Notice anything peculiar about the Mountain Phlox (Phlox austromontana) in this photo?

Usually 5-lobed, several of the blossoms here have six lobes.

These are along the Cougar Crest Trail, near Big Bear Lake. The photo is from a couple of weeks ago, the day before doing the Holcomb Valley 33 mile Trail Run.

The Havasupai reportedly use a preparation made from the plant (externally) for body aches.

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 Lodgepole 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 Lodgepole Pine, Bear Cubs on the South Fork Trail, PCT from Inspiration Point to Islip Saddle

At aid station #2 we turned onto the Pacific Crest Trail, and followed the smooth single-track through a serene Jeffrey pine forest on the north slopes of Delamar Mountain. It was a little chilly and breezy at 7800', and the strong June sun felt good on my bare arms. I was at about mile 9 of the Holcomb Valley 33 Mile Trail Run and all was good. The subtle vanilla scent of the pines wafted through the trees, and here and there bright yellow blossoms of western wallflower seemed to mark the way.

Rounding a corner, a pine framed image of Big Bear Lake and snow covered San Gorgonio popped into view. Behind me, a runner exclaimed, "Gorgeous!" As she passed, she commented, "This is my favorite race!" And I can see why. Not only is the race well organized, with great aid stations and super helpful volunteers, it challenges the runner with a unique mix of terrain and altitude.

Was up at Big Bear Lake this weekend for the Holcomb Valley 33 mile trail run. (More on that in a later post.) Got up to the lake around 2:00 in the afternoon, and on such a fantastic day couldn't just sit around.

First things first, I had to check out the trail on which the race would begin and end, the Cougar Crest Trail. The trail looked good. It wasn't too steep, and climbed up through an open forest of juniper, piñon pine, and Jeffrey pine. In hot weather the south facing trail would cook, but with morning temps in the 40's and afternoon temps around 70, that wouldn't be an issue. At about the mile mark the trail reached a level spot, and switchbacked left. It was a good point to turn around -- I'd see the rest tomorrow.

After a quick side trip to Holcomb Valley to check out another part of the course, I headed over to the Gray's Peak trailhead. It looked like this trail would have nice views of Big Bear Lake, and all the snow on north facing slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains.

With every switchback, this pretty trail tempted me higher and higher. I was torn between getting the scenic shot that seemed to be just around the next corner, and not overdoing it before the race. After a number of these switchbacks, I had to call it quits. I scrambled to a highpoint and took the photo above. Here's a larger image that shows the peaks a little more clearly.

The view framed by the trees extends from San Gorgonio Mountain (11,499') on the left, to San Bernardino Mountain (10,649') on the right. The peak just right of center, with the large snowfields, is San Bernardino East Peak (10,691'). One of my favorite trail runs climbs from Mill Creek on the other side of the range to San Bernardino East Peak, and then follows the crest to the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio. About 11 miles of the loop course is above 10,000'.

Related post: San Gorgonio High Line 2009

From a recent run on the Farmer Ridge trail, which works up onto the ridgeline above Mulholland, about a quarter mile west of its junction with Sullivan Ridge Fire Road. The single track trail bypasses a 1.1 mile stretch of Mulholland fire road, and is also about 1.1 miles long.

From a mid May run in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, formerly Ahmanson Ranch.

Given its vibrant chartreuse color, it isn't surprising that wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina) has been used by various indigenous groups to make a dye. Perhaps more of a curiosity is that it is toxic, and has reportedly been used as a poison, and medicinal remedy.

From Sunday's trail run in the Chumash Wilderness on the Vincent Tumamait Trail.

Some related trail runs: Fresh Air Traverse, Mt. Pinos - Mt. Abel Out & Back

I found this and several other variable checkerspots (Euphydryas chalcedona) flittering about and feeding on golden yarrow along the Garapito Trail, on a recent run in the Santa Monica Mountains.

A closer look revealed an outlandish creature with black-spotted orange ladybug eyes, a bright orange spiked hairstyle, and a substantial spiraled trunk.

The "hair spikes" are part of the butterfly's sophisticated scent sensing system. They are probably used in combination with the antennae to provide a three dimensional olfactory picture of the butterfly's surroundings. This would help guide the butterfly to food or potential mates.

Butterflies are masters of low speed flight, and exploit several unusual mechanisms to generate aerodynamic lift. They are also opportunistic, and will take advantage of thermals and variations in the windfield to move from one place to another.

Several times when I've encountered a butterfly on a run, it has flown along with me for a surprising distance. I know that butterflies can be attracted by color, that's happened in my bright yellow kayak. But in this case I don't think it's color or coincidence. It seems to me the butterfly is surfing the wave of air pushed around me as I run, similar to the way a porpoise surfs the bow wave of boat.

Related posts: Sylvan Hairstreak, Western Tiger Swallowtail

Mt. Baldy fron the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell

Yesterday, Woodland Hills topped the 90° mark for the first time this year. But somebody forgot to tell the local mountains about the warmup. This morning, I was about a mile into an out and back trail run from Islip Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell, and with the wind chill, it felt like the temp was in the 40's.

In November 2009 NASA used its Predator B remotely piloted aircraft "Ikhana" to collect post-burn assessments of the Piute Fire in Kern County and the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. This interactive Google Earth browser view shows the area of the San Gabriel Mountains burned in the Station Fire, with an overlay of the Ikhana Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) image. (Image courtesy of NASA Dryden and NASA Ames.)

According to NASA, the various purple hues are indicative of the differences in burn severity. The view can be panned, zoomed and tilted (help info) in order to get an idea of the burn severity along a particular trail, or in a particular area. This can be used with other assessment data and on the ground observations to evaluate burn severity. There is also a BAER Station Fire Soil Burn Severity Map (1.1MB PDF) on the Angeles National Forest web site, but it is low resolution, and doesn't include placenames. Additional BAER information can be found on the Angeles National Forest Station Fire BAER page.

Earlier this week Angeles National Forest reopened some areas of the forest closed by the Station Fire, and issued Forest Order 01-10-02, redefining the boundary of the Station Fire Closure Area. The magenta line in the previous view, and in this Google Earth browser view without the burn severity overlay, is the approximate boundary of the Station Fire Closure Area as derived from Angeles National Forest Order No. 01-10-02, Exhibit A and Exhibit B. The boundary, as depicted, is intended to provide a general overview of the closed area -- not an exact rendering. Please contact Angeles National Forest to determine whether a particular resource is open or closed. Note, for example, that a road may be open or closed depending upon which edge of the road is the boundary.

One of the reasons for putting this information together was to check the status of several peaks and trails. With so much of the forest closed it is essential that every trail and area that is in reasonable condition be opened to the public. For example, the north approach and summit of Twin Peaks is outside the burn area, but remains closed. The trail from Buckhorn to Twin Peaks Saddle and up to the peak should be open, and if the short section of trail burned near Three Points is OK, trail 10W04 from Three Points to Mt. Waterman and Twin Peaks should be opened.

GPS traces of some trail runs inside and outside the Station Fire area have been added to both Google Earth views, along with links to related photos and stories. Trail runs that fall partially or entirely inside the closure area have a red label. Click on the green hiker icon for additional info. Some placenames have also been added --the locations should be considered approximate.

The views also include a partial track of the Pacific Crest Trail (2009 ver. 1) from the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail web site. Note that the PCT is closed in the Station Fire Closure area and the northbound PCT has been rerouted at Islip Saddle. See the Pacific Crest Trail Association web site for more info.

Eagle Rock From Eagle Springs Fire Road

Is it May or March? With all the blustery weather systems that have been moving through Southern California, it's been hard to tell.

Today I had planned to head back to the high country of the San Gabriels, but instead decided to take advantage of the spectacular weather and do a rambling 24 mile run in the Santa Monica Mountains.

It was a good choice. Early in the run growing mountains of silver-lined cumulus towered above the Hub, and a brisk wind tempted me to pull the sleeves from the pack. Wildflowers lined the trails, and the chaparral teemed with color, sound and scent. It was a long run kind of day.

Note: Later in the day I talked to a runner who had been at Lake Arrowhead early in the morning. He said it had been snowing down to 3000 ft! According to the NWS, record low temperatures for today were set at Lancaster (41°), San Luis Obispo (38°), and Sandberg (28°).

Davidson's Phacelia (Phacelia davidsonii) near Cooper Canyon trail camp, in the San Gabriel Mountains. From last Sunday's run.

Washoe phacelia (Phacelia curvipesa) is similar, but it's blossom is not as large.