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

Overnight the lows on the high peaks had dipped into the 30's, and today the high temps would be 15-20 degrees below normal. If I could have ordered the perfect mix of temperature, clouds and sun for running in the Angeles high country, it would be difficult to top the weather this weekend and last.

Now that Hwy 2 was open between Islip Saddle and Vincent Gap, and we could do a car shuttle, Miklos, Krisztina and I had decided to run from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle on the PCT. Starting at Inspiration Point instead of Vincent Gap adds about 4.5 miles to the run, but the miles are relatively easy, and the stretch is a good warmup for the 2800 ft. climb up Mt. Baden-Powell.

Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of our approximately 18 mile route. We wandered down the south ridge of Mt. Baden-Powell, so this is a little longer than the usual route. The elevation gain was about 3300 ft., with an elevation loss of about 4000 ft. Continuing over Mt. Williamson to Eagle's Roost would add about 4 miles and 1400 ft. of elevation gain.

Note: The speck in the summit photo is one of several violet-green swallows working lift and zooming along the top of southeast face.

One, two, ten...
Will the switchbacks ever end?

I can't think of a tougher stretch of trail in the San Gabriel Mountains. From Mt. Baldy Village, the Bear Canyon/Old Mt. Baldy Trail climbs 5800' in 6.7 miles to the 10,064' summit of Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio). The route is as rewarding as it is difficult, with inspiring views and interesting terrain.

Snowbush on the Pacific Crest Trail near Islip Saddle

Below, the throaty rumble of an almost continuous stream of motorcycles echoes through the canyons. Closed by storm damage since the Winter of 2005, Highway 2 from Islip Saddle to Vincent Gap is open again.

It is also busy on the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm southbound on the PCT, and some of the hikers I've talked to are doing the route I'm doing -- an out and back from Islip Saddle (6593') to Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399'). At least one group has set up a car shuttle, and will descend to Vincent Gap after climbing Baden-Powell.

Northbound on the PCT, there has been a mix of youth groups returning to Islip Saddle after a night under the stars, and PCTers on their way to Canada. Nearly 400 miles into their 2650 mile trek, the PCTers look great, and if their broad smiles are any indication, they are enjoying life on the trail.

Whether hiking a couple of miles, or a couple thousand miles, it is great day to be outdoors. The weather is cool, and there is not a cloud in the sky. There are patches of snow here and there, and even some snow on the trail. My legs feel good, and I feel good.

Today I decided to keep things simple. Rather than climb Mt. Islip and other peaks along the way, I'm doing a basic out and back route to Baden-Powell. Even so, it's no cakewalk. A quick calculation using the topo map gives an honest elevation gain/loss of at least 3100 ft.

Earlier, as I worked my way above Windy Gap, I was surprised to feel and then hear a distant, powerful, rumbling ka-boom! It wasn't a motorcycle, or thunder -- it was Space Shuttle Atlantis landing at Edwards!

With a few stops, and a mix of hiking and running, it takes me about 2.5 hours to get to Baden-Powell. No one is on the summit. Across Vincent Gulch, Mt. Baldy (10,064') looms in the haze. A few ribbons of snow embellish its north face.

I grab a Clif Bar from my pack, and walk along the ridge, looking at the weather worn trees. After a few minutes, I return to the summit and then descend to the Wally Waldron Tree. For an impulsive moment I briefly debate continuing down to Vincent Gap and doing the South Fork loop. It would "only" be about 7 miles longer, and I'd never done the loop counterclockwise... but instead I hang a left onto the PCT and take the first strides toward Islip Saddle. Maybe next time.

Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the approximately 16.5 mile route.

Some related posts: San Gabriels High Five, Snowless San Gabriels

Tom Sloan Trail in Bear Canyon

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?

My legs were still pretty worked from the Boney Mountain Half Marathon. Instead of backing off of the pace on my weekday workouts, I had continued to experiment with a change in running technique that was resulting in faster paced runs. I was excited about the increase in speed, but logging fast times on oft-run courses after a strenuous race doesn't equal recovery. Neither does blasting up a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains.

We stopped for a few moments at the river crossing, where water stood in pools waiting for Winter rain. Instead, cold air flowed down its course, cool and refreshing. From this point there would be little shade. Rarely cold, the climb out from the West Fork San Gabriel River to Shortcut Saddle is often warm, and sometimes debilitating.

Updated 8/20/08. Added Split Rank listings (PDF) for 2007 50K and 50M, and related comments.

Winding down the precipitous Mt. Wilson road, I thought about the run ahead. To my left granite and pine glowed golden in the morning sun, and to my right the mountain plunged in long shadows, 2000' into the canyon of the West Fork San Gabriel River.

In a few hours I would be somewhere down in that canyon, plodding along sun-baked Red Box road. By then the temperature would be in the mid-eighties, but in the full sun it would feel like a hundred. That would be around mile 23. I kicked a pebble and winced as it almost hit the heel of the runner in front of me. Only at mile 1-something, there were a lot of miles to go.

Maybe because it's been in the news recently,  but when pondering how to characterize today's trail run, I couldn't help but think of the JFK quote, "We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard..." This loop is arduous, adventurous, and challenging. While the difficulty of this route is one of the things that makes it interesting, it isn't just the difficulty that makes it appealing.

Part of the appeal is the mix of trails and terrain, and the contrasting environments. The high point of the route is 9,399' Mt. Baden-Powell. Cool, airy and alpine, it is the home of ancient Lodgepole and Limber pines. The low point of the route is 4,560' South Fork Campground. On the margin of the Mojave Desert, it is often hot and sometimes torrid. Midday temperatures here can reach well over 100°F. The route encompasses life zones ranging from the Upper Sonoran to the Hudsonian, and passes through a variety of plant communities. The San Andreas Fault Zone runs along the base of the mountains, torturing the area's rocks, and producing a complex and fascinating geology.

From Islip Saddle the route descends the South Fork trail to South Fork Campground, then climbs 5000' on the Manzanita and Pacific Crest trails to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell. From here it follows the PCT back to Islip Saddle. In general, the part of the route that is on the PCT -- above Hwy 2 -- is well marked and maintained. However, on the South Fork and Manzanita trails -- below Hwy 2 -- you are on your own.

There are rock slides on the South Fork trail, and there are steep, washed out erosion gullies on the Manzanita trail. Recent thunderstorms have further damaged the eroded sections of the Manzanita Trail. In addition, the Manzanita trail crosses boulder-strewn washes that can make the trail difficult to follow. It is not a trail I would want to be on when there is heavy rainfall. The South Fork and Manzanita trails are part of the High Desert National Recreation Trail.

Google Earth images and KMZ files, and more info about the loop can be found in the posts Complications, Wally Waldron Lodgepole Pine, and Heat Wave.

If you spend much time in the mountains, sooner or later you're going to get caught in a severe thunderstorm. I don't mean you're going to hear a little thunder and get a little wet. I mean you're going to find yourself in the middle of a heart pounding, ear splitting, ozone smelling, sense numbing storm that drenches you through and through and wrings the nerves from your body.

Having been caught in such thunderstorms while climbing in Yosemite, running in the San Gabriels, and running at Mt. Pinos, I do my best to avoid the beasts. Sometimes, it is not an easy thing to do.

Introduced around 2000, the Garmin eTrex was the first GPS unit I used to trace a trail run. The GPS tracks were imported into TOPO! where the length of a run could be measured, an elevation profile generated, and the topography of the run examined.

Since the eTrex was designed to be used in an "orienteering" position -- flat in your hand in front of your body -- it would frequently have trouble receiving GPS satellite signals if hand-carried while running or hiking. About the time enterprising hikers and runners began to resolve this issue with creative hats, holsters and harnesses, Garmin released the Forerunner 201, greatly simplifying the task of tracing a route.

In 2005, while preparing a presentation about kayaking Piru Creek for a meeting with the Forest Service, I stumbled onto Keyhole.com. To say I was blown away by this bit of "Eureka" technology would be an a gross understatement. Now, in addition to seeing Piru Creek in photographs, and on a topo map, you could get a "before you paddle" preview using Keyhole -- even if you couldn't paddle class IV whitewater! Google acquired Keyhole in late 2004 and launched Google Earth on June 28, 2005.

Shortly after Google Earth was launched, SportTracks added the ability to launch Google Earth and view the GPS trace of a run or other activity. Since SportTracks could also directly import data from Garmin's Forerunner, the software made it very easy to view a run in Google Earth.

I've been working on updating the posts on Photography on the Run that reference a trail run to include a link to a Google Earth KMZ file. A KMZ file is just a zipped KML file, and either can be opened in Google Earth. A list of the trail runs with KMZ file links can be found by clicking "Google Earth KMZ Files of Trail Runs" in the sidebar.

These are actual tracks recorded by a GPS during a trail run and may contain GPS errors, route-finding errors, and wanderings that are difficult to explain. In a few instances tracks have been modified to correct errors, or to remove side excursions that are not part of the usual route, but not all errors have been corrected. No claim is being made regarding the appropriateness or suitability of the routes indicated. The GPS devices used to record these tracks include the Garmin Forerunner 201, Foretrex 201 and Forerunner 205; and the GlobalSat GH-615B.

When considering where I might run this weekend, the words "snow" and "altitude" had a certain appeal. Record high temperatures had been set in the Los Angeles area on Friday and Saturday, and there was little doubt that more temperature records would fall today.