Running Down the South Fork Trail from Islip Saddle

Just six days before I'd been sitting in my car at Islip Saddle debating whether to run. It had been COLD. The temperature had been about 35°F and the wind a steady 20 mph with higher gusts. It was cloudy and at times foggy, and it looked like rain, sleet or snow might begin at any moment.

Today I was back at Islip Saddle and the temperature was definitely not in the 30s. On a scale of 1 to 10, today's trail running weather was going to be a 9 or 10. At least here in the San Gabriel Mountains the weather was going to be a 9 or 10. Down in the valleys the temps would hit the mid-90s in some locations.

We were doing the Islip Saddle - South Fork Camp - Vincent Gap - Mt. Baden-Powell loop, one of my favorite adventure runs in the San Gabriels. Because this loop starts by running down to the high desert heat is often a factor, and an early start desirable.

Running down the South Fork Trail it felt like it was going to be a great day for the run, and by the time we were chugging up the Manzanita Trail toward Vincent Gap, there was no doubt about it. There was a cool, down-canyon breeze, and even in the sun the temperature was pleasant. The hatch of gnats that usually follows Spring showers wasn't happening and all in all the conditions were as good as I've had on the loop.

Here is a slideshow with a few photos from the run, and here are an interactive Google Earth browser view and an elevation profile of the run.

Some related posts: Heat Wave, San Gabriel Mountains Running Adventure, Bear Cubs on the South Fork Trail, Islip Saddle - Mt. Baden-Powell South Fork Loop

View Southwest from Sadie Hawkins past Twin Peaks to Mt. Wilson

The snow was rock hard and covered with lodgepole pine needles and other debris. Having experience climbing snow and ice I can usually deal with a little early season snow, but I could see no way to safely cross this patch. The snow was steep and icy, the runout long and the risk high. My usual tricks for crossing short stretches of snow were not going to work.

Bear Canyon

Doing a moderate run in the San Gabriels and climbing a few peaks was a great way to unwind from the excitement of doing the 68 mile Backbone Ultra last weekend.

I felt good. I'd run more or less normally in the week following the event -- depleted, but without any physical issues. In part that can be attributed to how Coyote Cohorts runs their events. It was basically a long training run in the company of a great bunch of runners and the help of incredible volunteers. Amazing! The long hours of training also really helped, particularly the back-to-back runs following 50Ks and the back-to-back night/day training runs. My shoes -- Hoka Mafate 2s -- also helped, reducing the impact of all the miles.

One of the reasons for doing today's run was to check how Poodle-dog Bush and some other plants are faring in this low rainfall water year. Since July 1 Downtown Los Angeles has recorded only 5.14 inches of rain. Unless we can manage to wring about a half-inch of rain from the heavens before June 30, this water year will go down as the fourth driest since record-keeping began in 1877. The driest water year on record was in 2005-2006 (3.21 inches). Assuming we don't get that 0.48 inch of rain, three of the four driest water years have occurred since 2000.

Something I noticed on the Backbone run and recent training runs in the Santa Monica Mountains is that plant growth and flowering has been surprisingly robust given the amount of rainfall. This was also the case today on today's run -- the manzanita on the San Gabriel Peak Trail was covered in blossoms and bees, and the nightshade and paintbrush along the trail also seemed to be doing well.

What about the Poodle-dog bush, aka Turricula? It looked about the same as last year at this time -- just starting to come out of Winter dormancy. Last year we had above average rainfall in April and it really seemed to spur the growth of Poodle-dog bush. This year maybe we'll see what an extended period of dry weather does to it. Last year some of the Poodle-dog died before the rain in April.

Here's a short slideshow of a few photos from today's run in the San Gabriel Mountains, as well as some photos of plants and flowers on recent runs in the Santa Monica Mountains.

A nearly pure stand of limber pines on the north slopes of Throop Peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles.

Limber pines can be very long-lived. The Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research OLDLIST lists several crossdated limber pines older than 1600 years. The Wally Waldron Tree near the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell is estimated to be 1500 years old.

From an out and back run last week from Dawson Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell.

Slopes of Mt. Baden-Powell from the PCT Above Vincent Gap

The run from Inspiration Point to Eagle's Roost on the Pacific Crest Trail is one of the best 20 mile trail runs in Southern California. Along the way are great views, old growth forests, ancient trees, an ice-cold spring, and a 2800' climb to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell.

One of the most popular peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains, Mt. Baden-Powell (9399') is well-known for its association with scouting. It is a favored peak of hikers, ultrarunners and backcountry skiers alike. The question isn't if you've climbed Baden-Powell, but how often you've done the peak -- and for many of us it's too many times to count.

Ann, Craig and I were at about mile 4.5 of the run. We had just descended from Blue Ridge to Vincent Gap and were starting the climb up Baden-Powell. I swore. I could not believe what I was seeing. Someone had spray-painted a large white numeral 7 on a rock at a switchback. Are you kidding? One was too many -- were we going to see spray-painted switchback numbers on rocks and trees all the way up the peak?

Nearly thirty switchbacks later the numbers -- painted mostly on trees -- continued and so did my swearing. Who would do such a thing? How could anyone think this was an acceptable or beneficial thing to do?

The explosion of outrage in the outdoor community was like a fiery supernova. I made some inquiries and was told that an older, neatly dressed man had been seen painting the numbers on Sunday, October 14. Reportedly the man was asked to stop, but refused. Maybe at some point saner minds prevailed because the numbers stopped (I think) somewhere around 27. In any case the damage had already been done.

We did this run last Saturday. The good news is most of the numbers have already been removed. (Thanks David!) Last I heard only two difficult to remove numbers remained, and I'm guessing those will disappear soon.

Things do seem to balance out, and as vile as the spray-painted trees were, there was an offsetting positive force in the forest that day, and we met her at Little Jimmy Spring. Leslie (Banff Trail Trash) looked like she was out for a mile or two stroll. But she had been on the trail since the beginning of August and was at about mile 2275 of the PCT! Effusive and exuberant, her enthusiasm was contagious.

For the remainder of the run we put aside thoughts about spraypaint, and just enjoyed being in the mountains.

Some related posts: Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle Trail Run, PCT from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle

The prominent ridge extending southeast from Twin Peaks to "Triplet Rocks" can be seen from many points of the Angeles high country. So named because of the triplet of sculpted white granitic monoliths at its summit, the isolated formation is generally considered to be the hardest to reach summit in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Here's a view of "Triplet" ridge from a run up to Pleasant View Ridge a couple of weeks ago. In the photo Triplet Rocks is the rocky peaklet on the left end of the ridge and Twin Peaks (East) is on the far right. Peak 6834 is the prominent square-topped formation a little left of the midpoint of the ridge.

Today's loosely formulated plan was to run/hike to the summit of Twin Peaks (east) and then see how far I could get out on the ridge in a reasonable amount of time. At the start of the run I had no idea what a "reasonable amount of time" would be.

It's been nearly seven years since the Forest Service “temporarily” closed approximately 1,000 acres in the upper Little Rock Creek drainage in the San Gabriel Mountains in order to protect critical habitat of the mountain yellow-legged frog (MYLF). The closed area includes Williamson Rock, a once-popular rock climbing area, and a key 3.5 mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail between Eagle's Roost and the Burkhart Trail.

As might be expected when an issue is complex and involves several concerned parties, resolution has been painfully slow. Williamson Rock is a large formation encompassing many smaller climbing sub-areas. The majority of these areas are outside of MYLF habitat. The Recreational Development Alternative protects MYLF habitat while allowing recreational access to other areas of the formation. (See the Friends of Williamson Rock web site for more information.)

Last year United States District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel (Northern District of California) ordered Angeles National Forest to "halt all construction and close access to the Williamson Rock Area of the Angeles National Forest until the Amended Biological Opinion and accompanying ITS is filed and the matter is reviewed by the parties and the court." It is unclear how much time will be required to complete these filings and subsequent reviews.

In the meantime, a recent article in the Los Angeles Times suggests there might be some reason for optimism concerning the fate of the MYLF, with "the fist-sized amphibians breeding in numbers not seen in decades."

The title photograph is from last Sunday's Pleasant View Ridge run.

This morning did a short out and back run from the Eagle's Roost Picnic Area to peak 8248 on Pleasant View Ridge.

The title photograph is from near the summit of peak 8248. Twin Peaks East and Twin Peaks West (last Sunday's run) are the prominent peaks on the right skyline. Kratka Ridge, Angeles Crest Highway and the Williamson Rock area is toward the camera from Twin Peaks. Eagle's Roost is on Angeles Crest Highway near Williamson Rock.

Some related posts: Pleasant View Ridge Snow, Peaks Along Pleasant View Ridge

Twin Peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Los Angeles, has always been a favorite. Rugged and isolated, its eastern summit is a popular ascent. Judging from the far less worn path leading to its summit, the western peak is not as frequently visited.

From the Buckhorn parking area it's about 5 miles to the summit of the east peak and then another 0.9 mile to the west peak. The total elevation gain/loss (round trip) including the west peak is around 3800'. Although there's some steep up and down, there's also some long stretches of very good trail running.

With so many hot days and runs this Summer, this run/hike was the perfect welcome to Autumn. The morning was cool, but not so cool as to require sleeves. Over the course of the run some fair weather cumulus popped up here and there, and it was just one of those days that it was wonderful to be in the mountains.

The title photograph is East Twin Peaks (7761') from near West Twin Peaks (7596').

Some related posts: Mt. Wilson Area Peaks From Twin Peaks, Three Points to Waterman Mountain the Long Way

Originally posted July 31, 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. A long-standing rule of thumb, Naismith's Rule, says that the additional time required to gain 1000 ft. of elevation on a run/hike, will be the same as the time to run/hike 8000 ft. (1.5 miles) on the flat. An analysis of fell running records supports this 1 to 8 ratio.

This is not news to anyone who runs or hikes hilly trails. The first thing I check when evaluating a new race or run is the elevation gain. All the technology we have for recording and analyzing trail runs is remarkable, but it can sometimes result in wildly inaccurate claims about the elevation gain of a course.

The table to the left lists the elevation gain calculated by various software and services for the the same course using GPS tracks from a Garmin Forerunner 205 and Forerunner 405. The course is the Islip Saddle - SF Campground - Mt. Baden-Powell loop in the San Gabriel Mountains.  SportTracks elevations were corrected using pkan's Elevation Correction Plugin and SRTM elevations data in 2009 and NED 1/3 arc second DEMs in 2012. SportTracks elevation data smoothing was set to 55.

Calculations of elevation gain have improved since 2009. One reason is newer GPS chips generally produce higher quality tracks. Another is the methods used to calculate elevation gain/loss have improved and more accurate elevation datasets have become readily available and integrated into software such as SportTracks and services such as Garmin Connect.

So which of these elevation gains is the closest to reality? Fortunately, it's fairly easy to do a low tech sanity check of these high tech results. All that is required is to get out an USGS topo map -- either electronically or on paper -- and do a little arithmetic.

Let's see. From South Fork Campground (4560') to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (9399') is about 4839'. But there are a couple of small descents on the way up so we add another 240' giving a total to the top of Mt. Baden-Powell of 5079'. It's mostly downhill from Baden-Powell to Islip Saddle, but there are a couple of hills. The main one is a 370' climb on the PCT up and over the shoulder of Throop Peak. There's also another 100' climb near Mt. Burnham, and if you stop at Little Jimmy Spring another 60' climb. This gives a total of 5609'. Adding in a fudge factor of 100' for very small climbs that were not included in the total and the result is a reality-checked elevation gain of about 5700'. Comparing this total to the computed elevation gains in the table, the actual gain might be as much as 6000', but it's not likely to be 7500'. And there's just no way the gain is 9975'!

The title photograph is from the Momyer Trail on San Gorgonio Mountain.

Related post: Hitting the (Big) Hills of Southern California

Mt. Markham From Near Mueller Tunnel

The water felt surprisingly chilly, and for a moment I hesitated before completely immersing myself in the cool, clear water. More a creek than a river this time of year, this crossing of the West Fork San Gabriel River was at mile 17 of the 2012 Mt. Disappointment 50K. At 2760', it's the lowest point on the course and marks the beginning of the tough 5.4 mile climb up Edison Road to Shortcut Saddle (4790').

Edison Road (FS Road 2N23) zigzags up an exposed, south-facing chaparral slope. The climb is warm on the coolest of days -- today it was going to be torrid. Southern California was locked in the grasp of a record-setting, multi-day heat wave. During the week I'd taken a thermometer on a run and measured a temperature of 107.6°F on a breezy day at Ahmanson Ranch. All week I'd been checking the computer weather models and watching the temps in the San Gabriel Mountains, hoping for a break in the weather. Nada. The day before the race the "in the sun" temps at the Clear Creek RAWS, near the race course, reached a blistering 120°F.

The performance hit from running in the heat is similar to running at higher elevation. Acclimatization helps, but hot weather reduces performance. The following is from Daniels' Running Formula:

"You can’t perform as well in a distance race in the heat as you can in a cooler environment... As soon as the body starts to heat up, blood is diverted to the skin, where cooling (through evaporation of sweat from the skin’s surface) takes place. A greater portion of the body’s blood volume is at the body’s surface to facilitate cooling, leaving less blood available for carrying oxygen to the exercising muscles. In effect, to prevent overheating, the body reduces the amount of blood available to enhance performance."

These young-appearing bigcone Douglas-firs along the Valley Forge Trail are probably older than they look. According to the Forest Service Silvics Manual, Volume 1: Conifers, saplings may be only 2 ft. tall when 40-50 years old and as old as 70 years when they break through the oak overstory.

The bigcone Douglas-fir is a very resilient tree that is remarkably fire tolerant. It can lose virtually all of it foliage to a fire, appear to be beyond the point of recovery, yet survive and regenerate its foliage. Fire-scarred bigcone Douglas-firs have been used to analyze fire history and regimes.

The photograph on the left is of a bigcone Douglas-fir along the Valley Forge Trail that was burned in the 2009 Station Fire. Here is a closer view of the same tree showing how new foliage sprouts from buds along its limbs and trunk.

The Valley Forge Trail is in the canyon of the West Fork San Gabriel River in the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles. It connects the Gabrielino Trail to Eaton Saddle on Mt. Wilson Road. The trailhead for Mt. Lowe Truck Trail is at Eaton Saddle.

The photographs are from a trail run in May 2012.

Related post: Red Box - Bear Canyon Loop