Marked peak 1800 on the topo.)
Including the side trip to the overlook, this variation of the Bulldog loop worked out to an exhilarating 16.5 miles, with an elevation gain/loss of about 2700 ft.
If current forecasts and outlooks for this month hold true, this won’t be our last wet and muddy trail run this February. In a couple of weeks, Los Angeles rainfall totals may climb above normal for the first time this rain season. We’ll see!
Some related posts: Fog Along Malibu Creek, Bulldog Loop and the Corral Fire
The idea was to do an interesting trail run that wasn’t quite as long and strenuous as last week’s Bandit 30K Course Preview. That was the idea. I could have calculated the mileage and elevation gain of our projected route, but sometimes part of the fun of trail running is not knowing the exact route, how long it will take, or how strenuous it might be.
This particular exploration would visit two of the most scenic areas in the Santa Monica Mountains — Serrano Valley and La Jolla Valley. Many variations of this loop are possible. Our base route included the Ray Miller/Backbone Trail, Fireline Trail, Serrano Canyon Trail, Serrano Valley Trail, Old Boney Trail, Wood Canyon Vista Trail, La Jolla Valley Loop Trail, La Jolla Canyon Trail and connecting roads.
In addition to its wonderful scenery, this course is characterized by moderate uphills that are generally very runnable. The side trips to to the old ranch site in Serrano Valley, and to Mugu Peak pushed the route beyond the 30K mark, but were worth every step. Here’s a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file of a GPS trace of the route. Since none of us had done the eastern leg of the La Jolla Valley Loop Trail, this time we did Mugu Peak from the east. The route around the valley to the western side of Mugu Peak is also shown.
Here is a Live Browser View of the run.
Some related posts: Serrano Valley from Wendy Drive; La Jolla Valley & Mugu Peak from Wendy Drive; Laguna Peak, La Jolla Valley, and the Channel Islands
Hill 2484 is near the top of the oil field service road that connects Las Llajas Canyon to Rocky Peak fire road.
From Sunday’s Bandit 30K Course Preview run.
Some related posts: Chumash-Las Llajas Loop, Chumash Trail Rocks & Snow