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.

Snowfall had been sporadic in Southern California over the Winter and this was the earliest in the Spring I had tried to do the out and back from Islip Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell. I had thought there might be some patchy snow on the north-facing slopes at the higher elevations, but I hadn't expected it to be an issue.

Borrowing from river paddling philosophy, you never run (or hike, or ride) the same trail twice. I knew it was going to be an interesting day when a bighorn sheep darted from the trailhead at the beginning of the run. I'd followed bighorn tracks from Islip Saddle up the PCT for about a quarter mile to an overlook of Hwy 39 and Twin Peaks.

The view from the overlook had been spectacular. Marine layer stratus filled the canyon, nearly immersing Triplet Rocks on Twin Peak's elongated east ridge. The stratus was evidence of a strong onshore flow, but above Islip Saddle a strong -- and cold -- wind was blowing almost directly out of the north. It had been cold enough that I pulled on my extra sleeves, ultralight shell and light gloves.

The wind was unrelenting and seemed to work its way around every corner and into every canyon. At Windy Gap and the other wind gaps along the crest the wind was funneled and accelerated, and I wondered if this would be the day I would see or hear one of the huge ghost trees from the Curve Fire crash to the ground.

At times I go where my camera takes me, and about a half-mile west of Mt. Hawkins it took me off the PCT and onto the Hawkins Ridge Trail. There are three peaks along this ridge -- Sadie Hawkins, Middle Hawkins and South Mt. Hawkins. It had been years since I'd done these peaks, and today it looked like there might be some good views from the ridge.

The Hawkins Ridge Trail was warm and mostly sheltered from the wind and I continued down the trail a little further than necessary before leaving it and scrambling up to the summit of Sadie Hawkins. Warmed from the steep climb I had returned to the PCT and continued toward Baden-Powell.

Near the junction of the PCT and Dawson Saddle Trail there had been patches of snow mixed in with the chinquapin and limber pines, but it hadn't been until the PCT skirted north around Mt. Burnham that the trail was blocked by snow. I abandoned the attempt to cross the icy patch and headed up the steep slopes of Mt. Burnham to the crest.

It was still cold and windy when I reached the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell, but a sparkling day with Mt. Baldy to the southeast across Vincent Gulch, San Jacinto Peak and San Gorgonio area peaks in the distance to the southeast, the Sierra to the north, and miles of stratus to the south. After spending a few minutes on the summit I retraced my steps back down the crest and the PCT to Islip Saddle, making the requisite stop at Little Jimmy Springs along the way.

Some related posts: San Gabriels High Five, La Nina Looming, Running Hot & Cold, Toward Triplet Rocks

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 took me about a hour and fifty minutes to reach the east summit of Twin Peaks. On the way there I realized that I should have taken a couple extra bottles of water to stash on the summit. The roughly 60 oz. of water left in my pack wasn't going to get me very far. I figured I could go about an hour down the ridge and still have enough water to get back and have a little in reserve. The day was windy and dry, but relatively cool. If necessary I could get water at a small spring on the Twin Peaks Trail on the way back.

How far did I make it? In an hour of hiking, scrambling, bouldering, bushwhacking and challenging route-finding I made it to a rocky ledge below peak 7120+ and a little before the notch at peak 6834. I guessed it would have taken another 45 minutes to get to the summit of peak 6834. Next time -- this wasn't a place to push it!

I now have a much better idea of what's going to be required to get to peak 6834 and Triplet Rocks. The north side of the ridge tends to be steep, loose, and at times very eroded. The south side of the ridge tends to be choked with scrub oaks and brush. On the way out I dropped down on the steep north slopes a couple of times; on the way back I tried some improbable lines through brush that (surprisingly) worked out and allowed me to stay more on the crest of the ridge.

It was an unusually busy day on Twin Peaks. On my way down from the peak I encountered several large groups of hikers. When I got back down to the car two tour buses were parked at the trailhead, their drivers patiently waiting for their patrons. Round trip the adventure had taken almost exactly six hours.

Note: In the fall of 2010 an experienced hiker doing this ridge became disoriented in rain, snow and whiteout conditions and was reported overdue. Following an air and ground search he was located on the ridge and airlifted to safety. He had notified a relative of his planned route and must have had most of what he needed to get by for the two nights and three days he was out. According to news reports he was in good enough shape to drive home following the rescue.

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."

Submerged up to my neck in sublime coolness, I dunked my head. To this point the heat hadn't been too bad. Much of the first 17 miles had been shaded and tolerable, and I'd been doing everything I could to stay cool. The "not too bad" part was about to end. Most of the next 9 miles would be brutally exposed and facing directly into the sun.

The dip in the pool only took a couple of minutes, but was worth every single second. Even if my shoes were wet and my jelly beans and salt tabs melted gobs of sugar and salt it was worth it!

Incredibly, the cooling soak made the Edison climb almost enjoyable. Almost -- it still took about 50 minutes to get to the Edison Road aid station and another 50 to get up to Shortcut. At Shortcut the fantastic aid station volunteers filled my Camelbak with Heed and ice, and I ate a couple of big chunks of watermelon (really good watermelon) and drank a little cola. I felt good, but should have been thinking ahead and taken a couple of minutes to really cool down here. The ice water sponges were just sitting there waiting to be used and I passed them by. A little too soon I was on my way, and in a few minutes was jogging down the Silver Moccasin Trail.

In the extra-strength rays of the noontime sun, the rocky canyon was a solar blast furnace. Temps were well beyond what I had experienced on afternoon runs earlier in the week. At any instant I thought I might spontaneously combust. I kept watching the runner ahead of me, expecting him to disappear in puff of smoke. And there wasn't much relief lower in the canyon. Most of the trees along the creek had been burned in the Station Fire. There was almost no shade, and in the recovering vegetation the humidity (and heat index) was elevated.

After an interminable time I finally reached West Fork. The pooled water in the W.F. San Gabriel wasn't as cool as at the lower crossing, but was still refreshing. (The hose from the water tank that Gabor sets up at the aid station was probably cooler and cleaner.) I refilled my Camelbak, and with a cup of cola and ice in hand, headed up the Gabrielino Trail toward Kenyon Devore.

The climb up the Kenyon Devore Trail was -- and always is -- grueling. Edison Road is tough because some of it is steep and most of it is exposed and hot. KD is tough because most of it is steep, parts of it are hot, and you've already done 26+ miles. I took it easy on the Gabrielino Trail, which has some runnable sections, with the hope of being able to maintain a steady pace on KD.

It was warm on the upper part of Kenyon Devore, but at least there was some shade. Last year's race was unusually hot, but this year's race was even hotter. This year the temperature (in the shade) on Mt. Wilson hit 86°F a little past 8:00 am and climbed to 96°F by the midafternoon. The temperature (in the shade) at nearby Clear Creek was over 90°F for most of the race, and "in the sun" temps topped out at 116°F!

This was my eighth Mt. Disappointment 50K and by far the hottest and most difficult. How difficult? This year's middle-of-the-pack time -- the median time for all the finishers -- was 8 hours 30 minutes. This was nearly 45 minutes longer than the median time in 2011, and 90 minutes longer than in 2006.

One of the main challenges of the Mt. Disappointment 50K is that it starts and ends on Mt. Wilson -- the high point of the course. The original course was run from 2005 to 2008, but because of the Station Fire and Mueller Tunnel closure variations of the original course have been done since 2009. This year Mueller Tunnel reopened and we were able to do the part of the original Mt. Disappointment course that goes from Eaton Saddle up the San Gabriel Peak Trail to the shoulder of Mt. Disappointment and down to Red Box.

In this interactive Google Earth browser view of the 2005-2011 courses the 2012 course followed the 2005-2008 (green) course to Red Box and then the 2010 (red) course for the remainder of the race. Checking a few GPS track files with SportTracks and using DEM corrected elevations, it looks like the 2012 course distance and elevation gain/loss were about the same as 2011.

Many thanks to Gary & Pam Hilliard, Fausto & Cindy Rowlan, and all of the Mt. Disappointment 50K Staff, volunteers, HAM radio operators, Sierra Madre SAR personnel, runners, and sponsors that helped to make this event happen! Check out the results and photos on the Mt. Disappointment web site!

Related post: Mt. Disappointment 50K 2011 Notes

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

Lemon lilies (Lilium parryi) are beginning to bloom in Southern California's mountains.

The California Native Plant Society lists these showy, fragrant flowers as being rare, threatened, or endangered in California.

From today's Three Points - Cooper Canyon - Mt. Waterman loop.

Some related posts: Lemon Lily, Three Points - Mt. Waterman Loop

The photograph above is of telescope "E1" of Georgia State University's six telescope CHARA optical/infrared interferometric array on Mt. Wilson. The long tubes extending from the telescope enclosure are vacuum light tubes. These carry light from each of the six one meter telescopes to a facility where the beams are processed and combined. The photograph is from a recent run on the Mt. Wilson Rim Trail.

Other things being equal, a telescope's ability to discern detail is determined by its aperture. In a conventional telescope the aperture is the width of the main optical element. The majority of telescopes used by amateurs have apertures well under 0.5 m. Larger professional optical telescopes can range from a couple of meters up to about 10 m. The Hooker telescope on Mt. Wilson has an aperture of 2.5 m and the 200" Hale telescope on Mt. Palomar about twice that. Hubble's primary mirror has a diameter of 2.4 meters.

The benefit of a telescope array is that when the light from two telescopes is combined, the combined instrument's ability to discern detail -- its resolving power -- is nearly the same as a telescope with an aperture equal to the distance between the telescopes. This distance is termed a baseline. The Y-shaped CHARA Array has 15 baseline configurations ranging from 31 to 331 meters.

The CHARA Array's large effective aperture, the successful application of leading edge optical technologies, and exceptionally steady atmosphere over Mt. Wilson have produced a number of astronomical imaging "firsts," including an image of the surface of a main sequence star (Altair) and images of an interacting binary star system with a suggestion of mass transfer between the pair.

The Altair imagery above is from a University of Michigan News Release that accompanied the publication of the paper "Imaging the Surface of Altair" by Monnier et al., 2007, Science.

The image above is from a remarkable animation of a sequence of images of the interacting binary star system Beta Lyrae. (Zhao et al. ApJ 684, L95)

For more information see the Georgia State University CHARA Array web site.

The gate to Skyline Park on Mt. Wilson doesn't normally open until 10:00 a.m., so for Saturday's run we parked in a large turnout along the loop road downhill from the gate. A trailhead that accesses the Kenyon Devore Trail is just downhill from the turnout, and a few yards down the trail is the lateral trail to Skyline Park. The Rim Trail trailhead is in Skyline Park along the service road that leads to the observatory grounds. This Observatory Pamphlet (PDF) includes a map that shows its location.

So we're about to start the run, and I'm going through the routine of last minute checks. Everything looks good so I lock the car and -- nothing happens. Where's the familiar single beep? I try again... Nothing.

Ah technology! It doesn't take long to figure out that those giant transmitters towering above me are jamming my smart key. OK, I want to get running, but I also want to be sure I'm going to able to start the car when we get back. Fortunately, the key system has an emergency mechanical key to get in the car, and then there's a procedure to enable the car to detect the smart key. The procedure works, and after (mechanically) locking the car we're off and running.

The pattern of RF energy emitted near an antenna is complex and I imagine it is particularly so in the middle a large antenna farm such as on Mt. Wilson.

I've parked in Skyline Park several times without having a smart key problem; however a few years ago I did have a problem with a GPS watch getting a lock on satellites at the start of a Mt. Disappointment race. That hasn't happended with my current Garmin watch, which has much better satellite acquisition and sensitivity.

I guess whatever lobe of RF was interfering with the key changed shape or position, because when we got back to the car at the end of the run the smart key worked fine!

Brett was down for Father's Day weekend and one of the things we wanted to do was get in a couple of good trail runs. He's heard me talk (a lot) about the Mt. Disappointment 50K and how it ends. Basically you run 27 hilly miles with over 3600' of elevation gain, THEN finish the race by doing a 5 mile, 2650' climb from West Fork up the Gabrielino & Kenyon Devore Trails to the top of Mt. Wilson.

This final climb tells the 50K tale. If you've trained well and run a good race a middle-of-the-pack runner might gain 15-20 minutes on this leg. If not, you could easily lose an hour or more. In any case you put everything you have left into this climb. An elevation profile and some stats for Kenyon Devore are included in the post Hitting the (Big) Hills of Southern California.

There are several ways to incorporate Kenyon Devore into a loop, but I could only think of two that didn't involve running on Mt. Wilson Road. One option was a 22 mile/5000'gain loop from Shortcut Saddle to Mt. Wilson and back. That wasn't going to happen because just five days before I'd run the Holcomb Valley 33 Mile race. Instead we opted to start on top of Mt. Wilson and use the Rim Trail, Gabrielino Trail and Rincon - Red Box Road to get to West Fork. This would pare down the loop to a manageable 12 miles and 3000' of gain.

Other than a "few" gnats, a lot of poison oak and some Turricula (Poodle-dog bush), the Rim Trail was in good shape and the running excellent. Once away from the observatory complex the trail has an adventurous, backcounty feel. The trail was in good enough condition that Brett enjoyed running it in the KomodoSport LS.

The day was going to be a scorcher and I was glad that much of the Rim Trail was on the shaded, north side of the crest. The Gabrielino Trail and Rincon - Red Box Road were also relatively cool and in the shade. With no race clock ticking away, we stopped at West Fork and ate some blueberries and PB&J. So far the route had been down, down, down; but in a few minutes it was going to go up, up, up.

One of the surprises of the day was how much the Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) had grown along the Gabrielino and lower Kenyon Devore Trails since I had been here in early March. A rain gauge near here (Opids Camp) recorded nearly seven inches of precipitation from March 25 to April 26. This appears to have promoted the growth of the Turricula. In a very dry rain season the rain and snow had been much needed. It rejuvenated the streams and vegetation, and the area looked much as it would if the seasonal rainfall had been normal.

The Turricula could not be avoided in some places, but that will be remedied in a couple of weeks when Gary Hilliard's Mt. Disappointment Endurance Run volunteer trailwork group works on this section of the Gabrielino Trail and the Kenyon Devore Trail.

Update June 21, 2012. Although my contact with Turricula on this run was very limited, I did have a mild reaction, mainly on my arms. There was very slight inflammation and the "prickly" itching that is characteristic of Turricula. The itching became noticable about a day after exposure and persisted for 4-5 days. Although mild, the reaction was stronger than occurred following several similar encounters last year. One difference was the exposure to poison oak on the Rim Trail earlier in the run. It's possible that there was a cross reaction. This was observed in animal testing, but not in (limited) human tests. However, my reaction following this latest encounter was much, much milder than my first bout of Turricula, which resulted from wading through large patches of the young Poodle-dog plants on miles of overgrown trail. That first very strong response may have also involved a cross reaction with poison oak.

With the Summer Solstice approaching and the Sun so high, the temperature difference between sunny and shaded sections of trail was remarkable. About the time we were on Kenyon Devore the Clear Creek RAWS recorded a fuel temperature -- the temperature of a wood dowel in direct sun -- at a scorching 104°F. Brett did well on the climb and could have zoomed ahead. I had not recovered from Holcomb and struggled a bit on the exposed and steep sections of trail. Higher on the trail there was a breeze and more shade and that helped. It also helped pouring water over my head at the creek crossing!

It was great to show Brett Kenyon Devore, and what better way to sharpen the appetite for one of his superbly prepared dinners!

Humboldt Lily

Turricula (Poodle-dog Bush)

California Sister

As I ran across the ice my footfalls made a loud crunch, crunch, crunch. Nearby a barrage of rime cascaded from a white fir. Friday's cold system had rimed the trees along the crest, and now the ice was thawing, shedding from the branches and creating a patchwork of white beneath the trees. The ice wasn't dense but I still didn't want a large chunk falling on my head!

The cutoff upper level low that moved into Southern California Friday really cooled things down. The Big Pines RAWS (6917') recorded an overnight low of 26°F Friday night. It was even colder in the Sierra. A snow sensor at 11,400' in the Kern River headwaters recorded an overnight low of 12°F. Most of yesterday the temperature at Big Pines was in the 40s.

I was running on one of the most scenic segments of trail in the mountains of Southern California -- the Pacific Crest Trail between Mt. Hawkins and Mt. Baden-Powell. There are three trail runs I like to do that include this stretch: Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle on the PCT, the Islip Saddle - South Fork - Baden-Powell Loop, and the route I was doing today, the Out and Back to Mt. Baden-Powell from Islip Saddle.

Warmer weather was forecast today, but this morning it had been cool and blustery at Islip Saddle. The temperature in the sun-warmed -- but windy -- parking lot had been around 43°F. In the shade of Mt. Islip at the start of the run the temperature felt like it was in the 30s. It had taken a while to warm up chugging up the first long hill.

It was the first time this season I'd been on this stretch of trail and I wondered if any well-shaded patches of snow had managed to survive on the north side of the crest near Mt. Baden-Powell. I doubted it. The Mt. Waterman ski area never opened this year, and there had already been several periods of warm weather. There would probably be some remnants of snow on the north side of Mt. Baldy.

It was PCT season. Islip Saddle is at about the 386 mile mark on the Pacific Crest Trail and PCTers hiking the trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border usually do this section of trail sometime in May. There were a number of PCTers on the trail, including a couple of guys that appeared to be fast-packing the PCT. Their packs looked light, and they were really booking on the downhill west of Mt. Hawkins. (For well done, downloadable PDF maps of the PCT -- with notes -- check out Halfmile's Pacific Crest Trail Maps and GPS Information.)

Although chilly at the start, the weather was near perfect for running and I had expected to see at least a couple of groups of runners training for the AC100. There were only about six or seven long run weekends remaining before this hundred miler. I did see one AC100 runner -- twice. He was on day two of a three day Memorial Day training stint that would total some 90 miles. Now that is serious training!

Update April 16, 2013. Strawberry and Josephine Peaks have now been closed over THREE AND A HALF YEARS. Will Angeles National Forest allow the Station Fire Recovery Area Closure Order to expire on May 24, 2013? Note that none of the trails to the summit of Strawberry Peak are maintained. They are "use" trails -- paths that have evolved over time through use. The route to Strawberry's summit from Red Box is use trail from Lawlor Saddle to the summit; and the routes that ascend the west ridge are use trail above Josephine Saddle. The west ridge also includes some third class rock climbing. It should also be noted there were rescues and other incidents on Strawberry Peak (and in other Forest areas) BEFORE the Station Fire and there will continue to be rescues and incidents. Whether a trail is a good trail or bad trail, accidents can occur and mistakes in judgment can be made. The Forest Service should not keep an area closed without definitive -- and supportable -- reasons for doing so.

Update May 25, 2012. Today Angeles National Forest reopened about 41,000 acres of the Station Fire closure area south and west of Big Tujunga Dam, and extended the closure of the remaining 46,194 acres to May 24, 2013. Newly opened resources include the Stone Canyon Trail, Trail Canyon Trail, and Delta Flat. Condor Peak also appears to be within the open area. According to the updated Forest Service map of the Station Fire Recovery Area (PDF), Strawberry Peak and Josephine Peak are in the area that remains closed.

As a result of its relatively easy access, panoramic summit view, varied routes and generally mild Winter conditions Strawberry Peak is one of the most frequented summits in the San Gabriel Mountains. At least it used to be until it was closed by the Station Fire. Here we are, more than two and a half years after the Station Fire, and Strawberry Peak, Josephine Peak and Mt. Lawlor are still closed.

Why? The reason might be as arcane as it was simply easier to define the closure boundary as Angeles Crest Highway.

It cannot legitimately be claimed that the area was more damaged by the fire. If anything the damage done by the fire and subsequent flash floods and debris flows was greater on the open (south) side of Angeles Crest Highway -- between Switzer Picnic Area and Red Box -- rather than on Strawberry Peak.

It cannot be the progress of recovery. I've closely followed the recovery of chaparral following several fires. The photographs and other evidence I've seen suggest the chaparral on Strawberry Peak is recovering at an absolutely normal pace. I think many would be surprised to see how far it has come. In fact its regrowth now threatens long established paths and trails.

I was under the impression that the route up Strawberry from Red Box was so overgrown and damaged as to be nearly impassable. Apparently that's not the case. People are doing the peak and based on the reports I've read, photos I've seen, and firsthand information relayed the trail is in poor condition, but passable with care. There are certainly more hazardous trails and areas in the open areas of Angeles National Forest.

That route from Clear Creek also appears to be passable with care. I'm told there's absolutely no issue on Josephine fire road. The use trail on the western ridge is a little overgrown, but can generally be followed. Apparently a short section of the ridge below the class 3 section is a bit overgrown with Turricula (Poodle dog bush). A little more use and snip here and a snip there would take care of that.

Restricted use is an important concern. Having seen the condition of several trails immediately after portions of the Station Fire area reopened, and then a year later, it's clear to me that use is an essential element of trail health. People using a trail help keep it alive. Conscientious users will pick up litter, remove debris, and do other on-the-go trail maintenance. Use quickly puts the focus on problem areas, and encourages participation when more comprehensive trailwork is done.

With the regrowth of the chaparral well underway we are at a critical point in the preservation of the trails and paths in the Station Fire closure area. They must be reopened to use -- not only on Strawberry Peak, but also on popular peaks such as Condor Peak and Mt. Lukins. If we are not allowed to use the trails, the time and work required to restore them could increase to the point that some trails are lost!

The photograph of Strawberry Peak (left) and Mt. Lawlor is from a trail run in September 2011.

Some related posts: Blue Skies and Short Sleeves on Strawberry Peak, Coincidence, Strawberry Peak Traverse

The bright yellow flower above is bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida). A fire follower, it's blooming extensively in the recovering chaparral along the Gabrielino Trail between Red Box and Switzer Picnic area.

March snow and rain seem to have helped this Spring's wildflower bloom. Since March 1 the Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) at nearby Clear Creek has recorded 6.5 inches of rain and NWS data shows Opids Camp has recorded 6.64 inches of rain. More rain and snow is forecast in the mountains this week.

Here are a few additional wildflower photos from this morning's run in the Station Fire burn area:

Baby Blue Eyes

Chaparral Clematis

Wavy-leaved Paintbrush

Did the "back 25K" of the Mt. Disappointment 50K course this morning, plus a couple of bonus miles on the Gabrielino Trail and the bottom of the Kenyon Devore Trail. Like last Sunday's run, today's run was in a part of Angeles National Forest that was closed by the 2009 Station Fire and reopened last May.

This loop was part of the Mt. Disappointment 50M course in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and the 50K course in 2010 and 2011. Today I started the loop at Shortcut Saddle, running down the Silver Moccasin Trail to West Fork, then up to Newcomb Saddle, and then completed the loop by returning to Shortcut on Edison Road. In the 50K, the loop starts at West Fork, but the sequence of trails is the same.

Because of increased foot traffic and our dry Winter, last year's trailwork on the Silver Moccasin Trail held up well. Most of the trail between Shortcut Saddle and West Fork was in great shape and very runnable. There were a couple of trees across the trail, but these were easy to work under, over or around.

The reason for the side trip on the Gabrielino Trail was to check out the bottom of the Kenyon Devore Trail. This section of trail was severely burned in the Station Fire, then overrun by a debris flow and overgrown by Turricula (Poodle-dog bush). The Mt. Disappointment 50K/50M volunteer trailwork group has worked many hours here, as well as on the rest of the Kenyon Devore Trail, the Valley Forge Trail and the Silver Moccasin Trail. The trail had seen a lot of traffic and was in good shape.

As was the case last week, there was still Turricula along the trails and roads, but for the most part it was easy to avoid.

The last time I'd run up Edison Road was last August during the 2011 Mt. Disappointment 50K. Temps were about 25-30 degrees warmer that day. With the cooler weather I actually enjoyed the climb and was able to run more of it. A lot of work was being done on Edison Road and I chuckled as I passed each "No Loitering" sign posted along the road. I hoped I wouldn't be doing too much of that in the 2012 Mt. Dis 50K.

The offshore winds that warmed temperatures on Sunday -- setting several high temperature records for the date -- also produced spectacular visibility in the Los Angeles area.

Here's a larger version of the view of the Los Angeles Basin from the Upper Bear Canyon Trail. You can see much of the Greater Los Angeles area, out to Catalina, and all the way to Boney Mountain in Newbury Park.

From Sunday's loop through Bear Canyon.

Arroyo Seco Downstream of Switzer Falls

By the calendar Spring was still a couple weeks away, but temps near 80 were forecast for the lower elevations of the San Gabriel Mountains and the weather looked ideal for revisiting the Red Box - Bear Canyon - Gabrielino loop in Angeles National Forest. I did this loop last May when the area re-opened following the Station Fire and was curious to see how recovery was progressing, and how much trail use and maintenance had improved the trails.

The difference in 10 months was remarkable. Recovery of the burned areas continues at a steady pace, and trail conditions on much of the loop are not all that different than before the Station Fire. Following are some notes about each segment of the loop.

San Gabriel Peak Trail to Mt. Disappointment Road: This trail segment was not burned in the Station Fire and is in good shape. The weather had been much colder earlier in the week and there was still some snow on the trail from a mid-week storm.

San Gabriel Peak Trail from Mt. Disappointment Road to Mt. Lowe Truck Trail fire road: Thanks to work done by the JPL Trailbuilders this segment was in decent shape last year, and was in even better shape today. It's rough and rocky in places, and there's still some Turricula along the trail, but it was very runnable and not unlike it was before the fire. There are excellent views of Mt. Markham, Mt. Lowe, upper Bear Canyon and the rugged terrain along Mt. Lowe Truck Trail fire road.

Mt. Lowe Truck Trail fire road to Upper Bear Canyon Trail: Other than some rock fall here and there, there were no particular issues from a trail running point of view. There are good views of San Gabriel Peak, Mt. Disappointment and Bear Canyon.

Upper Bear Canyon Trail from Mt Lowe fire road to Tom Sloan Saddle*: Excellent condition thanks to recent trail work by the Outdoor Club.

Bear Canyon Trail from Tom Sloan Saddle to cabin site: Use of the trail and low Winter precipitation have improved conditions on this trail segment, but some problem sections remain. A short detour off the trail was necessary about a half-mile from Tom Sloan Saddle.

Cabin site to Bear Canyon Camp: Increased use made it easier to follow the use trail and work down the canyon. The collapse of this unburned oak may not have been related to the fire. Bear Canyon Camp is about halfway through the canyon, above the creek on a bench on the left (when descending). The camp is in great shape, and from its shaded sites it would be hard to tell a fire had ravaged the area. At the edge of the camp is an old Forest Service sign, placed by someone with a sardonic wit.

Bear Canyon Camp to confluence with Arroyo Seco: This segment has seen much more use -- as I descended the canyon I encountered four groups and two solo hikers working up the canyon. There were a number of ribbons and ducks marking the way and the use trail is becoming better defined. Although some nice sections of the old trail remain, most of the trail in Bear Canyon was washed out well before the Station Fire. As noted by John Robinson in Trails of the Angeles, "...the old Tom Sloan Trail that once traveled the length of the canyon is in poor shape and you must scramble and boulder-hop much of the way." This is part of the Bear Canyon experience and hopefully the path won't become so well-marked that all you have to do is blindly follow the markers.

Arroyo Seco to Gabrielino Trail and Switzer Picnic Area: Very well-used. Its condition is similar to what it was before the Station Fire. I was surprised to see two people on mountain bikes descending the steep section of trail that leads to the Arroyo Seco below Switzer Falls, and then downstream Bear Canyon junction and Royal Gorge. I wondered if they had missed the fork onto the Gabrielino Trail. If they were the mountain bikers that were later rescued at the Paul Little debris dam, and didn't backtrack to the Gabrielino Trail, they would have had a nightmare of a hike-a-bike through trailless Royal Gorge.

Gabrielino Trail from Switzer Picnic Area to Red Box: Last year the condition of this trail segment was the worst of any trail on the loop. It was washed out in several places. There were downed trees. Some sections were so overgrown it was difficult to follow the trail. In several places I had to literally wade through chest high Turricula. Not so this year. Thanks to the efforts of CORBA and MWBA this trail has nearly been restored to the condition it was in prior to the Station Fire. Other than dealing with the uphills I had no problem running the trail. There's still a lot of Turricula along the trail, but it is mostly avoidable.

Last year on this loop there was no avoiding the Turricula and I paid the price, its sticky resin coating my arms and legs and resulting in a rash and inflammation. This year I only contracted a couple of small spots of poison oak. This post has more info about Turricula.

There is a long list of volunteer groups that have been working to restore the trails in the Station Fire burn area. Most of the trails in the open areas of the Forest burned in the Station Fire are in fair to good condition, or at least in the same shape they were in before the Station Fire. Some are in better shape than before the fire.

The Forest can be a hazardous place, but there were washouts, rock slides, downed trees, overgrown trails, lost hikers and other incidents BEFORE the Station Fire. Just because an incident occurs in the area burned by the Station Fire doesn't mean it's the result of the fire.

Related posts: After the Station Fire: Red Box - Bear Canyon - Gabrielino Loop, After the Station Fire: Ten Miles - Four Peaks

*Tom Sloan appears to be correct spelling, rather than Tom Sloane as printed on some USGS maps. In Trails of the Angeles John Robinson mentions that Tom Sloan Saddle is named after a former district ranger. There's a quotation from the Arcadia Tribune (1918) on the Forest Lookouts page for Los Angeles County regarding Arcadia Station that refers to "Thomas W. Sloan, chief ranger in the United States Forest Service in this district..."

The viewpoint above is a few hundred yards up the Pacific Crest Trail from Angeles Crest Highway at Inspiration Point. Craig and I had paused near the start of our trail run from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle to check out the view.

The mountain across the way is Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399'). Three miles away as the bird flies, our earthbound route along Blue Ridge, down to Vincent Gap, and then up the forty-something switchbacks to the top of the peak would total around nine miles. From the top of the peak it would be about eight miles to Islip Saddle.

Zooming in on the peak, the white arrow marks the location of the Wally Waldron Limber Pine. For more than a millennia this grand tree has stood high on this mountain, resisting the strongest of winds and the most perfect of storms. Not all are so durable. A lodgepole pine feet away from the Wally Waldron tree was toppled in a storm last Winter.

Given the short-sleeve weather, the most unexpected discovery on today's run was ice under the trees just up the ridge from the Wally Waldron tree. The ice had been deposited on the trees a few days before, when an unseasonably strong storm set a new rainfall record for the date in Los Angeles.

The running on the PCT between Mt. Baden-Powell and Islip Saddle was outstanding and the views superb. Along the way we did the short climb to the top of Throop Peak, checked out the Mt. Hawkins Lightning Tree, and enjoyed the cold spring water at Little Jimmy Spring.

Some related posts: Perils of Winter, Surprises of Summer; Wally Waldron Limber Pine; PCT from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle

A hiker contemplates the day from the front steps of Mt. Baldy's San Antonio Ski Hut.

From Sunday's Back to Baldy trail run.

Today was the first chance I'd had to get back to Mt. Baldy since the Run to the Top was called 45 minutes into the race on Labor Day. Thunderstorms were the problem that day, but not today. The waning moon was the only blotch of white in the cloudless sky, and it wasn't going to cause any weather problems.

Part one of the plan for today's run/hike was to do a "run to the top" of Baldy using the ski hut trail. That would help make up for the incomplete race on Labor Day. Part two was to do some peakbagging and climb West Baldy, Mt. Harwood, Thunder Mountain and Telegraph Peak. Relatively close together, these peaks can be done as part of an 18 mile adventure, with an elevation gain and loss of about 6000'.

Climbing Baldy via the ski hut trail is about three miles shorter than the Run to the Top route via the Notch, but takes me about the same amount of time. Ultimately it's the rate of climb that can be sustained that determines your speed up the peak, and the elevation gain by either route is about 3900'. The ski hut trail can be busy, but I enjoy climbing the peak by this route. The tradeoff is that it is steeper and is less runnable.

Without some weather to stir things up, the views from the summit of Mt. Baldy were a little hazy, but San Gorgonio and San Jacinto could still be seen off to the east, Saddleback to the south, and Mt. Baden-Powell and other peaks of the San Gabriels to the northwest. I could also see Telegraph Peak sitting behind Thunder Mountain, and wondered how the trail between them was going to be.

After doing the half-mile jog over to West Baldy, I returned to the summit of Baldy and descended to the Baldy-Harwood saddle. Mt. Harwood is another one of those peaks I've run past many times. Harwood sees far fewer ascents than Baldy, but enough so that a path has developed from the Baldy-Harwood saddle up its broad west ridge. Today, save a a red-tailed hawk cruising by, its summit was empty.

Continuing along Harwood's elongated summit, I began to work down the peak's east ridge, staying on its crest. The east ridge is steeper and much less traveled than the west ridge. It is an extension of the Devil's Backbone and its north side is a steep, crumbly precipice that drops more than 3000' to Stockton Flat. The views along the ridge are excellent, but some care is required.

The east ridge of Mt. Harwood rejoined the trail at the Devil's Backbone. From there it took about 15-20 minutes to run down to (just above) the Notch and start up the service road that leads past the new snow making reservoir to the top of Thunder Mountain. I'd been to the top of Thunder several times and by several means -- by ski lift, by mountain bike, and by foot during the Baldy Peaks 50K. In that race Thunder had been the final challenge after climbing Mt. Baldy twice -- once from the village and once from Manker Flat.

Maybe because of pushing the pace on the ski hut trail, I was pretty worked going up the road to Thunder, and wondered if I was going to be able to make it to Telegraph Peak before my loosely set turnaround time of noon. I'd hoped to get back down to the car and on the road by around 1:30 pm, and felt like I was running a little behind.

But Telegraph is a compelling peak, particularly when viewed from the northwest, and from Thunder Mountain it only took about 30 minutes on the Three Tee's Trail to get to its summit. In another 30 minutes I was back at Thunder Mountain, and looking forward to the five miles of downhill that would take me back to the car.

Related post: Mt. Baldy Run (Part Way) to the Top 2011

A run or hike doesn't have to be long or difficult to be enjoyable! It had been a while since I'd done San Gabriel Peak, Mt. Markham, and Mt. Lowe; and although I'd run within a quarter-mile of the summit of Mt. Disappointment several times, I'd never done the last bit up to the peak. All four of these peaks can be done in a (round trip) run/hike of less than ten miles, with a cumulative elevation gain/loss of around 3000'.

Depending on where you prefer to park, the run/hike can start at the San Gabriel Peak Trail trailhead, which is about one-third of a mile up the Mt. Wilson Road, or at Red Box on Angeles Crest Highway. Parking at Red Box requires running/hiking on Mt. Wilson Road to the trailhead.

The San Gabriel Peak/Mt. Disappointment trail climbs up through a forest of chaparral, canyon live oak, and Bigcone Douglas-fir about 1 1/2 miles to the Mt. Disappointment road, just below the antennae-infested summit of the peak. Along the way there are great views of the canyon of the West Fork San Gabriel River and San Gabriel Peak. The paved road is followed south (left) to a sharp switchback and then a short distance up to the top of Mt. Disappointment (~ Mile 2.1).

In Trails of the Angeles, John Robinson describes how government surveyors lugged their equipment to the top of Mt. Disappointment in 1875, only to discover that another peak to the southeast was higher. That peak was San Gabriel Peak. Except for Strawberry Peak (6164'), San Gabriel Peak (6161') is the highest of the front range peaks. It is the most prominent peak on the eastern skyline when viewed from the San Fernando Valley, and is sometimes mistaken for Mt. Wilson.

I imagine it was a bit easier for me to get over to San Gabriel Peak than for the surveyors when they did the peak's first ascent. All I had to do was run a third of a mile down a paved road and pick up the San Gabriel Peak Trail on the southeast corner of the switchback. The trail up to San Gabriel Peak forks to the left off the trail to Markham Saddle about a tenth of a mile from the switchback.

The divide extending from Mt. Disappointment to Mt. Wilson was the approximate boundary of the Station Fire in this area. Although the summit of San Gabriel Peak burned, much of the northeast side of San Gabriel Peak and Mt. Disappointment did not. From what I can determine, the northeast side of these peaks last burned in the 1898 "Mt. Lowe" fire. There's a nice section of trail just below the summit of San Gabriel Peak that passes through a corner of Bigcone Douglas-fir forest that was not consumed by the Station Fire.

After enjoying the panoramic view from the top of San Gabriel Peak (~ Mile 2.9), I retraced my steps back down to the "main" trail and continued to descend to Markham Saddle and the Mt. Lowe fire road. At this point another trail begins on the Mt. Markham side of the road. This trail leads southwest to a saddle between Mt. Markham and Mt. Lowe. Mt. Lowe Road is closed between Markham Saddle and Eaton Saddle because an active rock slide destroyed the road just west of Mueller Tunnel.

From the Markham-Lowe saddle a path follows the southwest ridge of Mt. Markham about a half-mile to its summit. The route up the ridge is relatively straightforward, but a steeper section requires a little scrambling over fractured, loose rock. The high point on Mt. Markham's elongated summit ridge appeared to be a pile of rocks covered with Turricula. A little further out on the ridge was a clearing with a rusty can that may have been a summit register (~ Mile 5.1).

Returning to the Markham-Lowe saddle, less than a half-mile of moderate uphill led to the summit of Mt. Lowe (~ Mile 6.0). There's a bench here, along with locating tubes pointed at various landmarks. As explained by the interpretive sign on the peak, Professor Thaddeus Lowe had planned to build a large hotel on the summit, serviced by the Mt. Lowe Railway. In his grand vision, a suspended cable car would have continued to San Gabriel Peak, where an observatory was to be built. Here's a map of Mt. Lowe area trails and landmarks created by The Scenic Mt. Lowe Railway Historical Committee.

It was on the way back, near Mt. Disappointment, that I heard and saw the F-18s described in So Many Heroes. It turns out the fighters had done a flyover as part of a 9/11 Memorial dedication in Pasadena.

Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) Update

Turricula was present virtually everywhere along the route that had been burned, and could not entirely be avoided. It was especially prevalent on the path to summit of Mt. Markham from the Markham-Lowe Saddle.

I've been exposed to Turricula now on a number of runs, and except for the first time, when I literally waded through unbroken stands of the sticky young plants, it hasn't been a problem -- even wearing running shorts and short-sleeves. I've had a little irritation on my ankles, or sometimes along my waistband, or a random spot here or there, but it's been no big deal. Certainly nothing like the widespread inflammation, swelling and blisters the first time!

Of course now I at least make an attempt to avoid the plants. And I also wash off my arms and legs at the earliest opportunity after being exposed to Turricula.

It also seems the older plants don't have as much of the "exudate" on them, since my legs and arms haven't become sticky from brushing up against the plants. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the older plants irritation results from the almost microscopic hairs on the plant. It is thought these irritating hairs are more easily broken and shed as the plant ages.

Somewhere around the junction of the 210 and 605 I saw a flash of lightning to the south. As if the flash had been a warning, a gust of wind buffeted my car, and a blizzard of dust and debris blew across the freeway. Then it started to rain. Not good -- especially when you're on your way to a race that ends on top of a 10,000' mountain.

A complicated weather scenario had developed for race day. A very moist layer of monsoonal moisture had been pushed up into Southern California from Baja by a combination of a weak upper level trough off the coast and big upper level high over Four Corners. A combination of factors including an unseasonably strong jet stream had helped trigger a band of showers and thunderstorms that extended from west-southwest off the coast, across the Los Angeles basin, and into the San Gabriel Mountains.

When I drove into the Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts parking lot at around 6:45 am it was raining hard enough I didn't want to get out of the car. Procrastinating, I went through the admittedly optimistic ritual of applying sun screen. After a few minutes the rain tapered off to sprinkles and I walked down to the Start Line to pick up my bib. The word was conditions were improving and it looked like we were going to be able to get in the race.

Each year the Baldy Run to the Top attracts 500 to 600 runners. Some are the best of the best and will run the seven miles and nearly 4000' of elevation gain in under 75 minutes. About two-thirds of the runners usually finish in around 2:15 or less.. A few just want to give it a go and soon find that climbing the rough equivalent of 6500 stairs -- at altitude -- is more than they bargained for.

Usually the weather is pretty good -- some years are a little warmer or cooler, or have a few more clouds than others, but blue skies and sunshine are the norm, and significant rain -- or lightning -- usually isn't a problem.

It was deceivingly warm as runners gathered at the start line. The wind chill on top was reported to be a chilly 38 degrees. A few runners had on extra clothing, and a number of runners had an extra top or shell tied around their waste. Some had extra gear stuffed in their packs, but a few -- including a couple of shirtless runners -- had nothing to combat the weather.

Here's a UCAR regional NEXRAD composite radar image from about 8:00 am. The approximate location of Mt. Baldy is marked by a black triangle near the center of the image. (Note that radars in the region vary in how they show a particular area and that a cell may be stronger than indicated in the composite. Also there's some "clutter" in the image that isn't necessarily rain.)

With what sounded like a more reserved "3... 2... 1... GO!" the race started and pounded down the wet pavement to Manker Flats (6160'), where it turned up the ski area service road. The (mostly) dirt road would take us to the Notch (7800') and then the top of Chair 4 (8600'). From there a trail would take us across the exposed Devil's Backbone, then across the south face of Mt. Harwood, and on to the final gut-wrenching 700' climb to the summit of Mt. Baldy (10,064'). Here's an interactive Google Earth browser view of the race course.

The weather on the way up to the Notch was a little unsettled, but great for running. There was a mix of clouds and sun, and even a brief shower, but overall it looked like the weather might be improving.

Just before rounding the last switchback up to the Notch, a runner with a bib was running down. This was odd because he was running well. Why would he have quit the race? Running up to the aid station at the Notch I still hadn't caught on, and was wondering why so many people were standing around at the aid station.

That's when I learned that about 45 minutes into the race, on the recommendation of SAR officials, the race had been shut down. I'm not sure what the "final straw" was but would guess it was nearby thunderstorms and perhaps a growing concern that rain and wind associated with a rapidly developing cell could cause serious problems for runners not prepared for inclement weather.

Here's what a regional composite radar image looked like at around 9:00 am, and then just one hour later, as a "train" of cells about 20 miles from Mt. Baldy continued to develop and stream into the San Bernardino Mountains in the area of Silverwood Lake, Crestline and Lake Arrowhead.

Lightning was not only a risk for runners, but for the 50+ SAR and fire personnel spread across the mountain, and the 25+ volunteers that would be on top of the mountain for the duration of the event.

There was lightning in the area. We saw it driving to the race and I heard at least one clap of thunder while warming up before the race. Here's an image of Astrogenic StrikeStar lightning detections in the southwestern U.S. from 10:00 pm PDT Sunday to about 1:30 pm PDT race day. Note the high percentage of cloud-ground strokes.

As this composite radar loop from WSI Intellicast.com shows, bands of showers and thunderstorms streamed into the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains most of Labor Day. Cells were moving relatively rapidly and developing over a wide swath that extended from west of Mt. Baldy south and east to San Diego and Palm Springs. (Mt. Baldy is just north of ONT on the radar map.)

It was pretty much a crapshoot where a particular cell would develop, how strong it would be, and what its extent would be. This regional radar image shows a cell that moved into the Baldy area around 1:00 pm, and this Google Earth/NEXRAD image shows the same cell in relation to Mt. Baldy at around 1:30 pm.

As frustrated as I was to stop at the Notch, I don't think there's any question that officials made the right decision when they shut down the race. And I think most runners understand that it's not whether a particular runner was able to make it up to the summit and back down OK, but what could have happened with several hundred people on the mountain and an ever-so-slight change in that wavering stream of heavy showers and thunderstorms.

Some related posts: Thunderstorm, Mt. Baldy Run to the Top 2009, Mt. Baldy Run to the Top 2007

Runners on Edison Road During a Recent Training Run

No matter if you run at the front, middle, or back of the pack, there's the race you plan, and the race you run.

Based on the course info, it looked like the 7th edition of the Mt. Disappointment 50K was going to be more difficult than in 2009 and 2010, adding both mileage and elevation gain. Because of the closure of Mueller Tunnel and the damage done by the Station Fire and subsequent floods, we still wouldn't be running up and over the shoulder of Mt. Disappointment, or down to Clear Creek and around Strawberry Peak, but the 2011 course would make up for that with its own very memorable sections.

To try and cope with the difficulties of the course, I'd put in extra miles and done more back to back Saturday-Sunday runs. But in one of those uh-oh moments a couple of miles into the race, I could feel in my legs that I was probably going to need to adjust my expectations. I wasn't injured. I wasn't getting over a cold or flu. My stomach wasn't upset. I felt pretty good. But there was this nagging bit of fatigue in my legs...

The new wrinkle for 2011 was that we turned off Mt. Wilson Road half-way to Red Box and ran down the Valley Forge Trail. In a training run a few weeks before the race, the Valley Forge Trail had been an obstacle course overgrown with Turricula (Poodle-dog bush). Trail work by Hilliard, Rowlan & Company had restored the trail, and today it was in great shape. Here's an interactive Google Earth browser view of the 2011 course and the courses in previous years, and an elevation profile of the 2011 course.

At the bottom of the Valley Forge we turned onto the Gabrielino Trail, and started up the canyon of the West Fork toward Red Box-Rincon Road. The change in grade from level to uphill confirmed it. I stepped aside so two running friends could pass. Maybe it was a tapering or over-training issue, or maybe it was just "one of those days." Whatever, the legs were just not cooperating.

The irony is, this was probably a good thing. The day turned out to be the hottest of any Mt. Disappointment race to date. The lurking leg fatigue forced me to not push the pace, which made dealing with the temperature easier.

And hot it was! The forecast had looked decent just two days before the race, but Friday temperatures exploded in the mountains, jumping 10-12 degrees in 24 hours. The hot temps on Friday carried over into Saturday, making race day just that much warmer.

Here are the race day temperatures at Clear Creek and Chilao for 2005-2011, and Mt. Wilson for 2009-2011. And these temps are the temperature off the ground and in the shade! A better indication of the temperature in the sun is the "fuel temperature." This is the temperature of a ponderosa pine dowel in direct sun. Here are plots of the race day fuel temperature at Clear Creek and Chilao for 2005-2011.

Because I wasn't pushing the pace I didn't hesitate to take a little extra time at aid stations. I can still feel that ice cold sponge on the back of my neck, and the cold water running down my back. This year there were numerous small stream crossings, and I think there was at least one small stream between every aid station. This was "free" cooling, and I paused a dozen times to dump water over my head. Thanks to the West Fork San Gabriel River, I was soaked from head to toe for the first steep, sun-baked section of Edison Road. This was also the case on the Silver Moccasin Trail in Shortcut Canyon and on part of Kenyon Devore.

Hot day or not there were some remarkable performances. Heather Fuhr was not only was the first place woman, she was fourth overall and set a new women's course record of 5:07:11. Perennial favorite Jorge Pacheco sped through the tough Mt. Disappointment course in 4:46:29, winning the overall and setting a new course record in the Men's 40-49 Division.

Once again the event was superbly organized by race director Gary Hilliard and the Mt. Disappointment 50K Staff, with the help of an extraordinary group of volunteers, runners, SAR personnel and sponsors. Thank you!

Related post: Mt. Disappointment 50K 2010 Notes

Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) sprouting on "Edison" road between the West Fork San Gabriel River and Shortcut Saddle.

The serration of the edges of these sprouting leaves is more pronounced than in older plants, but in my experience the toothed leaf margin is present to a varying degree on most plants. This may not always be evident because the leaf margin tends to roll under with age. The minutely hairy, densely clustered lanceolate leaves and pinnate veining are distinctive.

The leaves become more fuzzy and gray-green with age, eventually turning yellow-brown and then gray as they wither. The mature stalks of Turricula can be several feet tall.

From Sunday's run from Shortcut Saddle in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Los Angeles.

Related posts: Contact Dermatitis from Turricula parryi (Poodle-dog Bush), Turricula Along Angeles Crest Highway, Real-World Turricula Testing

The plan earlier in the week had been to do a day trip to the Sierra Saturday or Sunday and run the Cottonwood - New Army Pass loop, but computer models had shown a monsoonal flow developing, and a look at a satellite image Friday afternoon confirmed the forecast. Friday evening Whitney Portal was hit by a flash flood with water and mud reported up to waist deep in the campground. Runoff from the t-storms was increased by rain melting higher elevation snow, and by the ground already being wet from the prolonged melt of this year's record-setting snowpack.

Computer forecasts indicated thunderstorms would likely continue in the mountains and deserts of Southern California through the weekend. Saturday I ran a few miles in the morning and then around lunchtime checked the weather in the Sierra. Strong thunderstorms had developed in the Southern Sierra, and a flash flood warning had been issued for the eastern slopes of the Sierra in the vicinity of Cottonwood Lakes Basin. Time to switch to plan B.

Plan B was to do a training run on the Mt. Disappointment 50K course. Mt. D is a figure-8 course, where each loop of the eight contributes about 16 miles and 3000' or so of elevation gain/loss. Earlier this July there was a training run from Mt. Wilson on the Valley Forge - West Fork - Kenyon Devore part of the eight. Today we did another part of the figure-8 starting at Shortcut Saddle, running down the Silver Moccasin Trail to West Fork, then up to Newcomb Saddle, and then completed the loop to Shortcut on Edison Road. In the 50K, this loop would start at West Fork, but the sequence of trails would be the same.

Along with the race-ending climb up Kenyon Devore to Mt. Wilson, the climb out from the West Fork San Gabriel River to Shortcut Saddle on Edison Road is one of the more "memorable" sections of the Mt. Disappointment course. At least Kenyon Devore has some shade. Even on a blustery Spring day the 5.5 mile climb up Edison Road (2N23) can be a warm one, and in direct sun in the heat of Summer it can be downright scorching. Not so today -- a layer of monsoon clouds, a fresh breeze, and an occasional drop or two of rain kept the temperature on the ascent disturbingly reasonable.

The run worked out great, but may have been a bit misleading in terms of preparing for Mt. D. It's unlikely we'll have a giant sun shade for the race like we did today!

Note: Weather stations on Mt. Wilson and at Clear Creek can be used to get an idea of what temperatures are running in the vicinity of the race course. Note that the temeprature specified is measured in the shade. In my experience the "fuel temperature" is a better indicator of the temperature in the sun. The fuel temperature is included in the Clear Creek listing.

Some related posts: Mt. Disappointment 50K 2011 Training Run, Mt. Disappointment 50K 2010 Notes

In a real-world test of Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) exposure, during a recent training run at Mt. Wilson approximately 30 runners ran a mile-plus section of trail overgrown with Turricula. Reactions varied from none at all, to at least one runner who had a strong reaction similar to my first bout with Turricula several weeks ago.

Here are some runner comments:

"I can't believe it, but I had very little reaction. Just a few little bumps. You saw how careful I was trying to be. Maybe not man-handling it helps."

"Not much sleep for the last two days...arms, legs, and abdomen burn way worse than Poison Oak. By nightfall the blisters break and ooze."

"I finally had a mild reaction today, red rashes that turned into very small blisters..."

"Absolutely nothing happened, I'm either not allergic to it, or the soap & brush took the top layers of skin off and the poison with it."

"I've got the stuff in my left eyelid (I must have rubbed my eye after hand contact with T. while carefully trying to part it as I inched my way down VF); I've got it on my stomach at waist band and lower, and I'm waiting for my legs, although I may get lucky there."

Since I'd had a strong reaction before, I expected the worst. Fortunately my reaction was relatively minor. Like several other runners, I had a same-day irritation/inflammation along the waistband of my running shorts. In addition the top of one ankle and a small area on the inside of one arm developed a very mild rash. It was barely noticeable, and cleared up completely in about five days.

There are several possible reasons I didn't have a strong reaction this time. Even though contact was unavoidable, I did not run in areas where the Turricula was the most dense, and I attempted to avoid the plant as much as possible. This time around my legs and arms were not covered with the sticky goo from the plant. Even so, as soon as I was out of the area with Turricula I stopped at a creek and washed off my legs and arms. I also washed again at the end of the run.

Another reason I might have reacted differently is the age of the plants. As Turricula matures, the lower leaves wither and fall. (This gives the plant the appearance of the groomed tail of a poodle.) There's anecdotal evidence that as the plant dries out the almost microscopic hairs that cover the leaves, stems and flowers are easily broken and shed, and can contribute to the irritation/inflammation the plant causes. It seems plausible that these hairs could be an irritant, or might even act like a minuscule time-release capsule of the plant's active compounds.

Note: The trail was the Valley Forge Trail. Trail work is scheduled on this trail the next two weekends.

Some related posts: Contact Dermatitis from Turricula parryi (Poodle-dog Bush), Turricula Along Angeles Crest Highway

This year the Mt. Disappointment 50K course will be the most difficult to date -- 33.1 miles with an elevation gain/loss of 6195' according to course info. And that isn't a fanciful elevation gain, exaggerated to hype the race. Ask any Mt. Dis runner, it's real number that has left both the experienced and uninitiated crawling up the Kenyon Devore Trail at the end of the race.

To introduce us to the changes in the 2011 course, Gary & Pam Hilliard and Fausto & Cindy Rowlan arranged today's training run -- complete with course markings and an aid station. Pam and Cindy took care of the aid station at West Fork, and Fausto marked the course. (Thank you!!)

The 50K course is similar to last year's, but instead of running all the way down to Red Box on the Mt. Wilson Road, at about mile 2.5 it turns right onto the Valley Forge Trail and descends 2.7 miles to the Gabrielino Trail. The course then turns UP canyon and follows the Gabrielino Trail 1.6 miles to Red Box Road. From this point the 50K course is the same as 2010. The combination of bonus elevation gain, bonus distance, and additional technical trail could increase times in the middle of the pack by 30-40 minutes or more.

On today's training run we did the first 11 miles of the 50K course down to West Fork, then followed the last 5 miles of the course up the Gabrielino and Kenyon Devore trails to the top of Mt. Wilson. The training run was a little less than half the length, and a little more than half the elevation gain of the 50K course. Working up Kenyon Devore, even having done it numerous times, I was shaking my head and asking myself, "and how is this going to feel after 29 miles?"

About 30 runners participated, many of them sandwiching the training run between races and other difficult runs. Conversations ranged from whether you need to do long training runs to do ultras, to favorite gels and drinks. But one runner's story surpassed all others. He was in a wheelchair from age 6 to age 19, had corrective surgery, and since then has run nearly 200 marathons or ultras -- including a 50K the weekend before the training run!

Note: The title photo is of the Valley Forge Trail. Trail work is currently scheduled on this trail July 30th and August 6th.

Some runs in the San Gabriels are more adventurous than others, and I'd mentioned to Devy that on this run we would likely have to deal with rock slides, washed out sections of trail, an annoying amount of bugs, and warm -- if not hot -- temperatures. We might even run into a bear. Devy is the owner of Andes Adventures, and having cut his trail running teeth exploring Peru's Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash, his response was "sounds like fun, let's go!"

The loop is a favorite, combining sections of the High Desert National Recreation Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. The route starts at Islip Saddle (6593'), descends to South Fork Campground (4560'), then climbs all the way back up the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399'). From Baden-Powell it returns to Islip Saddle on the PCT. It's 23.5 miles of scenic single track trail with a cumulative elevation gain/loss of around 5700'. Done as part of a normal week of running, and with stops along the way, it usually takes about the same time to do this course as a hilly 50K race.

The South Fork and Manzanita trails are part of the High Desert National Recreation Trail. The 5.25 mile long South Fork Trail descends the rugged canyon of the South Fork of Big Pine Creek. Due to the tortured geology of the area -- the San Andreas fault zone is nearby -- the trail is in a constant state of change. Each time I've run it, its condition has been a bit different. It has many rocky sections, and at various points along the trail it is necessary to cross the debris from small rock slides.

According to the nearby Valyermo RAWS the temperature was around 80 degrees when we rolled into South Fork Campground. Not too bad. It would be near 100 later in the day, and it's not uncommon for temps to hit the 90's here by 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. The (unmarked) Manzanita segment of the High Desert National Recreation Trail starts on the east side of the campground and in about 5.6 miles leads to Vincent Gap (6565').

The news of the day was the condition of the Manzanita Trail. Sections of this trail have been washed out for several years, and after December's record-setting rainfall it seemed the trail could only be worse. Surprise, surprise, the trail was mostly repaired! We didn't even have to use tree roots for handholds!

Vincent Gap is at about mile 11 on the route, and about 2200' into the 5000' climb up Baden-Powell from the desert. As you might expect on a nice Summer weekend the PCT up Baden-Powell was very busy. In part because we wanted to save some for the outstanding running between Baden-Powell and Islip, and in part because we couldn't go any faster, the pace was pretty leisurely going up the peak.

Ah... the water at Little Jimmy Spring... Like last week, still so cold I thought it was going to give me an ice cream headache.

Related post: Islip Saddle - Mt. Baden-Powell South Fork Loop

Storm-damaged Lodgepole Pine and Mt. Baldy

I was at the turnaround point of an out and back run from Islip Saddle (6593') to Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399'), and had descended a short distance down the south ridge of Baden-Powell to enjoy the ridge top view. It had been a good run so far. It was windier and cooler than expected, but that was a good thing. Temps in the valleys were forecast to top 100 degrees today.

I'd been surprised to find no snow on Baden-Powell. In good snow years, remnants of snow will typically last until at least the 4th of July. There was a patch here and there last year, and sizeable drifts in 2005. This year a little remained on the north face of Mt. Baldy, but that was it.

Even if no snow remained, there was evidence it had been a tough winter. It looked like an unusually severe ice storm had struck the area. Normally resistant to such damage, a stout lodgepole pine had had two of its limbs ripped from its trunk, peeling away a thick layer of bark and cambium. On the other side of the peak, near the Wally Waldron tree, an apparently healthy limber pine had collapsed.

If I had been surprised to find no snow on Baden-Powell, I was even more surprised to find no one on the summit. That wouldn't last. A number of hikers were working their way toward the peak from Islip Saddle and Dawson Saddle, and I was sure others were on the way up from Vincent Gap.

After visiting the Wally Waldron tree, and chatting briefly with a hiker, I turned eastward on the PCT -- next stop Throop Peak!

Some related posts: Islip Saddle - Mt. Baden-Powell Out & Back, Running Hot & Cold

If you have fond memories of the rustic running in Shortcut Canyon during last year's Mt. Disappointment 50K, hold on to those memories because this year you're going to be running on a bona fide, genuine trail.

Under the direction of trail maintenance guru Gary Hilliard, R.D. of the Mt. Disappointment race, 19 hard-working volunteers closed the final gap in this badly overgrown and damaged section of the Silver Moccasin Trail. Burned in the 2009 Station Fire, floods ravaged the canyon, and then soil conditions and above average rainfall combined to produce teeming plant growth.

Volunteers recovered most of the original trail, removing fallen limbs and trees, clearing overgrowth and debris, and restoring sections damaged by erosion and flooding. Large patches of stinging nettle, and some turricula (Poodle-dog bush) and poison oak were also removed from the trail.

See the trail work schedule on the Mt. Disappointment 50K web site for the remaining trail work dates.

Here are a few additional photographs:

Road Maintenance Mt Disappointment 50K Volunteers Turricula Along Restored Trail

Silver Moccasin Trail Done for the Day Tools of the Trade

Various species of Phacelia are fire-followers and have bloomed in profusion in areas burned by the Station Fire. These are Davidson's Phacelia (Phacelia davidsonii) along the Three Points - Mt. Waterman Trail about a mile from Three Points.

Like Turricula (Poodle-dog bush), many species of Phacelia can cause a contact dermatitis similar to poison oak. Generally, any Phacelia should be considered suspect, and especially those that are fuzzy and sticky.

One Phacelia that has been shown to elicit a reaction is California bluebell (Phacelia minor) -- a relatively common wildflower in the middle to lower elevation areas burned by the Station Fire. In one study, it was found that the amount of two active compounds in Phacelia minor required to produce a qualified reaction was 6.3 µg and 3.8 µg; compared to 170 µg for Turricula and 1.6 µg for a component of urushiol from poison ivy.

Related post: After the Station Fire: Contact Dermatitis from Turricula parryi - Poodle-dog Bush

Scorched Jeffrey Pines on the South Side of Waterman Mountain

It was very odd to run up the Mt. Waterman Trail on the Sunday of a 3-day Memorial Day weekend, and see no one. And hear nothing, except the wind in the trees, the distant call of a jay, and the periodic drone of a contractor's truck working on the highway. That's because -- surprise, surprise -- Angeles Crest Highway was closed a little east of Three Points and on to Islip Saddle. CalTrans Road Conditions had only listed the Winter closure from Islip Saddle to Vincent Gap. Based on the number of cars parked at the closure, not many people knew about it.

I hadn't known about it until I saw the Ranger's truck and closed gate from the Pacific Crest Trail. I was doing a loop from Three Points up the PCT to the Burkhart Trail, then up to Buckhorn, over Mt. Waterman, and back down to Three Points. Part of this loop -- from Mt. Waterman to Three Points on Trail 10W04 -- had just reopened, and like last weekend I wanted to see how recovery from the 2009 Station Fire was progressing.

The conditions were much better on this loop, than last week's. Although within the initial Station Fire Closure area, and closed for eight months, 11 of the first 13.5 miles of the loop were not burned in the Station Fire. This mostly unburned stretch opened in late May 2010 and is described in the post Three Points to Waterman Mountain, the Long Way.

The remaining six miles of the loop, which winds in and out of the shallow canyons on the south side of Mt. Waterman, was in the burn area. Conditions along the trail appeared to generally correspond to BAER burn severity maps and images. At the higher elevations, fingers of the fire had run up the steep slopes, burning understory and scattered Jeffrey pines and incense cedars, while leaving other areas untouched.

At lower elevation, particularly in the chaparral and pine at the head of the north branch of Devils Canyon, the fire effects were more severe. The chaparral is recovering, but numerous Coulter and Jeffrey pines appeared to have been killed, and their replacement will be a slower process. This area is traversed by the last two miles of Trail 10W04, leading to Three Points.

There was very little, if any, damage from runoff and the trail was generally in good shape. The trail was slightly overgrown in spots, particularly at lower elevation, but was nothing like the Gabrielino Trail between Switzer and Red Box. There was some Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) at lower elevation, but for the most part it was fairly easy to avoid. Some pine needle covered sections of trail were indistinct, but it was like that before the fire.

From a trail running perspective, it is still a very "runnable" course with varied terrain and much to see and enjoy. Cooper Canyon Falls is very short side trip from the PCT's junction with the Burkhart Trail. The side trip to the summit of Mt. Waterman (8038') adds about two miles to the loop.

Some related posts: Three Points - Mt. Waterman Loop, Three Points Loop Plus Mt. Waterman

Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) Along the Silver Moccasin Trail at Shortcut Saddle

I knew Turricula (Poodle-dog bush)* was a common fire follower, but had never run or hiked through a burn area where it was abundant. Wow, it was everywhere on the Red Box - Bear Canyon - Gabrielino Loop last Saturday, and particularly dense on sections of the Gabrielino Trail between Switzers and Red Box. It appears to be one of the most common fire-followers in the Station Fire burn area, and likely plays an important role in the recovery process.

Gland-tipped hairs on the plant secrete a sticky substance that causes a rash "like poison oak" in sensitized persons. There must be some threshold of exposure, because I have brushed against the leaves of Turricula many times before without reacting to it. This time my exposure was repeated, frequent, and prolonged; and the leaves were heavily coated with exudate. At the end of the loop my legs and forearms were coated with a thick layer of resinous brown gunk that would not wash off with water.

By the time I had finished the run, talked to some people at Red Box, and driven home, 2-3 hours had passed. Tecnu helped remove the resinous goo, but as I would discover a couple days later, it did not prevent me from getting the rash.

My reaction to Turricula was quite a bit different than what I've experienced with poison oak. A blotchy red rash developed on my arms and legs Monday, about 48 hours after exposure. After another 24 hours I thought the rash was going away, but it was actually morphing into a more widespread and uniform inflammation that was similar to bad sunburn -- a very itchy sunburn. There was some swelling and edema, particularly on my ankles. In the areas that had the most contact with the Turricula, primarily my shins and around my knees, there was some blistering. The blisters were small, perhaps 1/16 inch in diameter or less.

Most of the blisters were gone by Thursday afternoon, and since then the inflammation has been slowly subsiding. Although very itchy and annoying at times, it has not been debilitating. An equivalent exposure to poison oak would have been much more severe. However, in my case an underlying irritation or sensitivity has lingered for some time after the visible reaction dissipated. It seems like it will probably take a few more days for the reaction to completely resolve. We'll see!

Update July 12, 2011. My reaction to Turricula cleared after about two weeks. A running friend who recently did some trail work removing Turricula on the Kenyon Devore Trail sent this photograph of a blotchy red rash that developed on his forearm. He first noticed a reaction four days after doing the trail work, and the photograph was taken 10 days after exposure. As in my case, several hours later he commented that the blotchy rash had merged into a more general inflammation with swelling.

Research has found the dermatitic agents in the Turricula exudate are "phacelioids," hydroquinone based compounds structurally related to poison oak/ivy urushiols, but not as active. In one study the amount of the phacelioids in Turricula required to produce a qualified reaction was 100 times that required for a component of urushiol from poison ivy -- 170 µg vs 1.6 µg.

It is also noted that in place oxidation of hydroquinone based phacelioids is likely necessary to interact with the proteins of the skin and produce a reaction. This (and common sense) suggests that leaving the Turricula exudate on your skin for several hours (like I did) is probably a bad idea.

For more information see:

Prenylated Phenolics that Cause Contact Dermatitis from Glandular Trichomes of Turricula parryi. G. W. Reynolds, P. Proksch, E. Rodriguez, Planta Medica, 1985; 51(6): 494-498

Unusual contact allergens from plants in the family Hydrophyllaceae. G. W. Reynolds, W. L. Epstein, E. Rodriguez, Contact Dermatitis, 1986; 14:39-44

The book Poisonous plants of California by Thomas C. Fuller, Elizabeth May McClintock (1986) describes a 1941 incident in which hairs from old flowering stalks "easily broken from the stems" caused a rash, but flowering plants the previous year did not.

*Note: The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, Second Edition (2012) has returned Turricula to the genus Eriodictyon, as originally described by Gray. According to the Wikipedia entry for Turricula (April 11, 2012), "... molecular phylogenetic analysis carried out by Ferguson (1998) confirms that Turricula should be treated as a separate genus within a clade (Ferguson does not use the term "subfamily") that includes Eriodictyon, and also the genera Nama and Wigandia; Eriodictyon is the genus to which Turricula is closest in molecular terms, and is its sister taxon."

Related post: Turricula Along Angeles Crest Highway

Recovering Chaparral and Bigcone Douglas-fir in Bear Canyon

Most Southern Californians have direct experience with wildfire and its effects. Wildfires are often described as being a "natural part of the ecosystem," but in Southern California wildfire is anything but natural. Urbanization, land management policies and firefighting practices shape fire frequency, behavior, intensity and effects -- often with unexpected and tragic consequences.

According to InciWeb, the Station Fire started on Wednesday August 26th, 2009 at approximately 03:30 p.m. and was fully contained at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 16, 2009. Two firefighters were killed in the arson caused blaze, numerous homes and structures were lost, and 160,577 acres burned. The fire was the largest recorded in Angeles National Forest since it was established in 1892 and the 10th largest fire in California since 1933.

In January 2011 the Station Fire Closure was updated and extended to January 2012. At that point, it looked like it might be a long time before any substantial part of the closure area would be opened to the public. But with increasing public pressure to open more of the Forest, Angeles National Forest reopened about half of the Station Fire Closure area earlier this week. Today I did a run/hike in the newly opened area to see first-hand how recovery from the fire, and subsequent debris flows and flash floods, is progressing 19 months after the fire was contained.

The first areas I wanted to check were Bear Canyon, and upper Arroyo Seco from Switzer Falls to Red Box. I'd done loops through these areas in April 2009, a few months before the Station Fire, as well as in March 2007 and November 2005. Because Mueller Tunnel was closed, I couldn't do the same loop as in 2009, but I could bypass the tunnel using the Mt. Disappointment Trail, and then drop down into Bear Canyon from the Mt. Lowe Truck Trail. From there the loop could be completed by following the Gabrielino Trail from near Switzer Falls, back to Red Box. After checking with the Forest Service that all of the trails were open, the loop was a go!

I’d done all the sections of the loop on previous runs, and was familiar with the trails and terrain. My intent was to follow the routes of pre-existing trails as closely as possible. Just in case, I took a paper map; and as a backup and source of extra info, I loaded my GPS with the track points of the trails. It turned out the GPS did help a couple of times to follow missing or overgrown sections of trail, but there was also more than one instance when blindly following the GPS would have led me in the wrong direction.

At around 7:30 I left an empty Red Box parking lot and started running up the Mt. Wilson road. About 0.4 mile up the road I turned onto the San Gabriel Peak/Mt. Disappointment Trail and began working up toward the saddle between the two peaks. Nearly all of the trail to the saddle was unburned. The robust mix of chaparral and forest towered overhead, and a few minutes later I felt some anguish as I crossed the saddle and entered the burn area.

There was a little more debris than normal on the rocky stretch of the Mt. Disappointment Trail that crosses the west face of San Gabriel Peak, but the trail was mostly runnable, and it didn’t take long to get down to the Mt. Lowe Truck Trail fire road. At Markham Saddle a DANGER sign marked the closure of the road to Mueller Tunnel.

Turning in the opposite direction, I started running down the fire road, and after a short distance, stopped to take photos of the Bear Creek drainage. It looked to be in pretty good condition, considering. The side canyons didn’t have the runnels and debris flows I'd seen in upper Arroyo Seco on the drive up Hwy 2. I'd be getting a closer look at those channels later in the run.

At the hairpin turn west of Mt. Lowe I left the fire road and picked up the trail that leads down the ridge to Tom Sloan Saddle. It had taken about an hour and a quarter to get to this point, and I suppressed an overly optimistic thought that I might reach Red Box by noon or so.

As would be expected with little or no use, two seasons of growth, and a wet winter, sections of the trail were really overgrown. The upper part of the Bear Canyon Trail was also significantly overgrown, and in a couple of places difficult to follow. It helped that animals had used the trail, though their path through the grass was indistinct. Trails are valuable resources that can be lost through prolonged closure and disuse.

Once down to Bear Creek, the character of the canyon was much the same as before the fire. Bear Canyon is one of the more wild and isolated places in the San Gabriel Mountains that can be accessed by trail. Not far beyond the old cabin site, I paused by the creek and absorbed the sounds, smells and scenery of this special place.

The creek was incised in places, and there was other evidence of moderately high flows in the two years since I had been there. Very little remained of the use trail. The remnants of the old Tom Sloan trail are still there, but these are few and far between. There were more fallen trees, and a ton of poison oak. It was time consuming to try and dance around the poison oak, and about halfway through the canyon I gave up trying. Bear Camp appeared to be unscathed, and looked much like it did in 2009.

It took twice as long to work through Bear Canyon as in 2009, and I was happy to get to Bear Creek's confluence with Arroyo Seco. Except for a couple of fallen trees, it was straightforward getting back to the Gabrielino Trail and to the Switzer Picnic Area. The bridge at the picnic area was littered with flood debris. The high water likely occurred during our record-setting December 2010 rain event.

It was a close call, but no doubt due to the efforts of firefighters, Switzer Picnic Area appeared to have survived almost unscathed. The Forest Service has made a number of improvements to the facilities. According to a Forest Service press release, the picnic area will remain closed until sometime in June, while construction is completed.

The first two miles of the Gabrielino Trail above Switzer really took it on the chin. The fire effects there were very pronounced, and of all the trails in the loop, that segment was the most severely affected. Flash flooding and debris flows have swept the canyon, obliterating sections of trail. The rest is very overgrown. Virtually every tributary canyon is now incised with debris flow runnels, up to several feet deep.

Once away from the canyon bottom and on the old road bed the trail was still overgrown, but was generally in better shape and easier to follow. The last mile to Red Box was nearly in the same condition as before the fire, and the last half-mile (where some trailwork had been done) even better!

In the last decade I’ve followed the recovery and studied aspects of several fires including the 2002 McNally Fire, 2002 Curve Fire, 2003 Simi Fire, 2005 Topanga Fire, 2006 Day Fire, 2007 Corral Fire and 2008 Sesnon Fire. Even after having observed it many times, I continue to be amazed at the resilience of fire-adapted ecosystems. As long as the fire recurrence interval isn’t too short, nature seems to do a pretty good job of recovery.

Related post: Contact Dermatitis from Turricula parryi - Poodle-dog Bush

Good news! Beginning Monday, May 16, 2011, you'll have the option to take in the view above -- from Twin Peaks to Mt. Wilson -- and to enjoy the trails and peaks in most of the area pictured.

In an action that many felt was overdue, Angeles National Forest is reopening about half of the area currently closed as a result of the 2009 Station Fire. This reduces the closure area from 186,318 acres to 88,411 acres, and opens most of the Forest south/east of Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2) from Bear Canyon on the west to Twin Peaks on the east.

Some of the trails and peaks in the area to be reopened are the Sunset Ridge Trail, Bear Canyon Trail, segments of the Gabrielino Trail, Nature's Canteen Trail, San Gabriel Peak and Mt. Disappointment, Valley Forge Trail, Kenyon DeVore Trail, Silver Moccasin Trail, Pacific Crest Trail (some rerouting), Twin Peaks and the Mt. Waterman-Twin Peaks Trail from Three Points.

Some trails in the reopened area may be closed. According to the Forest Service, trails in the open area that are closed are:

- Dawn Mine
- Tom Sloan
- Vetter Mtn. Trail (access is via the road)
- Silver Moccasin in Charlton (users are directed on to the middle road to get to the portion that goes to Chilao.)

Just because a trail is open does not mean it is in good shape or risk-free. Natural hazards are present on virtually any trail, but may be more common in an area recently subjected to fire and flood.

For official information see the news release, detailed map, and other information related to Closure Order No. 01-11-03 on the Angeles National Forest web site.

Last Sunday started with light rain in western Los Angeles County, and on the drive to the San Gabriel Mountains, I wondered if the Three Points trailhead would be above the mile deep cloud layer. It was, but barely so, and at the start of the run a couple of scuddy clouds hung over the parking lot.

These were soon left behind, and while the lowlands dealt with damp, dreary weather, my Easter morning run on the PCT continued toward Cloudburst Summit under a bright sun and mostly cloudless skies.

I encountered my first patch of snow a little past Camp Glenwood, on a shaded north-facing slope at about 6300', nearly three miles into the run. With the above average snowpack, it would have been a surprise not to find some patchy lower elevation snow. Much more snow could be seen on the higher elevation slopes, and the big question was: how much snow would there be on the Mt. Waterman trail?

From Cloudburst Summit I continued eastward on the PCT to Cooper Canyon -- one of the most idyllic places in the San Gabriel Mountains. Snowmelt had increased the streamflow, and to start the climb to Buckhorn, two creek crossings were required. It was cool enough that if I could avoid it, I didn't want to soak my shoes. On the other hand I would rather have wet shoes, than fall bodily into a creek trying to keep them dry. A makeshift trekking pole helped prevent either scenario. Cooper Canyon Falls was spectacular.

On a Summer day this route can be quite warm, and I usually top off my Camelbak at Buckhorn Campground. Good thing it was a cool day -- Buckhorn Campground was closed and the water in the campground was turned off. It looked like the Forest Service was doing a major revamp of the campground.

From the campground I still couldn't tell if the Mt. Waterman trail was going to go. There was a lot of snow on the north-facing slopes, but I was betting it wasn't going to be as choked with snow as it looked. Worst case, I could turn around, so I decided to continue until there was some reason not to.

There was some snow, and at one point I left the trail to avoid a particularly steep snow slope. About a mile from Hwy 2, the trail worked up onto a broad east-facing ridge, and from that point the trail was mostly free of snow.

No sooner had the snow issue been resolved, when clouds began to spill over the ridges and increase overhead. I knew -- or at least thought I knew -- that other than decreasing the visibility and temperature, these clouds shouldn't be a problem. Even so, I was very glad to know the terrain and route well, and have some additional gear in my pack.

The title photograph is from the upper section of the Mt. Waterman trail. The clouds are in the deep canyon between east ridge of Waterman Mountain (8038') and Twin Peaks (7761').

Some related posts: Cooper Canyon Cascade & Falls, Manzanita Morning

Update Friday, May 13, 2011. Good news! Effective Monday, May 16, 2011, Angeles National Forest is reopening about half of the area of the Forest currently closed as a result of the Station Fire. This reduces the closure area from 186,318 acres to 88,411 acres, and opens most of the burn area south and east of Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2) from Bear Canyon east to Twin Peaks. Some of the trails and areas opened are the Sunset Ridge Trail, Bear Canyon Trail, segments of the Gabrielino Trail, Nature's Canteen Trail, San Gabriel Peak and Mt. Disappointment, Valley Forge Trail, Kenyon DeVore Trail, Silver Moccasin Trail, Pacific Crest Trail (some rerouting), Twin Peaks and the Mt. Waterman-Twin Peaks Trail from Three Points. For more information see the news release, detailed map, and other information related to Closure Order No. 01-11-03 on the Angeles National Forest web site.

On September 20th, after issuing a press release with the title, "Angeles National Forest reopens areas offering hiking, picnicking," Angeles National Forest (ANF) reopened about 5 percent of the Station Fire closure area, and extended the closure of the remaining 186,320 acres another year to September 19, 2011. Here's an ANF map of the revised closure area (PDF).

According to the press release, most of the areas burned in the Station Fire remain closed "for public safety." When will these areas reopen? In the press release former ANF forest supervisor Jody Noiron states, "The Forest Service intent is to reopen areas severely damaged in the fire over the next few years as conditions allow."

It's hard to understand the rationale for the extent and duration of this closure. Over the past year, many dedicated forest users have participated in permitted work parties and events in the closure area. We've been on the trails and roads. We know firsthand that many miles of trails and dirt roads are passable, and much of the closure area could reasonably be in use.

Remarkably, a year after the fire, the size of the Station Fire closure area remains LARGER than the area burned by the fire! Some areas in the Forest that were burned are open, and some large areas that did not burn are closed.

Other than the boilerplate "to protect natural resources and provide for public safety" in the closure order, and some bureaucratic arm-waving, there has been very little information released documenting why these areas of ANF should remain closed.

According to an article posted on the Pasadena Star News web site (08/22/10 by Beige Luciano-Adams), acting ANF forest supervisor Marty Dumpis said, "It's not just safety but also we have to allow the area to recover because if we allow people to start trampling over regrowth then they've just set it back another year. We hope people will be patient enough, allow natural recovery to begin, and then we can get some of these areas open."

Is that the way Angeles National Forest higher-ups see us? The hikers, runners, and riders that most frequently use these trails are among the most experienced that visit the Forest. Trails constrain use, and are a minuscule part of the recovery area. If credible evidence exists that trail use would delay the area's fire recovery, Angeles National Forest should make it available to the public.

To keep such a large area of public land closed for such an extended period following a Southern California fire is unprecedented. Even in the case of the largest Southern California fires, the Cedar and Zaca fires, closed areas in Cleveland and Los Padres National Forests were reopened within a year of the fire. In many cases fire closures in the National Forests of California have been lifted within days or weeks of a large fire. This reflects a general policy that closures be implemented and maintained as a last resort.

In a 2009 presentation following the Station Fire, Jody Noiren noted that Angeles National Forest:

- provides 72% of all open space in Los Angeles County
- has 17 million people living and working within 1 hour drive
- has 3.5 million visitors per year, of which half come from within a 50 mile radius of the Forest

It may simplify forest management, and be more convenient for the Forest Service to keep such a large area of Angeles National Forest closed, but it is clearly not in the public interest. Extending the Station Fire closure will not enhance recovery, increase protection of sensitive species, or prevent the spread of invasive plants. But it will deprive millions of people living and working nearby of an indispensable and intrinsic public resource.

Long experience in Southern California demonstrates that public lands can be reopened in a timely fashion following a fire without abusing resources, or putting the public in undue peril. It is time to stop the doublespeak and reopen all but the most severely damaged areas of the Station Fire burn area to public use.

The Station Fire closure area is in the congressional districts of Rep. David Dreier [R-CA26] and Rep. Howard McKeon [R-CA25]. California's senators are Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA] and Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]. Determine and contact your Congressperson.

Originally posted 5/27/07. Most recently updated 9/28/10.

Located in Angeles National Forest (ANF), Williamson Rock is an area of exceptional scenic and recreational value. Because of its proximity to Los Angeles, variety of climbing routes, scenic beauty, and moderate summertime temperatures, it is one of the most popular rock climbing areas in Southern California.

In December 2005, in order to protect critical habitat of the mountain yellow-legged frog (MYLF), the Forest Service “temporarily” closed approximately 1,000 acres in the upper Little Rock Creek drainage in the San Gabriel Mountains. The closed area includes Williamson Rock, and the Pacific Crest Trail between Eagle's Roost and the Burkhart Trail.

In May 2007 the Forest Service issued a press release and scoping letter proposing an access trail and initiating an environmental analysis. Now, nearly five years after the "temporary" closure of Williamson Rock, and following many delays, Angeles National Forest has completed a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) whose bottom line recommendation is to extend the closure another three years!

In the draft EA, the Forest Service says the extension is needed,"while neighboring [MYLF] population segments are given time to rebound from the effects of wildfire and consequent watershed emergency."

The Forest Service's recommendation to extend the closure is based on a false premise, that closure of MYLF habitat, and adjacent land, will protect the MYLF population. There is substantial evidence that this is not the case. This was recognized in the 1999 paper (Mahony, et al.) in which researchers assessed the disappearances and declines among Australian frogs and proposed methods to prevent further losses:

"It is generally accepted that the least expensive way of preventing extinction and loss of biodiversity is the maintenance of habitats. This argument is well established in the conservation biology literature (Caughley and Gunn 1996), however, it does not consider or deal with a situation such as that which currently faces frogs in Australia and globally. One of the puzzling features is that species have disappeared from areas of pristine or near pristine habitat and areas of large reserves where there are no indications of habitat destruction. Similarly, there is no evidence that an introduced competitor or predator is responsible, apart from the hypothesis that an introduced pathogen is involved (Laurance et al. 1996). Preservation of habitat or declarations of new reserves would not have halted or prevented the loss of the majority of species."

Since this paper was published, there has been much research in this area, and there is a growing body of evidence that global declines in many species of frogs, including the MYLF, is due to infection from the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd).

It is believed that the fungus is spread through its own movement in water, the flow of water, and by the activity of infected amphibians. Because infection has occurred in pristine, widely separated populations, it is hypothesized that other vectors, such as birds, fish, animals or insects, could play an important role in its spread. Research has shown that spread by birds and other mechanisms are a possibility (Johnson & Speare, 2005). It is also a possibility that Bd has been present in amphibian populations worldwide for some time (Rachowicz et al., 2006).

In support of its recommendation that the Williamson closure should be extended, the EA states, "Indirect impacts to the frogs include the spread of pathogens, such as chytrid fungus, inadvertently carried into the habitat by visitors."

I have found no published evidence that recreational activities, such as rock climbing, are the proximate cause of the spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis into MYLF habitat. It would seem especially unlikely in the context of rock climbing in usually warm and dry Southern California. Desiccation kills the fungus. In the 2005 study by Johnson & Speare, in which zoospores and zoosporangia were introduced on feathers, under most circumstances the fungus became inviable after 2 hours of drying.

According to the EA, all remaining units of the Southern California distinct vertebrate population segment (DPS) of the MYLF have already been confirmed positive for presence of Bd. This suggests that a frog unaffected by Bd is much more likely to be infected by natural mechanisms and vectors from within the infected population rather than by Bd brought into the habitat by a human visitor.

Under the EA's Alternative 3 (The Recreational Development Alternative), in which climbers would be routed away from MYLF habitat, the probability of climbers spreading Bd from outside the habitat, or physically harming the frogs, or disrupting their habitat, would appear to be almost nil.

Rather than extending an unnecessarily prohibitive closure that is unlikely to benefit the MYLF, a plan such as Alternative 3 (The Recreational Development Alternative) should be adopted, and Williamson Rock reopened to climbing.

---

The efforts of the climbing community are being coordinated by the Friends of Williamson Rock in partership with the Access Fund and the Allied Climbers of San Diego. The Access Fund is a national, non-profit climbers' organization dedicated to preserving the natural resources used by climbers, and climbers' access to those resources.

Comments regarding the draft EA, and the recommendation to extend the closure of Williamson Rock for another three years, must be submitted by October 1, 2010. Send to:

Darrell Vance
Attn: Williamson Rock Environmental Assessment
701 N. Santa Anita Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91006
Email: dvance@fs.fed.us

For more information, see the Friends of Williamson Rock blog.

The photograph of Williamson Rock was taken on the PCT while doing the run Pleasant View Ridge on July 2, 2006.

Related post: Complications

Mt. Baldy from the North Backbone Trail

If you have a passion for the outdoors, you can get pretty creative when devising a reason for doing a particular run, hike, climb, ride, paddle or other adventure. My rationale for today's outing was that I "wanted to measure a tree."

The tree is an isolated and aged Sierra juniper poised on a rocky ridge on the North Backbone Trail on the back side of Mt. Baldy. I'd noticed it while doing the North Backbone Trail in 2006. At that time I had estimated the girth of the tree from a photograph, using my cap for scale. I've been intending to get back to the tree for years, and hopefully that was going to happen today.

With one little twist. This time, instead of approaching the tree from the Blue Ridge trailhead on the back side of Baldy, I was going to start at Manker Flat, climb up Baldy, and then descend the North Backbone Trail to the tree. This meant I would get to climb Mt. Baldy twice.

It made sense to me. Labor Day weekend I had opted to do a run in the Sierra instead of the Mt. Baldy Run to the Top race. This way I could get in a good shot of elevation gain on Mt. Baldy, enjoy the wildness of the North Backbone Trail, and also measure the circumference of the Pine Mountain juniper.

Step one was to get to the top of Baldy. Instead of following the more circuitous seven mile route of the "Run to the Top" course, I took the most direct route to Baldy's summit -- the Ski Hut trail. This trail reaches the summit in a little over four miles, gaining about 3800' of elevation along the way. It's a rough, no nonsense trail that in its upper reaches has a wonderful high mountain character.

I was a little late getting to the trailhead, and started running up San Antonio Falls Road about 8:30. A little less than a mile from Manker I turned off onto the Ski Hut trail and started chugging upward.

What is it about a trail to the top of a peak that makes you want to push the pace? Even before I noticed the hiker below me, I was pushing it. I ran in the few places I could, but the trail was unrelenting. Was he going to catch me?

In retrospect, I might as well have stopped to pick gooseberries. I was trying to stay ahead of a runner who had averaged 5:40 minute miles on a championship cross-country course.

Hayk caught me just below the ski hut. From there to the summit we talked about running, racing, mountains and more. He had recently run a couple of marathons, and was interested in getting into ultrarunning. Even after slowing to my pace for the last two miles, his time to the summit from Manker Flat was a speedy 1:26.

It was clear above the haze in the valleys and low clouds along the coast. From Mt. Baldy's summit, all of Southern California's high points could be seen. To the east were the mountains of the San Gorgonio group and San Jacinto Peak; to the south Santiago Peak; and to the northwest an array of peaks in the San Gabriel mountains, including Mt. Wilson, Strawberry Peak, Twin Peaks, Mt. Waterman and Mt. Baden-Powell.

After spending a few minutes proselytizing about the great running in the surrounding mountains, I shook hands with Hayk and started jogging down the North Backbone Trail. Step two in this adventure was to get down to the tree.

After all the uphill on the Ski Hut trail, the first few yards of downhill felt pretty good. But as the trail started to plunge down Baldy's north face, it became all too clear that THIS downhill came at a high price. Every stride down was going cost at least a couple of steep steps up on the way back.

Then there was the uphill on the downhill. The North Backbone isn't a uniform, well behaved ridge. It has ups and downs. Big ups and downs named Dawson Peak and Pine Mountain. Just descending to the tree would require 1200' of elevation gain, and there would be much more than that returning to Baldy.

I tried not to think about it. There was just too much to see and enjoy. The area's complex geology had produced dramatic ridges, mile deep canyons, and 9000'-10,000' peaks. There were windswept Jeffrey pines and gnarled and twisted lodgepoles. Rabbitbrush bloomed in profusion, its bright yellow flowers contrasting sharply with the greens of the manzanita. Here and there red daubs of paintbrush accented the sparkling tiles of gray-green Pelona schist.

It was a spectacular place to be. After doing the North Backbone Trail for the first time in 2006, I came back the following weekend and did it again. It's that kind of place -- wild, scenic and adventurous.

How far down was that (dang) tree? I'd left the summit of Pine Mountain some time ago, and was still going down, down, down. The lodgepole pine forest on my right had the right look, but the slope to my left wasn't steep enough. Maybe just down this hill... Is it at this little saddle? Just down the ridge a little more...

Epilogue: The circumference of the juniper measured 14' 6.5" or about 174.5 inches. See the post Pine Mountain Juniper for more info about the tree.

Some related posts: Mt. Baldy North Backbone Trail, North Backbone Trail Revisited

Weekend highs in California were down 30-40 degrees from the searing temps earlier in the week. After dealing with the heat, my jaw dropped when I read Sunday's NWS forecast for the Eastern Sierra:

.SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW LEVEL ABOVE
9000 FEET IN THE MORNING. HIGHS 40 TO 52 IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...
AROUND 59 NEAR 8500 FEET. WEST WIND AROUND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE
SOUTH IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.

Now that is great August weather forecast!

I couldn't get to the Sierra, but I could do a run in the Angeles High Country -- and I was willing to bet the upper level trough that was producing unsettled weather in the Sierra would also result in a cool, Autumn-like day in the San Gabriel Mountains.

And it did! Compared to my midweek runs, running up the Mt. Waterman trail was like going for a swim in a high mountain lake. Just spectacular!

The most remarkable thing about this year's Mt. Disappointment Endurance run is that there was a 2010 race. The Station Fire and heavy Winter rains decimated the San Gabriel Mountains. Without the hard work and dedication of Gary & Pam Hilliard and a host of volunteers the 6th edition of the race never would have happened.

There were some changes in the course. After descending from Mt. Wilson to Red Box, the 50K course normally goes down to Clear Creek Station, circuits Strawberry Peak, and then returns to Red Box. Not this year. The Colby Canyon and Strawberry Trails were particularly hard hit by rock slides and washouts, and could not be used. Instead, after running down to Red Box, we hung a right and continued down Red Box Road to the West Fork aid station. Usually done after mile 20, it was great to run this segment while it was still cool, and I had some life left in my legs.

At West Fork, after ten miles of downhill and losing 2600' in elevation, the infamous 16 mile Shortcut loop begins. Usually part of the Mt. Dis 50 mile course, the Shortcut loop is best known for it's scorching 5.6 mile, 2000' climb up Edison Road to Shortcut Saddle. It's one of those climbs that doesn't look that bad on paper, but a topo map doesn't show the sun beating down on your head mile, after mile, after mile. Fortunately, the weather was kind. The high on Mt. Wilson only reached 73 degrees -- several degrees cooler than the usual temperature for this race.

Wow, the Edison climb and the Kenyon Devore climb all in one 50K! But what are two classic climbs without a tough descent in between? The Silver Moccasin Trail between Shortcut and West Fork was obliterated by slides, debris flows and flash flooding. Hours and hours of work were done on the trail to make it passable. In the lower half of the canyon, flooding and debris flows widened the streambed, making it difficult to connect the remnants of old trail into a recognizable path. The challenge wasn't staying on the course, it was very well marked, but trying to pick the best route through a maze of sand, stream, cobble, and bits and pieces of the old trail.

Then came the Kenyon Devore climb. After doing 10 miles of fast-paced downhill, the Edison climb, and the Silver Moccasin rock dance, the ascent of Kenyon Devore was not easy! But it never is! There were a couple of newly fallen trees to clamber over, and some other challenges, but all-in-all it was the same classic climb.

To borrow an old rock climbing quip, an endurance run "ain't no weenie roast," and this year the Mt. Disappointment 50K was just a bit more of a challenge. Here's an elevation profile, and a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the course. In SportTracks my trace of the course worked out to about 31.6 miles. This is a mile or so shorter than the web site mileage because Mueller Tunnel was closed and we skipped the Mt. Disappointment section. The mileages in the Google Earth view are from my trace of the course, and may not be accurate.

Congrats to the overall Men's and Women's winners Patrick Sweeny (4:40:46) and Sada Crawford (5:28:17). Patrick ran the race in Vibram Five Finger KSO Trek's. Check out all the results on the Mt. Disappointment web site!

Here are a few photos. Click for a larger image and description:

Pacific Crest Trail Near Mt. Burnham, in the San Gabriel Mountains

At an elevation of 9000' the weather was sensational. Skies were partly cloudy, accentuating the terrain, and hinting of a thunderstorm later in the day. I was on the Pacific Crest Trail between Mt. Burnham and Mt. Baden-Powell, about 8 miles into a 18 mile run in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Remarkably, there was still a small patch of snow along the trail. According to seasonal summaries in Your Guide to Snowfall, the 2009-2010 season in Southern California was the best since the big Winter of 2004-2005. But it wasn't necessary to check the snow history to know the snowfall had been above average. All that was needed was to look around, and the mountains told the story.

The remnants of snow were only part of the tale. Broken and downed trees told of strong Winter winds, and the stalks of red snow plant of a cool Spring. Now springs flowed freely and once dry seeps were damp and green. Wildflowers bloomed in profusion. Squat bumblebees waddled from flower to flower, and hummingbirds darted from patch to patch of scarlet bugler.

It had been a good Winter. Sugar pines were heavy with pine cones, and new growth decorated the limbs of the white firs. The growth of tree seedlings in the Curve Fire burn area seemed to have accelerated, and the protracted process of forest replacement was underway.

Southern California's erratic weather demands that plants and trees be opportunistic. In time they have learned that an El Nino Winter is often followed by one that is dry, and La Nina looms.

Twin Peaks (East) from the Mt. Waterman Trail

Today was the first chance I had had to run the recently reopened stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail between Three Points and Cloudburst Summit. Originally within the Station Fire closure area, this segment of trail was reopened when the size of the closure area was reduced in late May. In addition to checking this section of the PCT, I also wanted to see the condition of the forest and trail at the current closure boundary near Mt. Waterman.

Between Three Points and Cloudburst Summit, the PCT generally parallels Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2), and crosses the highway several times. In general, the burn severity along the trail appeared to match the burn severity depicted in the NASA Ikhana BAER image and Angeles National Forest BAER Station Fire Soil Burn Severity Map. In the first two miles some trees were lost, but much of the forest in the immediate vicinity of the trail did not appear to be severely burned.

That was not the case about a half mile west of Camp Glenwood, where the PCT crosses Hwy 2 and climbs up a hill. Here the burn severity was much higher, and most of the trees were killed. The trail was in good shape and it didn't take long to get through this section and back into unburned forest. Remarkably, Camp Glenwood was unscathed.

The remaining 3 miles to Cloudburst Summit were not burned. Some trail work had been done on this stretch, as well as down in Cooper Canyon. As always, the running through Cooper Canyon was superb. At the PCT's junction with the Burkhart Trail I turned right and climbed up to Buckhorn Campground, and then followed the camp entrance road up to Hwy 2. From here it was short jog west to the Mt. Waterman Trail.

Most of the forest of Jeffrey pine and incense cedar on the east side of Mt. Waterman was outside of the fire area, and it wasn't until near the junction with trail 10W04, that some damage from the fire could be seen. It looked like spot fires had run up the mountain, burning primarily in the understory. The north face of Twin Peaks, across from Mt. Waterman, appeared to be unaffected by the fire.

It is unclear why the Forest Service chose to define the updated Station Fire closure area (Forest Order No. 01-10-02) so that the trail to Twin Peaks remains closed. Based on the Forest Service's own BAER report, the burn severity down to Twin Peaks Saddle is generally categorized as low to very low/unburned, and the north face of Twin Peaks is outside of the burn area.

Some related posts: Cooper Canyon Cascade & Falls, Mt. Wilson Area Peaks From Twin Peaks

Last year's Station Fire, and the Winter storms that followed, combined to damage many miles of trail in the San Gabriel Mountains. Among the volunteers working hard to restore the trails are runners that will doing the Mt. Disappointment 50K and Angeles Crest 100 mile endurance runs later this Summer.

Gary Hilliard, trail maestro and R.D. of the Mt. Disappointment runs, dedicates an astonishing amount of time to the task of preserving trails -- encouraging and organizing volunteers, surveying trails, and doing the down and dirty work of maintenance and restoration. If it's a Summer Saturday, chances are good you'll find him in Angeles National Forest, working with a group of runners to make a trail better.

Today's trail was the Kenyon DeVore Trail on the north side of Mt. Wilson. Originally a part of the Rattlesnake Trail, the trail was renamed in tribute to the Forest Service patrolman, hydrographer, and Angeles National Forest volunteer, Kenyon DeVore. The trail is the toughest part of infamous final leg of the Mt. Disappointment 50K and 50 mile courses, climbing about 2300' in 3.6 miles.

There was plenty to do on the Kenyon DeVore Trail, and Gary divided us into three groups. One group was given the job of restoring a long stretch of trail that had been obliterated by debris flows, and another group was assigned the chore of clearing a rock slide. Our group's task was removing several trees that had fallen across the trail, and working on the trail along the way.

The largest of the trees blocking the trail was a sizable bigcone Douglas-fir. At the point where it was cut, the diameter of the trunk was about 26"-28". For its size, the tree was surprisingly old. A rough count of the rings from a contrast enhanced photo gives an approximate age of 310 years. The age was not cross dated, but appeared reasonable when compared to a standard tree ring chronology.

The cut sections of the tree had no obvious fire scars. The CDF/FRAP Fire History Database indicated that, prior to the Station Fire, a large part of the canyon in which the tree was located had no reported fire history.

When we were done, about two-thirds of the Kenyon Devore Trail had been restored. No worries about the other third, Gary has trailwork scheduled most weekends through the end of July.

Brett was down for Father's Day, and today we hiked/ran Mt. Baden-Powell (9399'). Baden-Powell is one of the most popular peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains, and several of my favorite trail runs visit its summit.

The trail from Vincent Gap switchbacks up through an old-growth forest of Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir and lodgepole pine. There are some impressive trees. The Wally Waldron Limber Pine, near the summit, is estimated to be 1500 years old, and some limber pines in the area are thought to be even older.

Today, the weather was perfect for pushing the pace. Along the trail fresh green growth could be seen on limb tips of the white firs, and yellow wallflower, red paintbrush, and blue larkspur added a mix of color to the understory.

Not far from the trailhead we had seen fresh Vibram FiveFinger (VFF) tracks headed up the trail, and we were talking about the minimalist shoe. Today Brett was in conventional shoes, but on his home trails about half his runs are in VFFs. He was recounting how the specialists doing a video gait analysis had been blown away when he switched from regular running shoes to VFFs.

I had asked Brett how many miles he had logged on his VFFs, but before he could answer, our conversation was interrupted by a loud shout of "25!" from somewhere on the trail above. A couple of minutes later, and a bit closer, there was another shout of "24!"

Named after the founder of the scouting movement, Mt. Baden-Powell is the culminating point of the scout's Silver Moccasin Trail. Most summer weekends you'll find one or more youth groups on their way to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell. This enthusiastic group was counting down and calling out the 38, 40 or 41 switchbacks (depending on the reference) on the way to the summit.

One of the more interesting hikers on the trail was a hard looking Royal Marine veteran that was thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Hoping to minimize snow issues on the high Sierra passes, he was a little behind the main wave of PCTers. He had stopped at Lamal Spring to fill some water bottles, and told of hellish temperatures in the desert.

Here the temps had been nowhere near triple digits, but a considerable amount of snow had melted in three weeks since I had last been on the peak. Even so, there were still some large patches of snow on the steep slopes north of the summit, and on the north side of the ridge extending west to to Mt. Burnham.

After topping out, we hiked out along the scenic south ridge of the peak. To the southeast, across the mile deep chasm of Vincent Gulch, some ribbons of snow could still be seen on Mt. Baldy's north face. After a few minutes we returned to the summit, and began the much easier run down the peak. It was a great way to spend Father's Day!

Some related posts: Running Hot & Cold, Wally Waldron Limber Pine, Bear Cubs on the South Fork Trail, PCT from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle