Category Archives: trails

nature, photography, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|san gorgonio

San Gorgonio High Line 2009

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San Bernardino Mountain Divide from near Charlton Peak

San Bernardino Mountain Divide from near Charlton Peak

As I approached the spur trail to High Meadow Springs, I tried to convince myself I had enough water to continue. The problem wasn’t the third of a mile detour down to the spring, or even the 280′ loss of elevation. The problem was the interruption. Having to get water was like having to stop to remove an annoying little rock from your shoe. You know you should, but one mile passes, then two… The running along the 10,500′ crest on the Divide Trail was just so spectacular, I didn’t want to stop!

I reached behind my back and squished the Camelbak reservoir with my hand. Yea, there’s plenty of water, I don’t have to stop. I can make it to the summit of Gorgonio, and then get water at High Camp on Vivian Creek on the way down.



But hadn’t I nearly run out of water the last time I did this? I did a rough calculation of the distance… about four miles to the peak, with a gain of 1500′, and then another four miles to the creek. Reluctantly, I slowed, and turned off the Divide Trail

At the spring, I pulled the reservoir from my pack. Only about 25 oz. of water remained. The little spring burbled and gurgled energetically, and it didn’t take long to replenish my water supply. East of Shields Flat, the trail to High Meadow Springs is about a quarter-mile below the point marked 10,500 on the topo, and about half a mile above Red Rock Flat. At an elevation of 10,120′, the springs sit near the top of a steep canyon that drops down to Plummer Meadows. It’s an airy location with an expansive view.

Earlier, I had chugged up the Momyer Creek Trail to the San Bernardino Peak Divide Trail. Once past the turn to Alger Camp, this trail becomes more of a  footpath, weaving its way through a middle elevation forest of pine and fir, around innumerable bark beetle felled Jeffrey pines, and up to a high mountain habitat of chaparral and Lodgepole pine.



If stretches of trail with a 30% grade are not enough of a challenge, the last couple of miles to the divide include overgrown sections that will not only slow the shorts clad hiker or runner, but over time become annoyingly painful. Chinquapin is your friend, manzanita an adversary, and whitethorn your archenemy. And there is a lot of whitethorn.

After visiting High Meadow Springs, I continued down to Dollar Saddle. Beyond this point I expected to see an increasing number of hikers. The previous Saturday it had been exceptionally busy on Mt. San Jacinto, and the weather was even better today. Eventually, near Jepson Peak, I encountered a couple of hikers returning from the summit, and then passed a couple more working up the trail. But that was it — and the summit of San Gorgonio was empty. Unusual for such a perfect Autumn day.

Here’s a Cesium browser View of a GPS trace of the 26 mile route, and an elevation profile generated by SportTracks. The approximate elevation gain and loss was about 7000′.

Related post: San Gorgonio High Line, San Gorgonio Mountain – Falls Creek Loop

nature, photography, photography|trail running, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|san jacinto

Autumn Trail Running on Mt. San Jacinto

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Autumn trail running along Wellman Cienega in the San Jacinto Wilderness.

Spectacular Autumn trail running along Wellman Cienega in the San Jacinto Wilderness.


Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks from the PCT
Lush with ferns and corn lilies in the summer, Wellman Cienega is a mountain seep high on the eastern slopes of Marion Mountain. It’s a couple of miles into an excellent 5 mile downhill segment from the top of San Jacinto to Saddle Junction.

From today’s trail run to San Jacinto Peak (10,834′) and Tahquitz Peak (8828′) from the top of the Palm Springs Tram at Long Valley.

Here’s a Cesium browser View of a GPS trace of the route, and an elevation profile generated in SportTracks. The total elevation gain/loss on the 20 mile run was about 4000′.

Related post: Room with a View

nature, nature|weather, photography, running, trails, trails|smmc open space, weather, weather|southern california

Rocky Peak Rainstorm

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Rocky Peak Rainstorm

Clouds swirled around me as I worked up the steep trail toward an overlook near Rocky Peak. I stopped and listened to the patter of the rain against the rocks, its intensity rising and falling with the gusts of wind.

The wind-driven rain trickled down my face, tasting cool and clean. It didn’t matter that my running clothes were soaked and that with each gust I could feel a chill. It was raining!

In the same manner that a color will sometimes appear especially pure and vibrant, there was an unusual liveliness to this rain.

nature, photography, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|smmc open space

Tri-Peaks, Sandstone Peak and the Backbone Trail

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Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains.

We had been scrambling up the rocky north ridge of Boney Mountain for almost an hour. During that time the clouds along the crest seemed unable to make up their mind — thickening, then thinning, gathering then dissipating. Now, as we climbed the final steep step to the crest, they were gathering and thickening once again. I wondered how difficult the route-finding was going to be in a pea soup fog.

The plan was to work up and over Tri-Peaks to Sandstone Peak, then backtrack on the Backbone Trail to the Chamberlain Trail, following it down into the Sycamore Canyon drainage. From there we would see.


Big Dome from Tri-Peaks, in the Boney Mountain Wilderness
Cresting the top of the ridge, I paused to get oriented. Across the canyon, Tri-Peaks lay cloaked in clouds, with only its broad base visible from my vantage point. As we traversed along the cliff toward the peak’s northern flank, nebulous patches of cloud whisked by, carried on a brisk breeze. Reaching a saddle, we wove our way through giant boulders and chaparral to the crags that form Tri-Peaks’ summit.

As if passing through a hidden portal, the clouds dissolved as we worked over to the south side of the peak — opening to a brilliant blue sky. Across the canyon, Big Dome had wrestled free of its tentacles of fog, and to the east, Sandstone Peak stood Everest-like, its summit wreathed in a veil of cloud.

It was a day energized with the zeal of Autumn — a day to climb a peak, and then run down a mountain, across a valley, and over a distant horizon.

Some related posts: Sandstone Peak from Wendy Drive, Boney Mountain North Side Loop

nature, nature|trees, nature|weather, photography, photography|still life, trails, trails|sierra, weather

Climate Change and the Southern Foxtail Pine

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Windward side of a southern foxtail pine snag.

The windward side of this foxtail pine snag has been blasted by the icy winds of a multitude of Winter storms. The wind has sculpted the mineral-like wood, exposing and accentuating its inner layers.

The photo is from last Saturday’s Cottonwood Pass – New Army Pass trail run. Nearly all of this route is above 10,000 ft. and 12 miles of it are above 11,000 ft. This relatively dry, high altitude habitat is home to the southern foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana subsp. austrina).

One of the less common Sierra conifers, the tree is a long-lived species that is closely related to the bristlecone pine. The FEIS database references a southern foxtail pine 3400 years old, and the Gymnosperm Database a specimen with a crossdated age of 2110 years.

Because the tree grows so slowly, the wood is dense, and dead trees are slow to decay. In the vicinity of Cirque Peak, and a few other areas, dead foxtail pines and remnants are found above the current tree line. By crossdating tree ring sequences, a study published in 1997 found that over the past 3500 years the tree line in this part of the Sierra has generally been higher than it is now.

The study deduced that one period of reduced tree abundance and lowered tree line elevation was associated with warmer temperatures, and at least two severe multi-decade droughts. In contrast, the most recent decline has occurred during a cold, wet period that started about 450 BP.

It is remarkable that some of the dead foxtail pines studied here were alive during the Bronze Age, 4000 years BP.

nature, photography, photography|landscape, trails, trails|sierra

Of Mountains, Marmots and Mountain Bluebirds

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Descending from New Army Pass (12,300 ft.)

The flash of turquoise is so intense it is startling. The Mountain Bluebird flitters past, landing on a knobby plate of peppered Sierra granite. Its color is remarkable, without question a product of the mountains and the sky.


Cushion Buckwheat
Nearby a yellow-bellied marmot waddles to a favored rock and watches us with a mix of reproach, curiosity and concern. Patience exhausted, he scurries into his den.

The wind is light and the sun bright. At 12,000 feet it is comfortably cool — a perfect day for flying along the crest, scrambling among the rocks, or running a trail.

What better place to be on a fair Fall day than high in the Sierra?

Related posts: Siberian Outpost & Mt. Kaweah from the PCT, Cottonwood – New Army Pass Loop