The blue of the woolly bluecurls was just stunning. The plant was along the Ken Burton Trail, in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Los Angeles.
Arroyo Seco below Royal Gorge at Gabrielino Trail crossing.
Woolly bluecurls normally flowers in the Spring, but rain from Tropical Storm Hilary, combined with Spring-like conditions caused it to bloom this Fall. Such blooms are usually not widespread and the flowers are often less robust than their Spring counterparts. Other Spring flowers that were blooming included Ceanothus, bush poppy, and golden yarrow.
The Ken Burton Trail connects the Gabrielino Trail, near Oakwilde, to a saddle at the top of Brown Mountain Road. Today, I was doing a longish out and back trail run to Wella’s Peak from Clear Creek via Switzers and the Gabrielino and Ken Burton Trails. Wella’s Peak is a bump on the west side of the saddle. Brown Mountain towers above the east side of the saddle.
Bighorn sheep blend into the rocky terrain near Windy Gap
Had they not dislodged some rocks, I doubt I would have seen the three bighorn sheep in the photo above. They are easier to see in this zoomed-in photo of the sheep descending the rocky slopes just below Windy Gap (7,588′) in the San Gabriel Mountains. They crossed a brush-covered rib and disappeared from view.
The partially-eclipsed sun crests a ridge east of Windy Gap.
A few minutes after seeing the sheep, I reached Windy Gap and stopped to put my arm sleeves away. It had been cool at the trailhead — about 40 degrees — but the temperature had warmed as I worked up the trail. As its name suggests, the wind can be fierce at Windy Gap, but this morning there was almost no wind, foretelling nearly ideal weather for today’s adventure.
Windy Gap was still in shade, and the sun was just peeking over the ridge to the east. You couldn’t tell, but the eclipse had already begun. The eclipse would be nearly total in parts of Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas. In the Los Angeles area, the moon would obscure more than 70% of the sun’s disc.
Partially eclipsed sun.
From Windy Gap, I headed east on the Pacific Crest Trail toward Mt. Hawkins. From time to time, I would stop and check the progress of the eclipse using eclipse sunglasses. In sunny areas, I looked for lensed images of the sun in the shadows of trees but didn’t see any. Having needles instead of leaves, conifers don’t produce the myriad images of the eclipsed sun seen under trees with leaves.
With nearly three-quarters of the sun obscured, the light from the sun had become enfeebled. The feeling was more than that of a cloud passing in front of the sun. I stopped and listened… to nothing. It was eerily quiet. No birds called or sang, and only chill zephyrs of wind wafted about the area. Somehow, the sun was broken.
The south ridge of Mt. Lewis can be accessed from the CalTrans shed at Dawson Saddle.
As the eclipse slowly waned, I continued east in the corrupt light, past Mt. Hawkins and Throop Peak, to the PCT’s junction with the Dawson Saddle Trail. In what seemed fitting for the day, instead of continuing to Baden-Powell, I turned left and headed down the trail toward Angeles Crest Highway (Highway 2).
Why? Angeles Crest Highway was closed from Red Box to Vincent Gap, transforming Dawson Saddle into one of the more isolated areas of the Angeles National Forest. I hadn’t been on the Dawson Saddle Trail in years, and with Highway 2 closed, it would be a quirky way to climb Mt. Lewis. Instead of having one of the shortest approaches in the San Gabriels — a few feet from the CalTrans shed at Dawson Saddle — it would involve a trail run of nearly eight miles just to get to the base of the peak.
Angeles Crest Highway from the shoulder of Mt. Lewis.
The eclipse was nearly over when I reached the bottom of the Dawson Saddle Trail on Highway 2. From the trailhead, I ran up an empty Angeles Crest Highway a short distance to Dawson Saddle. Mt. Lewis’ south ridge was accessed from here.
Only about a half-mile long, the south ridge isn’t technical, but the first third is steep and rocky. The elevation gain from the saddle to the summit is about 500′. Offset from the crest of the San Gabriels, the flat summit of Mt. Lewis has unique views of the crest extending from Mt. Baden-Powell to Mt. Islip and beyond.
After a few minutes enjoying the summit, I turned southward and began working my way back down to Angeles Crest Highway, up to the PCT, over to Windy Gap, and back down to the trailhead in the Crystal Lake Recreational Area.
A Southern Pacific rattlesnake on the dirt road above the Victory Trailhead
I’ve encountered some interesting things crawling on the ground at Ahmanson Ranch this Fall.
Gopher snakes are the snake I see most frequently at Ahmanson Ranch (Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve). Recently, I came across this sizable gopher snake crossing the dirt road on the long switchback above the Victory Trailhead. Despite the small size of its head, a gopher snake can consume prey much larger than might be imagined.
Caterpillar of the white-lined sphinx moth.
Just a few days ago — in virtually the same place as the gopher snake — I encountered a good-sized Southern Pacific rattlesnake serpentining across the dirt road and continuing up the brush-covered hill (video). The snake reminded me of a rattlesnake I photographed near the Victory Trailhead in November 2019. In the Fall, Southern Pacific and other rattlesnakes are said to return to the same den year after year. This rattlesnake had about 13 rattle segments, and the November 2019 rattlesnake about 10. Both were headed in the same direction. Might they be the same snake going back to a den?
A few days later — near the same place where I encountered the gopher snake and rattlesnake — I happened upon this tarantula scurrying across the road. Male tarantulas search for mates in the Fall.
California fuchsia along Fire Road #30, near the Hub.
Downtown Los Angeles (USC) finished the 2022-2023 Water Year with 31.07 inches of rain, making it the seventh wettest on record in Los Angeles. The rainfall total includes about three inches of rain from former Hurricane Hilary as it moved through Southern California as a rare tropical storm and post-tropical cyclone.
Canyon sunflower blooming out of season along Fire Road #30.
The effects of all that rain can be seen on just about any trail in Southern California. It has resulted in a false Spring in many areas, with greening hills, out-of-season wildflowers, flowing creeks, and profuse growth throughout the area.
This morning, I returned to the Top of Reseda and Topanga State Park to do a variation of the Trippet Ranch Loop and continue exploring and enjoying the unusual conditions.
After running up to the Hub, this variation does an out and back to Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout. After returning to the Hub, the route continues on Eagle Springs Fire Road down to Trippet Ranch. From Trippet Ranch, it works back to the Top of Reseda using the Musch and Garapito Trails and connecting sections of fire road. This interactive, 3D terrain map shows a GPS track of the trail run.
Dodder growing on laurel sumac on the Musch Trail.
Visiting Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout increases the run’s mileage from 12.5 miles to 16. On a clear day, the runner is rewarded with far-reaching views of the coast, West L.A., Downtown, and the surrounding mountains.
While most of the roads and trails on this route are frequently used and in decent condition, the Garapito Trail has been overgrown all Summer. As of October 8, it was still overgrown. Some people I’ve encountered on the trail were OK with this, but others haven’t been so happy. If desired, the trail can be bypassed by continuing to the Hub on Eagle Rock Fire Road and retracing your route back to the Top of Reseda.
It’s been about a month and a half since Tropical Storm Hilary soaked Southern California with record-setting rainfall.
The unusual amount of Summer rain has resulted in a second Spring at Ahmanson Ranch, with some plants behaving as if it were March or April.
Not only are plants growing as if it were Spring, some are flowering. The lupine pictured above usually blooms at Ahmanson Ranch in March, April, and May. Now, as a result of T.S. Hilary’s rain, it’s flowering in October!
Those plants that usually flower in the Fall, such as telegraph weed, vinegar weed, and common sunflower, are much more widespread than usual.
Spring-like conditions are present in many areas of Southern California. On Sunday, I ran the Phantom Trail in Malibu Creek State Park. Some sections were so overgrown that it was challenging just to navigate the trail, much less run it. Ticks were also a problem.
I took a few tentative steps into the dense brush and stopped. It was just too overgrown. I backtracked a few feet to the overlook at the top of Lake Vista Trail and reconsidered. If it was this overgrown all along the ridge, it was going to take a long time to get to the summit.
First sun on Lake Vista Butte and Ridge.
I was trying to get to the top of “Lake Vista Butte,” a high point along a prominent ridge of volcanic rock that stands between Reagan Ranch and Malibu Creek. The ridgeline and summit provide a unique perspective of Malibu Creek, Century Lake, Goat Buttes, Malibou Lake, and much of Malibu Creek State Park.
I dove back in, walking on top of a dense mat of dried deerweed and then working around a thicket of laurel sumac. Even if it was buried in a tangle of chaparral, it helped to know there was a path along the ridge. As I worked east along the ridgeline, the path would briefly emerge, only to disappear under another mass of scrub and brush.
Wishbone bush blooming along Lake Vista Ridge.
In places, enterprising orb-weaver spiders had constructed intricate webs across remnants of trail. Their artwork was easy to spot in the morning sun, and even though their webs blocked the trail, they could not be disturbed. At least the spiders were out in the open. A rattlesnake could be anywhere in the rocks and brush and might not be kind enough to give a warning.
The route along the ridge wasn’t technically challenging, but like the spider’s web, required patience to complete. Low in the sky, the morning sun complicated the route-finding, making it more difficult to see sections of the trail and link them together. Far outweighing these inconsequential difficulties were the exceptional views of Malibu Creek State Park’s crags, canyons and mountains while traversing the ridge.
The Forest Trail along Century Lake.
As often happens, the return to the Lake Vista Trail took less time than the ascent. Back at the overlook, I began retracing my steps down the Lake Vista and Deer Leg Trails and over to the top of the Cage Creek Trail. I was headed down to Malibu Creek to check the condition of the Forest Trail.
The Forest Trail is the “Walden Pond” of Malibu Creek State Park. Bordered by Century Lake on one side and the steep slopes of a rocky butte on the other, it is a contemplative place and one-of-a-kind habitat. It is home to towering coast redwoods, sprawling live oaks, sweet-smelling California bay, and water-loving California sycamores. Deer, ducks, bullfrogs, herons, hawks, falcons, and other wildlife may be seen here.
Fallen trees have been accumulating on the Forest Trail for months. On my last visit, following T.S. Hilary’s passage, another large oak had fallen near the beginning of the trail, making it unusable. Today, I was happy to find that the trees had been cleared, and the Forest Trail could be followed to its end at Century Lake Dam.
