A runner descends the trail below Palomani Pass (16,600 ft.) on a Circuit of Mt. Ausangate (20,905 ft.) in the Peruvian Andes. Once acclimated, running at that altitude wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, and when you return home, those 10,000 ft. trails feel like you’re running at sea level. The trip was arranged by my good friend Devy Reinstein of Andes Adventures and was unforgettable. (Photo taken July 23, 2003.)
New sprouts of grass at Ahmanson Ranch less than a month after the Topanga wildfire burned 24,175 acres in the Simi Hills, northwest of Los Angeles. More photos and information regarding the Topanga Fire can be found in my Coyote Oak Journal article The Topanga Fire, Part I: Rain, Wind and Fire. (Photo from October 25, 2005.)
Updated May 3, 2008.
Whether it’s raining, 100 degrees, or snowing (!) you’re likely to see someone hiking, mountain-biking, or running Rocky Peak road in Rocky Peak Park. Switchbacking up from the 118 freeway, the fire road climbs along the spine of the Santa Susana mountains. It’s proximity to the San Fernando and Simi Valleys, and array of route variations, make it the choice of many for a morning or afternoon workout.
It’s not because it’s easy — the route is steep from the start, gaining 500 ft. in the first three-quarters of a mile, and 1200 ft. in just over 2 miles.
Following are some approximate one-way distances and elevation gains.
Hummingbird Trail: 0.8 miles 500 ft.
High point at turnoff to peak: 2.4 miles 1200 ft.
Johnson Motorway: 3.2 miles 1350 ft.
Chumash Trail: 3.8 miles 1390 ft.
Fossils: 4.8 miles 1800 ft.
Las Llajas Loop turnoff: 5.5 miles 1950 ft.
End of Rocky Peak Rd at Las Llajas Cyn Rd.: 6.3 2070 ft.
Related posts: Chumash Trail Snow, Oat Mountain Snow, Sunset Snow Shower.
Google search: $g(Rocky Peak), $g(Hummingbird Trail), $g(Chumash Trail)
Since its acquisition by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in late 2003, Ahmanson Ranch is referred to as the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. Just six months ago, this area was burned in the Topanga Fire.
Clouds and showers over the San Fernando Valley from the abandoned Topanga fire lookout site.
Some related posts: Topanga Lookout Site and the San Fernando Valley, Pandemic Cool: An Early Morning Dance at Topanga Lookout
Rock formations along the Backbone Trail in Malibu Creek State Park. This segment of trail is part of the Malibu Creek Trail Challenge and Bulldog 25K and 50K.
The final quarter-mile of the infamous Bulldog climb can be seen along the right skyline. I’d just struggled up that a few minutes before. An elevation gain of 1700 ft. in 3.5 miles sounds not-so-hard sitting in front of a computer, but the climb has few breaks and is longer and steeper than those figures convey.
The Bulldog climb is part of the ~14.5 mile Bulldog Loop — an excellent course that is popular among runners and mountain bikers. My Polar HRM says the elevation gain/loss on the loop is about 2700 ft., and a quick calculation using the elevation profile in Sporttracks gives a gain/loss of 2500-2600 ft.
In 2004 Sal Bautista ran the slightly shorter version of the loop done in the Malibu Creek Trail Challenge in under 1.5 hours! Here’s a Google Earth image of a GPS trace of the Bulldog loop.