Category Archives: upper las virgenes canyon open space preserve

Street View: Running to Ahmanson

Victory Blvd. hill near the (locked) Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve Trailhead gate

Sometimes when I’ve driven to the Ahmanson Trailhead to do a run, I’ve wondered what it would be like to run there (and back) from home. Now I know.

It’s a good run. Roundtrip, it was about 8.2 miles, with an elevation gain of about 600′.

The highlight of the run is the climb up Victory Blvd from Valley Circle. There’s a nice view of the San Gabriels from the hill, but not quite as nice as the view from Lasky Mesa!

Goldfields Are Blooming and Valley Oaks Greening!

Goldfields blooming on Lasky Mesa, March 7, 2020

Goldfields are tiny wildflowers, but their bright yellow color more than makes up for their diminutive size.

New leaves on a valley oak in East Las Virgenes Canyon. March 11, 2020.
New leaves on a valley oak in East Las Virgenes Canyon.

Goldfields bloomed a little early on Lasky Mesa this year. Depending on the conditions, they usually begin to bloom in mid-February. Because of this rain year’s wet December and dry January-February, the goldfields began to bloom a little early — around February 4. The flowers aren’t as numerous as last year, but there are still a few small patches of goldfields to be seen.

Usually, about the same time goldfields begin to bloom, valley oaks are starting to sprout new, bright green leaves. This Winter, the foliage on valley oaks at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) began to turn brown in mid-December and I saw the first new leaves begin to sprout at the end of February. This sprawling valley oak is in East Las Virgenes Canyon.

Castle Peak, Chatsworth Peak and Oat Mountain from Lasky Mesa

Castle Peak, Chatsworth Peak and Oat Mountain from Lasky Mesa

Clouds, sun and shadow accentuate the rugged topography of the northwest rim of the San Fernando Valley.

Castle Peak is the rock-capped summit on the left of the photo. Chatsworth Peak (2314′) is in shadow and behind Castle Peak. The prominent rock bands are Chatsworth Formation sandstone formed more than 65 million years ago. Oat Mountain (3747′) is the sunlit peak in the distance.

From a run on Wednesday at Ahmanson Ranch.

Some related posts: The Cave of Munits and Castle Peak, Castle Peak, Snow on Oat Mountain

Los Angeles’ On and Off Rain Season is On Again

Clouds over a ridge west of Las Virgenes Canyon

Following a December with twice normal rainfall, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) experienced the fourth driest January-February on record. Now it seems the spigot has been turned back on, and March rainfall for L.A. might very well be above normal.

As of 3:00 p.m. today, March 13, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) has recorded 2.05 inches of rain this March, boosting the rain year total (since July 1) to 9.40 inches. This is about 75% of normal for the date.

More rain is forecast over the next week or so, but the major weather models differ on the projected amounts. To make up for the January-February rainfall deficit and finish the rain year close to 100% of normal, Los Angeles needs another 5.5 inches of rain by June 30.

Not impossible, given some of the forecasts, but that would be a lot of rain for this time of year. Well see!

Update July 6, 2020. Remarkably, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) ended the rain year, July 1 to June 30, within 0.07 inch of normal rainfall. It was a tumultuous rain season that saw copious rainfall in December, and then almost none in January and February — usually the wettest months of the year. Just when we started to think “drought,” the wet weather returned. Combined, Match and April precipitation was 221% of normal. That and a little rain in May brought the Los Angeles rain year total up to 14.86 inches, just short of the normal of 14.93 inches.

Update April 12, 2020. Over six consecutive days, from April 5 to April 10, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) recorded 2.96 inches of rain. This is about 325% of the normal amount for the whole month. The precipitation totals of 14.66 inches for the rain year and 14.63 inches for the water year are now above normal for the date and within about one-third of an inch of the normal annual rainfall for Downtown Los Angeles.

Update April 10, 2020. April rainfall picked up right where March left off.  As of April 9, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) has recorded 2.80 inches of rain this month. This is more than three times the normal amount of rain for the entire month of April. This brings the rain year and water year totals to 14.50 and 14.47 inches, respectively. For the first time since February 1 the rainfall totals for Los Angeles are above normal for the date. Los Angeles is now within a few tenths of an inch of normal rainfall for the year, and it is still raining today.

Update March 24, 2020. On March 22, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) set a new rainfall record for the date of 1.51 inches. As of March 24, Downtown Los Angeles has recorded 4.35 inches of rain this month. This is 179% of the normal amount of rain in March. The current rain year/water year total of 11.70/11.67 inches is about 88%/90% of normal for the date. The magic number for 100% of normal rainfall is 14.93 inches — either by June 30 (Rain Year) or September 30 (Water Year).

Update March 17, 2020. As of March 16, Downtown Los Angeles (USC) has recorded 2.80 inches of rain this month. This already exceeds the normal amount of rainfall for the entire month of March, which is 2.43 inches. The current rain year/water year total of 10.15/10.12 inches is about 79%/81% of normal for the date.

American Kestrel Pair in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

American Kestrel Pair in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

Tuesday is usually a “short run day” for me. On Tuesdays, I usually run a mile or so west on East Las Virgenes Canyon fire road, and then fork left onto another dirt road that descends a short distance, and then climbs steeply up to Lasky Mesa. Once on Lasky Mesa, I check what’s blooming, crawling or flying in the area.

Today, as I was leaving Lasky Mesa, I scanned a grove of valley oaks for a pair of northern harriers I’ve been seeing on the mesa. I didn’t see the harriers, but another pair of much smaller raptors caught my eye.

The male and female American kestrels were perched at the top of a valley oak tree, about 25 yards away. At that distance, they were difficult to positively ID, and nearly beyond the reach of my compact camera.

Usually a kestrel will fly from a perch as soon as it spots me, but this time the pair cooperated. I stopped running, grabbed the camera from my pack, and took a couple of photos. The female kestrel is perched above the male.

Related post: Under a Falcon’s Eye

In the Distance: San Gabriel Mountains From Lasky Mesa

Mt. Baldy and the San Gabriel Mountains from Lasky Mesa.

On Winter days when the sky is clear and the visibility is good, the view of the San Gabriel Mountains from Lasky Mesa can be surprisingly detailed. In those conditions you’ll sometimes see a brilliant patch of white in the distance, through a gap in the mountains.

There are a number of peaks in the San Gabriels that are high enough to be snow-covered. Which one is it?

I suppose I could have used an app to ID the peaks on the skyline, but another way would be to draw a line on a sufficiently detailed map and “connect the dots.” The line would be drawn from Lasky Mesa, through the gap, and then extended to a mountain that would have snow. An easy way to do that is to use the “Measure” tool in Google Earth.

The title photo was taken from what used to be the helipad site on Lasky Mesa. (The work currently occupying that space was the subject of a previous post.) The gap in the mountains is the saddle between San Gabriel Peak (left) and flat-topped Mt. Markham.

Drawing the line in Google Earth reveals that the snow-covered mountain is Mt. San Antonio (10,064′) — generally referred to as Mt. Baldy. The peak is about 60 miles distant. Here’s a closer view with some of the peaks identified.