This is one of my favorite medium length trail runs in the Santa Monica Mountains. It starts at the Ray Miller trailhead and explores the scenic grasslands of the Serrano and La Jolla Valleys. Along the way there are spectacular ocean and mountain vistas from the Ray Miller Trail and the summit of Mugu Peak.

Most of the route is on single track trail, and except for a short out & back segment to "The Ranch" in Serrano Valley, it is a complete loop of about 20 miles. Many variations are possible.

One of the better online maps I've found of the area is an Interagency Trail Management Map produced by the NPS Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area GIS Lab. It shows the status of trails and public lands in the Santa Monica Mountains and is broken into three parts: West - Central - East. Additional NPS SMMNRA trail management plan maps include Proposed Backbone Trail Facilities and Trails and Proposed Regional Trails.

Here is a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of our route from the Ray Miller trailhead and through Serrano and La Jolla Valleys.

Related post: Serrano Valley - La Jolla Valley Loop, Serrano Valley from the Chamberlain Trail

It was a little eerie. There wasn't so much as an animal track or old bootprint on the trail ahead. The path was perfectly smooth, and I felt a bit guilty as my running shoes left their patterned tracks under foot. Lynn, Frank, and I were working up the Pacific Crest Trail on the west side of Mt. Williamson in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Los Angeles. As we switchbacked up the trail, the mountain seemed to sigh, happy to have enjoyed at least a few days of solitude.

Spectacular Autumn trail running along Wellman Cienega in the San Jacinto Wilderness.

Lush with ferns and corn lilies in the summer, Wellman Cienega is a mountain seep high on the eastern slopes of Marion Mountain. It's a couple of miles into an excellent 5 mile downhill segment from the top of San Jacinto to Saddle Junction.

From today's trail run to San Jacinto Peak (10,834') and Tahquitz Peak (8828') from the top of the Palm Springs Tram at Long Valley.

Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the route, and an elevation profile generated in SportTracks. The total elevation gain/loss on the 20 mile run was about 4000'.

Related post: Room with a View

Runners Descending the Devil's Backbone on Mt. Baldy

It's a lot more fun working with gravity, than against it! For many runners, the run down from the summit of Mt. Baldy is as much a part of the Run to the Top experience as the race up.

Grueling sections of trail are effortlessly retraced, and there is more of an opportunity to enjoy the Devil's Backbone, and other spectacular sections of trail. Those needing more mileage skip the chair lift ride down from the Notch, and continue down the service road, following the route of the race.

Related post: Mt. Baldy Run to the Top 2009

"What's the elevation gain?" is a common question when talking about a trail run, because it makes such a huge difference in the difficulty of the run. All the technology we have for recording and analyzing trail runs is remarkable, but it can sometimes produce misleading and wildly inaccurate results. This is particularly the case when using a GPS track to calculate elevation gain and loss.

Last Sunday's trail run in the San Gabriel Mountains is a good example. The course started at Islip Saddle, dropped down to South Fork Campground, climbed to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell by way of Vincent Gap, and then returned on the PCT to Islip Saddle. The GPS track was recorded on a Garmin Forerunner 205. So what was the elevation gain on the loop?

According to Garmin Training Center, the gain was about 10,500'. The same track in TOPO! calculated the gain at about 6,100'. SportTracks, using corrected SRTM-based elevations and moderate smoothing, came up with 5800'. When uploaded to Garmin Connect, the track produced a fanciful elevation gain of about 13,600'!

Last year I used a Polar 625X on this course. It measures elevation gain/loss based on changes in barometric pressure, and came up with a gain of 5400'. So which of these values is the closest to reality?

Fortunately, in the case of elevation gain/loss it's fairly easy to do a low tech sanity check of these high tech results. All that is required is to get out a topo map, either electronically or on paper, and do a little arithmetic.

In the case of Sunday's loop, the gain from South Fork Campground to the summit of Baden-Powell is about 4830'. The gain on the PCT up and over the shoulder of Throop Peak is about 375'. A couple of other minor climbs total 240'. This gives a total of 5445'. Adding in a fudge factor of 200' for very small climbs that were not included in the total, the result is a reality checked gain of about 5645'.

The title photograph is from a run on the Hummingbird Trail yesterday.

Note: A long-standing rule of thumb, Naismiths Rule, says that the additional time required to gain 1000 ft. on a run/hike, will be the same as the the time to run/hike 1.5 miles on the flat. See "Short and hilly or long and flat?" in the Mountaineering Council of Scotland's The SCOTTISH MOUNTAINEER (Issue 7, March 2001).

 The out and back trail run from the Chula Vista parking lot on Mt. Pinos to the top of Mt. Abel is one of the best "short" mountain runs in Southern California. Most of the run is on the Vincent Tumamait Trail --  a technical single track trail in the Chumash Wilderness in Los Padres National Forest.

Ranging in elevation from about 7700' to 8800', the run packs a lot into its 15 mile length, combining great scenery with demanding uphills and superb downhills through old growth pine and fir forest. The summit area of Mt. Pinos is open and alpine with views that can range from the ocean to the Sierra.
 
About 4 miles from the parking lot is the North Fork Trail junction. A short side trip on this trail leads to the seeps, spring and wildflowers at Sheep Camp. The Vincent Tumamait Trail ends at Cerro Noroeste (Mt. Abel) road, but it is not difficult to work up through the pines about 1/3 of a mile to the campground on Mt. Abel's summit.

Usually about 20-30 degrees cooler than lowland hot spots such as the San Fernando Valley, the run is a great way to beat the heat on a hot summer day. See the post Vincent Tumamait Trail for more info and additional trail running options.

The title photo is of Lynn Longan, running up the switchbacks near the Condor Observation Site on Mt. Pinos.

Maybe because we're involved in outdoor sports, we're more aware of basic human anatomy than some other segments of the population, but I am still stupefied to read the results of a recent study in which less than one-third (31.4%) of the participants correctly identified the location of the lungs on a diagram of the human body.

The study, published in BMC Family Practice (2009, 10:43), was intended to evaluate the anatomical knowledge of different patient groups and the general public, and compare the results to a similar study done in 1970.

In the 2009 study, less than half (46.5%) of the participants correctly identified the location of the heart, and a little more than one-third (38.4%) could identify the location of the stomach.

The percentage correct for each item of the anatomy tested (heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, bladder, thyroid, liver and kidneys) averaged 51.4% in 1970 and 52.5% in the 2009 study.

Exactly as I found it on my run at Ahmanson today. Looked like a fairly new running shoe.

Last year on this date, Southern California was in the middle of a heatwave. On June 20, 2008, Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills reached a record-setting high of 111°F, and on June 21 the temp reached 108°F!

Not so this June! So far this month, Downtown Los Angeles has not had a day when the average temperature was above normal. And it's not only the low elevation stations that have been cool. Several times this month the overnight low at the Big Pines RAWS, near Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains, has dropped into the thirties, and daytime temps have averaged more than 10 degrees below normal.

This translates to great running weather in Southern California, and near perfect weather for trail running in the San Gabriel Mountains. Today, did the Three Points - Buckhorn loop, along with a short detour up to the summit of Waterman Mountain. The route worked out to about 23 miles with a reality-checked elevation gain/loss of about 3800'. Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the run.

The title photo is of Dave Burke, cruising down a nice section of the PCT between Cloudburst Summit and Cooper Canyon.

Related post: Three Points Loop Plus Mt. Waterman

Tom Sloan Trail in Bear Canyon

Update August 9, 2009. A section of trail necessary to complete this loop has been closed by the Forest Service, and there is no workaround. According to the Angeles National Forest web site "The Mount Lowe Truck Trail (Forest Trail No. 2N50) has been closed from its intersection with Eaton Saddle, west ½ mile to its intersection with Markham Saddle." See Forest Order #01-09-02 (PDF).

The creek burbled a gentle song of Spring, and downstream a Canyon Wren replied. Standing near the bottom of the narrow gorge, my eyes followed the soaring trunks of a grove of alders to their canopy of new leaves -- backlit and bright green in the sun.

Bright green in the sun... In my run-altered state it was one of those aha! moments. The alders are just tall enough to reach from the shadows of the canyon into the sun - and - without the water in the stream that cut the canyon, the alders could not grow to the necessary height. The pieces fit -- or was it the endorphins talking?

Steep climb on the Bandit 30K and 14K Courses.

Low clouds cling to the slopes of Rocky Peak, and a cool downslope breeze stirs through the runners gathered at the start line in Corriganville Park. Three... A race organizer holding a "turn on your Garmin" sign is counting us down. Two... Runners anxious to get on the course collectively take a deep breath. One...  Go! The first steep climb is just minutes away...

You never know what you're going to get in the first edition of a race, but in this case the Bandit 30K/14K organizers appeared to have considered every detail. Check-in went smoothly, the race started precisely at 8:00 a.m., the course was challenging and well-marked, aid & water was where it was needed, volunteers were great, and the finish line had an assortment of tasty treats!

Overall, elite mountain runner Jon Clark edged Kevin Gillotti and Jason Perez, winning the 30K in 2:22:29 -- averaging 8 minute miles over the demanding course. Among the women, Lisa Fink placed first, finishing in a time of 3:08:28. In the 14K, women took two out of the top three places, finishing first and third. Jen Todd was first in 1:15:22, followed by Karl Bowers and Meredith Davidson. Results and photos are available on the Bandit 30K/14K web site.

Many thanks to the Bandit Race Committee -- Randy & Sarita Shoemaker, Larry Lee, and Todd Baker -- and all the volunteers and sponsors for a great race! Also, thanks to Tommi Diaz for her photos of the 30K.

Here's a Google Earth image, Google Earth KMZ file, and Google Earth browser view (Chrome, IE7, IE6, Firefox) of my GPS trace of the course.

The photo of runners on Rocky Peak Road is from a run in November 2007.

Some related posts: Bandit 30K Course Preview, Las Llajas Hill 2484, Running Rocky Peak Road, Chumash Trail Rocks & Snow

There are still a few rogue mud puddles out at Ahmanson ranch, but the Goldfields are blooming, the meadowlarks singing, and it feels like Spring!

Last week it looked like our rain season might not be over. Now I'm beginning to wonder. This week the GFS and ECMWF forecasts have been much drier in Southern California, with most of the activity focused on the Pacific Northwest. No significant rain is forecast here over the next week, and both the 6-10 and 8-14 day forecasts project below average precipitation in Southern California.

If these medium range forecasts are on the mark, March rainfall for Downtown Los Angeles (USC) will fall well below the 3.14 inch norm. Normal April rainfall is 0.83 inches, and May only 0.31 inches. Beyond March it becomes increasingly unlikely that a big rain event will significantly boost our rainfall total.

Since November 1, Downtown Los Angeles has recorded 8.80 inches of precipitation. This is about what would be expected during a La Nina, and within the range indicated in the composite precipitation map included in the post Southern California 2008-2009 Winter Precipitation Outlook, back in October.

In his March 6 post, Ed Berry suggested the possibility of "more energetic progressive troughs" in the western U.S in the week 2-3 timeframe. That wouldn't necessarily result in rain in Southern California, but might improve our chances. Numerical weather model performance generally suffers during seasonal transitions, so maybe there are still some surprises lurking in the Pacific. We'll see!