From this morning's "see how worked my quads are after the Twin Peaks 50K" run at Sage Ranch.

The answer -- pretty worked!

Related post: Filaree

From a run at Ahmanson Ranch earlier this week.

Also from Sunday's run on the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.

From Sunday's hike/run up and down Mt. Baldy's South Ridge.

Study of color, form, and texture in decomposing wood. From Sunday's Red Box - Bear Canyon trail run.

From Sunday's run to Mt. Abel and back from Mt. Pinos in Los Padres National Forest.

From Sunday's San Gabriels High Five run and hike.

From a late afternoon trail run along Las Virgenes Creek in late November 2007.

From Tuesday's run at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

From a run at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

From a run at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch). Note the hawk in the tree on the left.

From a run at Sage Ranch. (A 16:9 format image.)

Study of a wall of the Electra Powerhouse on the Mokelumne River.

From a trail run at Sage Ranch Park earlier this year.

Taken while running the Lower Stagecoach - Hummingbird loop on July 12, 2007.

From the Three Points - Mt. Waterman trail run on Sunday.

From Sunday's Backbone, Bulldog & Beyond run.

It was a Southern California kind of Superbowl Sunday, with temperatures in the eighties and a sky writer producing the most obvious clouds. Some friends and I took advantage of the spectacular, short-sleeve, blue skies weather to do a loop up and over Strawberry Peak from Clear Creek Station.

The photograph of the scattered Yucca leaves was taken on the "Nature's Canteen" trail. This trail links the Switzer Picnic Area access road with Clear Creek Station.

Related posts: Strawberry Peak Traverse, Spring Growth, Fall Leaves on Bear Creek.

From a showery, twilight run in the Simi Hills.

From a run in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch) on October 12, 2006.

Peculiar pattern in low lying manzanita on the south slopes of Pine Mountain. A friend noted the remarkable similarity of this pattern to that found in gypsum crystals in a desert rose. From the Mt. Baldy North Backbone Trail run/hike.

Photograph of Foxtail Pine from the Cottonwood - New Army Pass Loop September 2, 2006.

A bracket fungus (prob. Laetiporus gilbertsonii) on a burned eucalyptus in the Simi Hills.

A study of a Limber Pine cone on the summit plateau of Mt. Pinos (8831'). The photograph was taken on the Mt. Pinos - Lily Meadows - Mt. Abel run described in Thunderstorm.

Bright green highlights new growth on a Big Cone Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga macrocarpa) in the San Gabriel Mountains near Josephine Peak and Strawberry Peak.

These peaks are popular lower elevation summits, that can be snow-free in Winter, or a blast furnace in Summer. Josephine Peak (5558 ft.) was once the site of fire lookout, and a fire road leads from Clear Creek Station to its summit. From the west, via Clear Creek or Colby Canyon, Strawberry Peak (6164 ft.) is a more difficult ascent that requires careful route-finding and rudimentary rock climbing skills. Many hikers prefer to do Strawberry from the east, starting at Red Box.

The day this photograph was taken, I wasn't climbing Strawberry Peak, but instead was running a circuit around the peak. Part of the Mt. Disappointment 50K course, the circuit is an excellent 15 mile loop with an elevation gain/loss of about 2700 ft. Here's a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file of a GPS trace of the Strawberry Peak Circuit. A longer variant of this route is described in Fall Leaves on Bear Creek and Strawberry - Bear Canyon Loop.

Giant Rye Grass (Leymus condensatus) is a member of the grass family that can grow several feet tall. These, out at Sage Ranch, are in the 5-7 ft. range.

Later in the year, after its large green blades turn brown, they have a peculiar, almost ghostly, way of rustling in the wind; sounding as if an animal or person has gently moved through them. (Photograph from a run on May 26, 2006.)

Runners, mountain bikers, a hiker, a rattlesnake, a wind-blown grass seed, and a motorcycle -- all up on Laskey Mesa in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch).

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is an aggressive invasive species not native to California. In Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (formerly Ahmanson Ranch) it seems to be increasingly abundant, particularly in the aftermath of the Topanga Fire. Last year, in some areas of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon, it grew thick as corn and more than head high.

Lichens are composite lifeforms, usually comprised of a fungus and algae, or a fungus and cynobacterium. Generally, the fungus provides shelter and needed minerals, and the algae, using photosynthesis, provides food. This community is on Chatsworth Formation sandstone at Sage Ranch.

There is a tendency to think of living things, including ourselves, in the singular. But most life is a intertwined assemblage of cooperating organisms, from the very small to the very large, living in harmony. Circle within circle, life within life.

This photograph was taken October 23, 2005, on one of my favorite loops in the San Gabriel Mountains. This adventurous route starts at Islip Saddle, follows the South Fork trail down to South Fork Campground, then takes the Manzanita Trail up to Vincent Gap and the Pacific Crest Trail. From here, the PCT is followed up, and with a slight detour, over Mt. Baden-Powell, and then along the crest of the San Gabriels back to Islip Saddle. It's a very wild and scenic 23 mile run that covers a wide range of elevations. South Fork Campground is at 4,560 ft., and the summit of Baden-Powell is at 9399 ft. Total elevation gain and loss on the run is well over 5000 ft.

This year, it might make more sense to start this loop at Vincent Gap. In order to protect critical habitat of the mountain yellow-legged frog, the Forest Service has closed 1,000 acres in the upper Little Rock Creek drainage, including Williamson Rock, and the PCT between Eagle's Roost and the Burkhart Trail. In addition, Angeles Crest Highway (SR2) is now closed at Cedar Springs, just west of Eagles Roost.

Update May 21, 2009. Angeles Crest Highway (SR2) has since been re-opened to Islip Saddle, and through to Wrightwood.

Following are links to PDF maps of the closure area and the PCT detour. For more information see the News section of the Angeles National Forest web site. For more information regarding the closure of Williamson Rock, see the Friends of Williamson Rock web site.

The post Wally Waldron Lodgepole Pine includes links to a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file of this route.

PLEASE NOTE: The condition of certain sections of the Manzanita and South Fork trails is marginal, and rock slides and washouts may block the trail.

Ferns along the Garapito Trail, Topanga State Park.

Chaparral has been described as an elfin forest, and there is probably no better trail in the Santa Monica Mountains to see why, than the Garapito Trail. From the fire road near Eagle Rock, the trail seemingly dives into a tunnel of chaparral, and doesn't emerge until it ends at Temescal Fire Road, some 2.5 miles away.

This day I ran a 12 mile figure-eight course from the end of Reseda to Trippet Ranch via the Hub, and then returned via the Musch, Garapito, and Bent Arrow trails. Fire roads out-- trails back. A shorter option goes directly to the Garapito Trail via the Hub, and then returns via the Bent Arrow trail. This is about 7.5 miles. A longer option tacks on an out and back to Parker Mesa at Trippet Ranch.

Fire-sculpted limbs of a Laurel Sumac in Black Canyon, near Simi Valley.