Update 7/26/08. There have been recent USB driver (4-28-08) and firmware (5-07-08) updates, and the PC software has been replaced (7-04-08), but the most significant change is that SportTracks now supports the GH615 via a plugin. Since I use SportTracks I have not looked closely at the new "g-Sports PC Utility" software, but it appears to be more functional than the original "PC Utility" software. Some significant quirks remain. When the GH615B is set to STATUTE(ft, mph) units, the elevation still displays in miles -- e.g. 1.702 miles instead of 8987 ft.

Update 9/10/07. Shortly after writing this post I learned that the GH-615B has been discontinued in the U.S. in favor of the GH-615M, which includes a heart rate monitor.

Chugging up Mt. Baden-Powell, I pushed various buttons on the GlobalSat GH615B, searching for the screen that displays elevation. I had seen it on a run during the week, and now I couldn't find it. Wait... What? My elevation is 1.702 MILES??

When my Forerunner 205 had to be returned to Garmin a second time, it seemed like a good time to see if there were any new GPS-based running watches I could use for tracing the routes of my trail runs. The description of the GH615B on the GlobalSat web site looked promising. Like the Forerunner 205/305 it had a watch-like design, and the specs said it also used the newer, more sensitive, SiRFstarIII GPS technology.

Despite an ongoing heat wave and excessive heat warnings, temps were surprisingly moderate for the 42nd running of the Mt. Baldy Run to the Top race. This year the men's overall winner was Eric Martin in a time of 1:10:04, and the women's overall winner was Brigid Freyne in a time of 1:30:41. For all of the results see the Run to the Top web site. Many thanks to the race organizers, volunteers, USFS, Mt Baldy Ski Lifts and the Mt. Baldy Fire Department for a great race!

Here are a few images from the race (Flash 8 required), a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file (updated) of a GPS trace of the route.

Related post: Mt. Baldy Runner

The plan had been to do a 2-3 hour run from the Chula Vista parking lot west over Mt. Pinos into the Chumash Wilderness, but due to the Zaca Fire, the trail/road to the summit of Mt. Pinos, the Vincent Tummawait trail, and all of the Chumash Wilderness were closed.

Improvising the best we could, we linked together some cross-country ski trails, use trails, a fallen tree, and the Mt. Pinos road, and were able to get in a good trail run.

Update Friday, August 31, 2007. In a press release dated August 29, 2007, the Forest Service announced that some areas within Los Padres National Forest east of Highway 33 that were previously closed to public entry because of the Zaca Fire would be reopened on August 30.

For more information regarding the Zaca Fire and related closures, see the Los Padres National Forest web site.

Some related posts: Mt. Pinos - Mt. Abel Out & Back, Thunderstorm, Vincent Tumamait Trail

With little new growth this Spring and Summer, coyote paths at Ahmanson Ranch have become so well worn that several have recently been posted with "Restoration Area - Please Keep Out" signs. Whether the canny coyotes will choose to cooperate remains to be seen.

Note: Ahmanson Ranch was acquired as open space in part to protect several sensitive species and their habitats. Some (human) use trails have evolved and "Restoration Area - Please Keep Out" signs are a reminder that the area is a preserve.

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

Related post: Trickster

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

Who hasn't pondered the intriguing network formed by the interconnected veins of a leaf? Like many apparently complex self-organized structures, there is a recognizable pattern, but the basis of the pattern is difficult to grasp.

Remarkably, research published in 2002 (S. Bohn et al., Phys. Rev. E, June 2002.) found that there is a simple relationship governing the angles between vein segments in the leaves of dicotyledons, and that this relationship is universal. The study also found that the observed vein angles can be reproduced using a simple force model.

Numerical analysis of leaf scans revealed that the angles between vein segments are directly related to the thickness of the segments. When the vein sizes are similar, the connection appears to form a three-way junction with the angle between the veins about 120 degrees. If the vein sizes are dissimilar, with one much larger than the other, the smaller vein joins the larger at about a 90 degree angle.

The photograph is of a leaf of a Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) along Las Virgenes Creek in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. It was taken on a run from the Victory trailhead on May 16, 2007.

The bright orange-red coloration of these immature large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) is a warning to predators that they taste bad. Like monarch butterflies, they concentrate foul-tasting compounds from the narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) in their bodies.

Following several instars (molts), the nymph is transformed into the adult insect.

The photograph is from a run at Sage Ranch on July 23, 2007.

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Sandstone Peak and Boney Mountain from Simi Peak

I hadn't done this course in midsummer, but a long run close to home, and an early morning ascent of Simi Peak sounded like a nice change of pace. A dawn start from El Scorpion Park put me on the peak and back to the car before temps got out of hand.

A bee forages on Bigelow's sneezeweed (Helenium bigelovii) at Little Jimmy Spring. From Sunday's Islip - Baden-Powell loop.

A grizzled guardian of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Wally Waldron Tree stands defiantly astride an airy, rock strewn ridge, just below the summit of 9399 ft. Mt. Baden-Powell.

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

Mt. Wilson, Occidental Peak, Mt. Markham, San Gabriel Peak, Mt. Disappointment, and Mt. Deception from the summit of Twin Peaks, in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Mt. Markham (5742') is the craggy peak along the skyline, just right of the centerline of the photograph. The bump to the left of Mt. Markham is Occidental Peak (5732'). To the right of Mt. Markham is the highest peak in the group, San Gabriel Peak (6161'). To the right of San Gabriel Peak are Mt. Disappointment (5960'), and Mt. Deception (5796'). The indistinct summit of Mt. Wilson (5710'), and the observatory, are on the left.

Guardian of the rugged San Gabriel Wilderness, Twin Peaks (7761') has an isolated, high mountain feel. Its flanks drop more than 5000 feet to Devils Canyon on the southwest, and Bear Canyon on the southeast.

We climbed Twin Peaks while doing a point to point run from Buckhorn to Three Points. Including the peak, the run/hike was about 13 miles, with an elevation gain of about 3200'. Here's a Google Earth image and Google Earth KMZ file of a GPS trace of the route.

Related posts: Manzanita Morning, Three Points - Mt. Waterman Loop