I was about a mile from the Wendy Dr. trailhead on Potrero Rd. in Newbury Park. A cold wind ruffled the chaparral, and to the north snow could be seen on McDonald Peak (6870') and other peaks of the Ventura mountains. I was nearing the top of a rounded ridge in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa, and in a few minutes would be descending the sun-warmed Old Boney Trail into the upper reaches of Big Sycamore Canyon.

The temp was in the 30's and it took a couple of minutes for my car's engine to warm enough to thaw the coating of ice on the windshield. I was headed for a run in the San Gabriel Mountains and was wondering how cold it might be.

Silhouette of Rocky Peak from the Johnson Mtwy trail in Rocky Peak Park. Note the hiker on the summit. From a run last weekend.

Related post: Rocky Peak

Due to fire concerns, Los Padres, Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests remained closed this weekend, so I headed back up to Kernville to meet some friends and run the Whiskey Flat Trail -- a sizzling trail in the summertime that has been on my running to-do list for years.

One of the most scenic and isolated areas of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon is traversed by a single track trail that links the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon fire road, northwest of Bell Canyon, to the northern extension of the Cheeseboro Ridge power line service road. The trail, shown on this Park Service map, follows an old road bed through improbable terrain.

I like to do the trail east to west. Once the power line service road is reached the most straightforward option is to turn left, and follow the road up and over the ridge and down to the 4-way junction east of Shepherds Flat. Another option is to turn right on the road and follow it a short distance to another single track that branches left from the road and leads to the Albertson Mtwy. This (dirt) road leads west to a signed intersection near China Flat. From here it is possible to work back to Shepherds Flat at the the top of Cheeseboro.

Many variations are possible, but starting at the Victory Trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve, and following the course indicated in this Google Earth image, the first route (up and over the ridge) is about 17.5 miles long. According to my GPS, an alternate route through China Flat is about 19.25 miles long. Both are interesting and challenging trail runs.

One of many excellent hikes/runs in the Southern Sierra, the River Trail starts at Johnsondale Bridge -- about 19 miles north of Kernville, California on highway Mountain 99 -- and follows the river north 4 miles to Four Mile rapid. Here the trail turns east and works up to the Rincon Trail.

This section of the Kern River is part of the beautiful and challenging Forks of the Kern class V whitewater run. Numerous class IV rapids and the class V rapids Carson Falls and Confusion are found on this reach. In the Spring and Summer expert kayakers and rafters may be seen maneuvering among the many boulders and drops. (A Forest Service permit is required to paddle the Forks.)

The numerous interconnecting roads and trails of the eastern Santa Monica Mountains can be combined to create trail runs ranging from a few miles to marathon length or more.

Los Angeles sometimes gets rain in September, but usually it is the result of tropical moisture from a dissipating hurricane, or perhaps the passage of the tail end of a weakening front. It is rare to see a low as cold, deep and energetic as the upper level low that deluged many areas of Los Angeles county Friday afternoon into Saturday.

Thunderstorms raked the San Fernando Valley Friday night, and several locations in and around the Valley recorded more than an inch of rain over the course of the storm. Los Angeles set a new rainfall record on Saturday, recording 0.40 inch of rain, and rainfall records were broken across the area.

In Southern California the first rain of the season often doesn't occur until October or November and is always savored. Especially this year, when Los Angeles has recorded only 3.21 inches of rain in the last 15 or 16 months, and a developing La Nina threatens to put the kibosh on Winter rain.

I celebrated the rain by doing an out and back run to "Fossil Point" on Rocky Peak fire road. Based on the size of the mud puddles on the dirt road, this unseasonable storm appeared to be wetter than any in last year's record dry rain season. Here's a panorama of the view northwest from the fire road to Oak Ridge, the Santa Susana Mountains and beyond.

Some related posts: San Fernando Valley from Rocky Peak, Rainy Morning on Rocky Peak Road.

The plan had been to do a 2-3 hour run from the Chula Vista parking lot west over Mt. Pinos into the Chumash Wilderness, but due to the Zaca Fire, the trail/road to the summit of Mt. Pinos, the Vincent Tummawait trail, and all of the Chumash Wilderness were closed.

Improvising the best we could, we linked together some cross-country ski trails, use trails, a fallen tree, and the Mt. Pinos road, and were able to get in a good trail run.

Update Friday, August 31, 2007. In a press release dated August 29, 2007, the Forest Service announced that some areas within Los Padres National Forest east of Highway 33 that were previously closed to public entry because of the Zaca Fire would be reopened on August 30.

For more information regarding the Zaca Fire and related closures, see the Los Padres National Forest web site.

Some related posts: Mt. Pinos - Mt. Abel Out & Back, Thunderstorm, Vincent Tumamait Trail

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Sandstone Peak and Boney Mountain from Simi Peak

I hadn't done this course in midsummer, but a long run close to home, and an early morning ascent of Simi Peak sounded like a nice change of pace. A dawn start from El Scorpion Park put me on the peak and back to the car before temps got out of hand.

A grizzled guardian of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Wally Waldron Tree stands defiantly astride an airy, rock strewn ridge, just below the summit of 9399 ft. Mt. Baden-Powell.

The Lower Stagecoach - Hummingbird loop is a shorter, somewhat less strenuous alternative to the Chumash - Hummingbird and Chumash - Las Llajas loops. Approximately 6 miles long, about a mile of the route is on pavement, with the remainder on single track trail and fire road. The elevation gain/loss on the loop is about 1300 ft.