Category Archives: trails|smmc open space

photography, photography|landscape, running, running|races, trails, trails|smmc open space

Bandit Country II

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Rocky Peak Park

February is a busy month for SoCal trail runners. The Ray Miller 50/50 is Saturday, February 2; the Bandit 50K/30K/15K/6K is Sunday, February 17; the XTERRA SoCal Series continues February 3 at Mission Gorge; and the Big Baz Winter Trail Run Series continues on February 2 & 16 at Blue Jay Campground.

Yesterday’s run to Mugu Peak included several of the trails on the Ray Miller Course, so this morning I got in some miles on the Bandit trails. The title photo was taken near the high point of the Bandit 50K and 30K courses in Rocky Peak Park.

This year, rather than doing two Chumash – Las Llajas loops, Bandit 50K runners will do a new out and back segment in Tapo Canyon Open Space to Tapo Canyon Rd. Both 50K and 30K runners we’ll run up Las Llajas Canyon — in the distance on the left — and then up from the old oil field to Rocky Peak Road. After a short downhill Rocky Peak Road climbs to “Fossil Point” the high point of the course.

Related post: Bandit 50K 2011 Notes

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Chilly Los Angeles

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Century City and Downtown Los Angeles from the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains

Sometimes it gets chilly in Los Angeles. The temperature at Downtown Los Angeles (USC) dipped to 39°F last night. That’s about eight degrees below normal and only a couple of degrees away from tieing the record for the date.

It gets colder in the valleys. The temperature was in the mid-30s when I started my run at the ‘End of Reseda’ on the San Fernando Valley side of the Santa Monica Mountains. I was headed over the hill to Will Rogers State Park, then to Temescal Canyon, and then back to Reseda.

When you start a long run on a cool day just as the sun is coming up it’s hard to know what clothing you’re really going to need. In Southern California it seems more times than not the extra shirt goes into the pack a mile into the run and stays there.

The running was excellent on the Will Rogers segment of the Backbone Trail. I hadn’t been on this segment since last Winter and much work had been done on the trail. Even with yesterday’s rain the trail was in good shape.

This time I didn’t mind so much that I had an extra shirt in the pack. The day had dawned mostly clear with a few scattered and tattered clouds, but by the time I was headed back to the valley it was nearly overcast. It was breezy and cool and there were some big buildups to the south and east of the city. It looked like a shower might pop up at any time.

Some related posts: Chaparral Freeze, Cape Ivy on the Rivas Canyon Trail, Will Rogers Western Ranch House

photography, photography|black & white, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|smmc open space, trails|topanga state park

No Snow in Sight!

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View to the ocean from Eagle Rock in the Santa Monica Mountains

Well, actually you could see some snow on Mt. Baldy and the higher peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, but that snow was 50 miles away. So far there had been a little frost in the shadows and mud in the low spots of the fire roads of Topanga State Park, but not a patch of snow in sight.

Lynn & Frank were heading back to the land of rain and snow for Christmas and there WAS snow on their local trails. More snow and bone-chilling temps were in the forecast, and a long snow-free run in the Santa Monica Mountains was a great way to celebrate the holidays!

We had taken a detour from the Backbone Trail to the top of Eagle Rock. After enjoying the view we would extend the detour down the Musch Trail and pick up the Backbone Trail at Trippet Ranch. From Trippet we would follow the Backbone Trail down into Topanga Canyon, up Hondo Canyon, over to Saddle Peak and then down to Malibu Canyon.

With a couple of short side trips the distance from the End of Reseda (Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park) worked out to about 21 miles. The distance and elevation gain were about the same as last Saturday’s run — also on the Backbone Trail.

Related post: July Fourth Trail Run to Trippet Ranch, Hondo Canyon and Saddle Peak

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Twice the Rainy Days in Los Angeles, 60% of the Rain

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Cumulus buildups north of Los Angeles

Sunday, running in the rain on Rocky Peak, it occurred to me that I’d done a lot of runs on rainy days this Fall.

When I got back from the run I checked the NWS web site and found that during the months of October, November and December there have been 17 days with measurable rain at Downtown Los Angeles. Normal for that period (to date) would be around 9 days.

The thing is, we’ve yet to have a day with a half-inch or more of rain Downtown, and we’re only at about 60% of normal rainfall for the water year.

At the moment it looks like another weak system passes through tomorrow afternoon and evening, followed by somewhat wetter systems Sunday night and Wednesday.

At times both the GFS and ECMWF have been forecasting a stronger system might impact Southern California near the end of the year. Today the GFS has it in our forecast and ECMWF doesn’t.  The culprit in the ECMWF forecast is a cutoff upper level low, so look for the forecast to change!

The photograph of the cumulus buildups (north of Los Angeles) is from a run at Ahmanson Ranch on December 13, following the passage of a cold front.

nature, nature|botany, nature|weather, photography, photography|landscape, photography|quirky, running, running|adventures, trails, trails|smmc open space, weather, weather|southern california

Mushrooms and Mud on the Backbone Trail

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Santa Monica Mountains near Circle X

The temp was in the 40s and the chaparral wet with rain when we started the run. We were doing a two part trail run. The first part would be the 15 mile segment of the Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd. to the Mishe Mokwa trailhead on Yerba Buena Rd. The second would be the 6 mile Mishe Mokwa – Sandstone Peak loop.

The weak front that produced the overnight rain had marched on, and now skies were clear and it was a little breezy. As has been the case with many weather systems this year, there hadn’t been a lot of rain. Though muddy in spots, the Backbone Trail was in surprisingly good shape, and the running excellent.

In addition to the greening of the hills and the sprouting of many annuals, the frequent, light rains had also created perfect conditions for the growth of a  variety of mushrooms and other fungi. Fortunately I was running with a sharp-eyed mushroom collector from the PNW that could pick out partially buried earth stars and other mushrooms among the leaves, twigs and other debris in the deep shade along the trail.

Here are three of the more peculiar fungi. Click the image for more info and a larger image.





Orange Jelly



Comb Tooth



Earth Star

Some related posts: Circle X Crags and the Channel Islands, Mishe Mokwa – Sandstone Peak – Grotto Trail Run