Ants forage among the blossoms of Eastwood manzanita on the Chumash Trail in Rocky Peak Park. From a run on Wednesday, March 21, 2007.
Some related posts: Chumash-Las Llajas Loop, Chumash-Hummingbird Loop, San Fernando Valley from Rocky Peak, Chumash Trail Snow.
We received a little rain in the Los Angeles area earlier this week. There was just enough light rain to dampen my shirt, muddy my running shoes, and ornament this web with droplets of water. Refreshing as it was, the precipitation did little to relieve our ongoing drought.
To date, according to NWS data, this is the driest water year in Los Angeles since recordkeeping began in 1877. From July 1, 2006 to March 22, 2007 Downtown Los Angeles (USC) has recorded only 2.47 inches of rain. This is 10.79 inches below normal. Checking back through NWS records, 2.47 inches is the total amount of rain recorded in Downtown Los Angeles from May 23, 2006 through today — a period of 10 months!
In the past few years Los Angeles has experienced a number of weather extremes. The driest water year on record for Los Angeles was just set in 2001-2002, when 4.42 inches were recorded. Then in 2004-2005, Los Angeles was deluged with 37.25 inches of rain — the second wettest on record. During that period, Opids Camp in the San Gabriel Mountains recorded over 100 inches of precipitation! In July of last year Pierce College in Woodland Hills recorded a new all time high temperature for that station of 119°F. This may have been the highest temperature ever recorded in Los Angeles County. In mid January of this year many new record low temperatures for the date were set in the Southern California area. Pierce College plunged to a record low of 20°F (-6.7°C) and a temperature of 10.4°F (-12°C) was recorded at a research site in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Computer models are indicating another chance of rain early next week. At the moment, the system looks like it could produce rainfall amounts similar to Tuesday’s system, perhaps a little more. But with the equatorial Pacific and atmosphere looking more and more La Nina like, significant rain is looking less likely, and we may be talking about record drought in Southern California for many months to come. We’ll see!
The photo of the wet spider web was taken near Lasky Mesa in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch) on Tuesday, March 20, 2007. The funnel shaped web is probably that of the western grass spider, Agelenopsis aperta.
Related posts: Chaparral Freeze, The Color of Rain, El Nino Drought, Sunset Snow Shower, Rainy Morning on Rocky Peak Road.
New growth on the chaparral shrub laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) at Sage Ranch Park. The red pigment may function as a sunscreen, protecting sensitive new leaves until they mature, and can cope with full sun.
In mid January there was widespread freeze damage to laurel sumac in the Santa Monica Mountains, and other wildland areas near Los Angeles. Although the plant pictured above was not damaged, many laurel sumac plants in low lying and wind protected areas were.
But frost, fire or drought, laurel sumac is a resilient plant that can weather most hazards. At Sage Ranch, many of the plants damaged in the January freeze have already sprouted new growth.
From a run at Sage Ranch on Monday, March 12, 2007.
Related posts: Chaparral Freeze, Poison Oak.
Runner in Mueller Tunnel, near Mt. Wilson, in the San Gabriel Mountains. From Sunday’s Strawberry – Bear Canyon Loop run.
The Strawberry – Bear Canyon loop trail run is a longer, more adventurous variation of the run around Strawberry Peak described in the post Strawberry Peak Circuit.
The photograph Fall Leaves On Bear Creek was taken on this loop in November 2005. As described in that post, instead of descending directly to Switzer’s from Red Box, this route descends the West Fork to Valley Forge Campground and then climbs up and over the shoulder of Mt. Wilson, and down into Bear Canyon, eventually working its way back to Switzer’s and Clear Creek.
Without any wrong turns or other route finding issues the loop works out to about 25.5 miles with an elevation gain and loss of about 5500-6000 ft. The running (and hiking) is extremely varied, including fire roads, old road beds, easy trail, technical trail, and lots of up and down. Bear Creek’s lush canyon is gorgeous, but 20 miles into the run, it’s winding course and many creek crossings can prove demanding.
I attempted to obtain a GPS trace of this route in 2005, but the steep, narrow canyons defeated my Foretrex 201. Not so with my Forerunner 205. I continue to be amazed at the 205’s performance. Here’s a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file of the GPS trace of my route.
Related posts: Spring Growth, Fall Leaves On Bear Creek, Forerunner 205.
A Winter bloomer, California prickly phlox (Leptodactylon californicum) likes warm, rocky, southwest facing slopes where it can bask in the afternoon sun. The flowers have a subtle, musty-sweet fragrance that is especially pleasant when encountered on a still evening, in fading twilight, near the end of a run.