Category Archives: trails|topanga state park

Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout

Eagle Rock, Clouds and Sun. Photography by Gary Valle'
Eagle Rock

There are many ways to extend the 12.5-mile Trippet Ranch Loop. A couple of my favorites are the Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Parker Mesa Overlook (18.6 miles) and Trailer Canyon – Santa Ynez Canyon – Trippet Ranch Loop (17.2 miles) trail runs.

Runners descending Cathedral Rocks in Topanga State Park (thumbnail)
Runners descending Cathedral Rocks, near the Hub

Lately, I’ve been doing another option — adding an out and back from the Hub to Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout and then continuing on the Trippet Ranch Loop from the Hub.

This extends the run to about 16 miles, plus Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout are excellent viewpoints (video).

That’s the run I did this morning, plus a quick stop at Cathedral Rocks (near the Hub) along the way.

Here is a 3D terrain view of a GPS track of the Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout trail run.

Some related posts:
Seventh Wettest Water Year Results in Spring-Like Scenery Along L.A. Area Trails
Out and Back Trail Run from the Top of Reseda to Parker Mesa Overlook
Trailer Canyon – Santa Ynez Canyon Trail – Trippet Ranch Loop
Garapito Trail Runs
Popular Trails in Topanga State Park Damaged by Winter Storms

Seventh Wettest Water Year Results in Spring-Like Scenery Along L.A. Area Trails

California fuchsia along Fire Road #30 in Topanga State Park
California fuchsia along Fire Road #30, near the Hub.

Downtown Los Angeles (USC) finished the 2022-2023 Water Year with 31.07 inches of rain, making it the seventh wettest on record in Los Angeles. The rainfall total includes about three inches of rain from former Hurricane Hilary as it moved through Southern California as a rare tropical storm and post-tropical cyclone.

Canyon sunflower blooming out of season along Fire Road #30 in Topanga State Park.
Canyon sunflower blooming out of season along Fire Road #30.

The effects of all that rain can be seen on just about any trail in Southern California. It has resulted in a false Spring in many areas, with greening hills, out-of-season wildflowers, flowing creeks, and profuse growth throughout the area.

This morning, I returned to the Top of Reseda and Topanga State Park to do a variation of the Trippet Ranch Loop and continue exploring and enjoying the unusual conditions.

After running up to the Hub, this variation does an out and back to Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout. After returning to the Hub, the route continues on Eagle Springs Fire Road down to Trippet Ranch. From Trippet Ranch, it works back to the Top of Reseda using the Musch and Garapito Trails and connecting sections of fire road. This interactive, 3D terrain map shows a GPS track of the trail run.

Dodder growing on laurel sumac in October 2023 on the Musch Trail in Topanga State Park.
Dodder growing on laurel sumac on the Musch Trail.

Visiting Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout increases the run’s mileage from 12.5 miles to 16. On a clear day, the runner is rewarded with far-reaching views of the coast, West L.A., Downtown, and the surrounding mountains.

While most of the roads and trails on this route are frequently used and in decent condition, the Garapito Trail has been overgrown all Summer. As of October 8, it was still overgrown. Some people I’ve encountered on the trail were OK with this, but others haven’t been so happy. If desired, the trail can be bypassed by continuing to the Hub on Eagle Rock Fire Road and retracing your route back to the Top of Reseda.

Here are a few photos (and notes) taken on the run.

Some related posts:
A Second Spring at Ahmanson Ranch
Lake Vista Ridge, the Forest Trail, and September Wildflowers
Looking For Local Impacts of Tropical Storm Hilary

Out and Back Trail Run from the Top of Reseda to Parker Mesa Overlook

Upper Santa Ynez Canyon and Eagle Rock from East Topanga Fire Road
Upper Santa Ynez Canyon and Eagle Rock from East Topanga Fire Road

The view from Parker Mesa Overlook was the uniform gray of the inside of a cloud. I was about 30 minutes too early, and the low clouds hadn’t cleared. The Pacific Ocean was out there somewhere.

Even so, the run from the Top of Reseda to the Overlook had been excellent. The hills and canyons were painted in a muted palette of sun and shadow. Purple-pink prickly phlox brightened the roadside, and the “Beech-nut Gum” scent of Bigpod Ceoanthus filled the air.

Prickly phlox along East Topanga Fire Road
Prickly phlox along East Topanga Fire Road

Fire Road #30, Eagle Springs Fire Road, and East Topanga Fire Road had all been cleared of the sluffs and slides that resulted from January’s rainstorms. Overnight, there had been a little drizzle, but the fire roads hadn’t been muddy at all.

Rather than just retracing my steps, on the way back to the Top of Reseda I opted to do the Musch and Garapito Trails. I had run the Garapito Trail in mid-January but hadn’t been on the Musch Trail since the January deluge.

The Trippet Ranch parking lot had been packed, and several groups appeared to be on their way to Eagle Rock via the Musch Trail. Overall, the trail weathered the storms reasonably well, but one badly eroded section and a couple other spots will need some work.

Section of the Musch Trail damaged in January 2023 rainstorms.
Damaged section of the Musch Trail

While it still had some issues, use of the Garapito Trail had moderated its condition since the last time I was on it. Some brush that had blocked the trail had been removed, and paths were evolving through the collapsed sections of trail. However, some extra care was still required in some spots.

The Bent Arrow Trail was closed, necessitating a return to dirt Mulholland on Fire Road #30, following the same route as had been used at the beginning of the run.

Here is an interactive, 3D terrain view of a GPS track (yellow) to Parker Mesa Overlook from the Top of Reseda. The Bent Arrow Trail is temporarily closed for repair and is shown in red. To change the view, use the control on the upper right side of the screen. Track and placename locations are approximate and subject to errors. Poor weather and other conditions may make this route unsuitable for this activity.

Some related posts: More Malibu Creek Flooding, Looking for Storm Damage in Point Mugu State Park, Popular Trails in Topanga State Park Damaged by Winter Storms

Eagle Rock Silhouette

Silhouetted hikers on Eagle Rock in the Santa Monica Mountains

The photograph of Eagle Rock is from this morning’s meandering trail run to Temescal Peak, Temescal Lookout, Eagle Rock, and the Garapito Trail in Topanga State Park.

All of these viewpoints have sweeping views of the Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles Basin, and surrounding mountains.

Temescal Lookout (Peak 2036) is the site of a bygone fire lookout station. It’s located just west of Temescal Ridge Fire Road, about a mile south of the Backbone Trail junction and a half-mile north of the Trailer Canyon Fire Road junction. It’s shown on the USGS Calabasas topo map from 1944. Vestiges of the lookout are all that remain.

Some related posts: Downtown Los Angeles and San Jacinto Peak; Trippet Ranch Loop Plus Temescal Peak; Eagle Rock – Topanga State Park; Will Rogers – Rivas Canyon – Temescal Canyon Trail Run

Trippet Ranch Loop Plus the Santa Ynez Trail

Creek crossing on the Santa Ynez Canyon Trail

I had just waded down a 50 yard stretch of creek where the Santa Ynez Canyon Trail used to be. Three hikers working up the canyon were trying to find a way past the flooded section without getting their boots wet. That wasn’t going to be easy.

Debris at creek crossing in Santa Ynez Canyon.

I had been doing the same thing higher in the canyon. It was a chilly morning, and I had no great desire to soak my shoes in cold water. The usual rock and limb crossings had worked well until the trail ended in a broad area of flowing creek. Once my shoes were wet, it simplified the process.

That the trail was flooded following several days of rain wasn’t that surprising. What was a surprise is that there hadn’t been higher flows and more damaging flash floods in the canyon.

Creek crossing near the Santa Ynez Canyon Trailhead, on Michael Lane.
Creek crossing near the Santa Ynez Canyon Trailhead

Santa Ynez Canyon was the focus of the Palisades Fire, and a large part of the drainage was burned to a moonscape. Burned slopes often amplify runoff from heavy rain, producing damaging flash floods and debris flows. While there was clearly high flows in the canyon, the levels were less than what I’ve seen in similar circumstances, in other burn areas. One possibility is that unburned trees and brush along the streambed higher in the canyon had attenuated the flow.

After doing the out and back on the Santa Ynez Canyon Trail, I continued down to Trippet Ranch and then, like last week, returned using the Musch, Garapito, and Bent Arrow Trails.

One of several sections of the Bent Arrow Trail damaged by slides. January 2,2022.
Section of the Bent Arrow Trail damaged by a slide

There were a number small rock slides, sluffs, and sediment flows along the trails and roads. A couple of people were working on clearing the limbs and small trees that had fallen across the Garapito Trail. The collapsed oak at the bottom of the Garapito Trail had settled, and was easier to get through this time.

The trail that really took it on the chin was the Bent Arrow Trail. Several sections of the trail were damaged by slides.

I usually do the Santa Ynez Canyon Trail as part of the Trailer Canyon – Santa Ynez – Trippet Ranch Loop. Tacking on the trail as an out and back addition to the loop was slightly shorter, but had a little more elevation gain/loss.

Some related posts: Trippet Ranch Loop After the Palisades Fire, Clouds, Canyons and Wildflowers, Running Between Storms on the Trippet Ranch Loop, Go Figure

Running Between Storms on the Trippet Ranch Loop

Musch Trail steaming in the early morning sun.
A wet (and muddy) section of the Musch Trail.

Update January 4, 2022. Did the Garapito Trail again this weekend as part of a longer run through Santa Ynez Canyon. The debris from the fallen oak tree was much easier to get through this time. Some people coming down the trail after me had a small saw, and said they were planning to work on it.

Update December 31, 2021. It turns out that a lot more rain was on the way! Los Angeles recorded 9.46 inches of rain this month, making it the third wettest December on record, going back to 1877. This puts Los Angeles at 10.40 inches for the Rain Year to date, which is about 237% of the normal.

It had rained the past three days, including Christmas. Today was the 26th, and Downtown Los Angeles (USC) had recorded nearly 150% of the rainfall normally recorded in December. And more was on the way.

Early morning light on Eagle Rock
Early morning light on Eagle Rock.

I clicked START on my Garmin as I passed the gate at the Top of Reseda. It was about twenty minutes before sunrise. The temperature was around 40 and the eastern sky was brightening with the advancing sun. As I worked up the initial trail to dirt Mulholland, thousands of lights twinkled across the San Fernando Valley.

The chaparral was soaked with overnight rain; and befitting the Holiday season, was ornamented with thousands of silvery water drops.

I took my usual route, turning off Mulholland onto Fire Road #30, and then following it to the Hub. From the Hub, Eagle Springs Fire Road led down to Eagle Springs, then beneath the sunlit face of Eagle Rock to Eagle Rock Fire Road and the top of the Musch Trail. In the Palisades Fire burn area there was some significant erosion along the fire road where the runoff wasn’t controlled.

I’d be doing the Musch Trail later in the run, but for now continued down Eagle Springs Fire Road toward Trippet Ranch.

Erosion along Eagle Springs Fire Road. December 26, 2021.
Erosion along Eagle Springs Fire Road.

Mud — slippery, cake-on-your-shoes mud — isn’t normally much of an issue until past the Musch Trail and on the steeper downhill that leads to the top of the Santa Ynez Trail and Trippet Ranch. Today there were some slippery spots, but it wasn’t too bad. Remarkably, I didn’t see anyone until I reached the Trippet Ranch parking lot.

My return route from Trippet Ranch was mostly on trails, beginning with the Musch Trail. There are usually a few muddy sections on the Musch Trail after a good rainstorm. Today, one wet, muddy section of trail was steaming in the morning sun. Once I was on the steep climb up to Eagle Rock Fire Road, most of the significant mud was left behind.

Oaks along Eagle Springs Fire Road, above Trippet Ranch.
Oaks along Eagle Springs Fire Road, above Trippet Ranch.

At the top of the Musch Trail, I turned left on Eagle Rock Fire Road and worked up past Eagle Rock and over to the top of the Garapito Trail. I run this trail often, and know it well. Winding down through decades-old chaparral, I became lost in thought, immersed in the outdoor experience, and enjoying every aspect of the trail.

That was why it was such a shock when, at the bottom of the mile and a half descent, the trail suddenly ended in a wall of brush.

That couldn’t be. Had I somehow turned onto a use trail? Nope, I was on the right trail.

Garapito Trail blocked by fallen oak. (12-26-2021)
Garapito Trail blocked by fallen oak.

That’s when I noticed the “brush” was the top branches of a large oak. The fallen tree had COMPLETELY blocked the trail. I took a quick look around for an alternate route and didn’t see anything obvious. Working through the mishmash of foliage and branches was a bit like bushwhacking through dense manzanita. With some effort, and some rock climbing moves, I eventually emerged on the other side of the mass. The fallen tree was part of an old, multi-trunked oak that has been collapsing over a period of weeks.

The remainder of the run was uneventful, but enjoyable. Continuing up the Garapito trail to Fire road #30, I crossed the fire road and picked up the Bent Arrow Trail. This connects to dirt Mulholland, which leads west to the Top of Reseda.

Some related posts: Trippet Ranch Loop After the Palisades Fire, Trippet Ranch Wildflower Run, The Heavenly Ranch in the Hills