The Chumash and Hummingbird trails are popular trails in the eastern Simi Valley, north of the 118 Freeway. These trails ascend the steep western flank of the Santa Susana Mountains to Rocky Peak fireroad. A scenic loop can be created using these trails and a connection between the Chumash and Hummingbird trailheads down in the valley. There are a few ways to do this, and the loop has proved popular.

On a chilly October morning, following a cold night at 9400 ft., a Seven-spotted Lady Beetle is slow to move from her bivouac amid the blossoms of a Rabbitbrush.

The photo is from the North Backbone Trail Revisited hike and run.

A photograph of Christmas Berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia) taken on a run on Thanksgiving Day. My route was a pleasant 7.5 mile figure eight course that starts at the south end of Reseda Blvd. at Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park, goes up to near Eagle Rock via Fire Road #30 and the East Topanga Fire Road, and then returns via the Garapito and Bent Arrow Trails. Here's a Google Earth image of a GPS trace of the route.

Also see: Ferns Along the Garapito Trail

Nature isn't necessarily nice. Behavior and interactions among animals are often violent. So it is with mountain lions. But the mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains also have to cope with the additional problems of living on an island of lion habitat in the middle of an ocean of urban sprawl.

Fire Break on West Ridge of Topatopa Bluff

Looking down Sisar Road I could see a couple of riders on horseback, accompanied by a hiker. As I approached them, I slowed and then walked. They asked me how far I had gone, and I replied, "Topatopa." The hiker responded that she hadn't been to the summit since the Day Fire threatened the area, and asked if it was open. I told her that I thought so.

Fanged and clawed, death waits,
On a highland of lavender, near a saffron spire.

The silhouette of a crab spider on the petal of a back lit Purple nightshade (prob. Solanum xanti). The blossom is about 0.8 inch (~20 mm) wide, which would make the span of the spider's crab-like grasping forelegs about 0.25 inch (~7 mm). From a run at Sage Ranch Park on November 2, 2006.

Note: This is not a photo of Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).

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Autumn color in the leaves of gooseberry (prob. Ribes roezlii) at about 7500 ft. on the Vivian Creek trail. The photograph is from the San Gorgonio High Line hike and run.

Related post: Poison Oak

One of the other climbers commented, "It's almost eerie." And it was. On the 11,499' of San Gorgonio Mountain there was not a breath of wind and the temperature was a comfortable 50-something degrees. Wisps of cirrus accentuated the azure sky, and to the southeast San Gorgonio's ever-present companion, Mt. San Jacinto, stood quietly above Banning Pass. A couple of hours before I had been sitting on the summit of East San Bernardino Peak, debating whether to continue my planned trek to San Gorgonio.

Moon rising over rocks of the Chatsworth Formation at Sage Ranch Park.

Tahquitz Peak Historic Fire Lookout

The intimidating canyon rose steeply above me. Towering rock precipices lined the canyon walls, their summits glistening in the morning sun. I was at an elevation of about 2600' and it was already warm. A little unsteady, and moving slowly at first, I started the ascent. Gaining speed, I passed the first rock face, and after a minute or two, turned to gaze at Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. In what seems like a matter of minutes, yucca and cresote transitioned to mountain mahogany and juniper, and then to pine and fir. Suddenly my pace slows, there is a bump, a jostle, and a pause. The operator announces, "Welcome to the mountain station of the Palm Springs Tram. The elevation is 8516'..."

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

Simi Valley, Conejo Mountain, the Oxnard plain, Santa Barbara Channel, and the Channel Islands from the Chumash Trail.

Conejo Mountain is about 21 miles away, and the nearest point on Santa Cruz Island is about 50 miles distant.