From this evening's run.

Less than a week after the rain in Southern California, grasses and other annuals are sprouting, and open space areas are starting to turn green.

From a run at Ahmanson Ranch this afternoon.

Deer seem to be plentiful in the Trippet Ranch area, and are frequently seen at this pond near the parking lot, or grazing among the oaks.

Running the Trippet Ranch Loop in Topanga State Park was a pleasant way to unwind after doing the Mt. Disappointment 50K last weekend. This 12.5 mile trail run from the End of Reseda is on a mix of fire roads and single track trail in chaparral and live oak woodland. I like to do the fire roads out to Trippet Ranch, and single track Musch and Garapito trails back. The elevation gain/loss on the loop is about 1800'.

Running up the hill to the Hub on the way out to Trippet Ranch we noticed some barefoot prints mixed in with the mountain bike and running shoe tracks. Based on the gait, the tracks were from a runner -- and from the speed they worked up the hill, the runner was feeling pretty good.

At the Hub the bare feet continued on our route, down Eagle Springs fire road, and about 10 minutes later they ended -- at a smiling runner wearing Vibram Five Fingers. Returning to running after a year and a half hiatus to start a family, Chris had recently read Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, and been inspired to try barefoot running.

Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the Trippet Ranch loop from Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park at the southern end of Reseda Blvd., in the San Fernando Valley.

Some related posts: Ferns Along the Garapito Trail, Musch Trail Mule Deer, Garapito Trail Green

From a run to Calabasas Peak on the Secret Trail in February.

Related post: Secret Trail to Calabasas Peak

Mountain bikers working up the 2.6 mile Chumash Trail. Simi Hills and Simi Valley are in the distance. This section of the trail was burned in the Sesnon Fire in October 2008.

Here is a Live Browser View of a GPS trace of the Chumash Trail using the Google Earth browser plug-in (Chrome, IE7, IE6, Firefox).

Related post: Chumash Trail Training, Chumash Trail - Sesnon & Simi Fires

Not the green of shamrocks or jade, or an emerald sea,
but of new growth along a trail, softly seen.

From a run of the Trailer Canyon - Trippet Ranch loop, described in Garapito Trail Runs.

Here is a Live Browser View of the run using the Google Earth browser plug-in (Chrome, IE7, IE6, Firefox).

Related post: Ferns Along the Garapito Trail

Hill 2484 is near the top of the oil field service road that connects Las Llajas Canyon to Rocky Peak fire road.

From Sunday's Bandit 30K Course Preview run.

Some related posts: Chumash-Las Llajas Loop, Chumash Trail Rocks & Snow

One hundred degrees
A willowed stream
Late afternoon sun
And linear green.

Study of cattail leaves in afternoon sun.

From a run to Las Virgenes Creek from the Victory trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

A segment of the Satwiwa Loop Trail at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in Newbury Park, California.

From Sunday's run/hike over Boney Mountain.

Technorati Tags: landscape photography, trail running

From a run last week at Ahmanson Ranch -- now Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.

Who hasn't pondered the intriguing network formed by the interconnected veins of a leaf? Like many apparently complex self-organized structures, there is a recognizable pattern, but the basis of the pattern is difficult to grasp.

Remarkably, research published in 2002 (S. Bohn et al., Phys. Rev. E, June 2002.) found that there is a simple relationship governing the angles between vein segments in the leaves of dicotyledons, and that this relationship is universal. The study also found that the observed vein angles can be reproduced using a simple force model.

Numerical analysis of leaf scans revealed that the angles between vein segments are directly related to the thickness of the segments. When the vein sizes are similar, the connection appears to form a three-way junction with the angle between the veins about 120 degrees. If the vein sizes are dissimilar, with one much larger than the other, the smaller vein joins the larger at about a 90 degree angle.

The photograph is of a leaf of a Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) along Las Virgenes Creek in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. It was taken on a run from the Victory trailhead on May 16, 2007.

Runner on a track that connects Rocky Peak fire road to Las Llajas Canyon in Rocky Peak Park. From the top of this hill there is approximately 4 miles of fast downhill through a scenic canyon garnished with out of service oil wells and a gurgling creek.

Related post: Chumash - Las Llajas Loop.