Moments in Dirt and Ink

A couple sketches during the month: Another of Whiteacre Peak, but from the other side in Squaw Flat . The sun was high but showing sunset colors over Montecito Peak .

Los Padres National Forest Map link. To finish off the year, I decided to hike the Santa Ynez Mountains above Gaviota. The plan is to go past the hot spring to a random peak with a marker. There are many trails shown on the map around this far western section of Camino Cielo with one headed past another spring. This looks like it could be interesting if the trail actually exists. Heading back, I'll hit the peak and make an attempt at Tunnel View Trail with a short excursion to find another monument. The route out to Posta and back is supposed to be 10 miles, so this should come in around 12. There is no one in the parking lot as I arrive at the trailhead. It is still a $2 parking fee for this spot in the Gaviota State Park. Hours are 8AM to sunset, but it doesn't look like the gate has been closed in years. The morning air is very crisp, but starting up the climbing road soon makes it very comfortable. The stink of sulfur comes on quickly, but then fades again...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trailhead. It's a beautiful day for an afternoon wander up to a local little peak. Clouds dot the sky delightfully, but the islands are just a bit murky as I head to the Cold Spring trailhead. There's a group of backpackers creatively slinging average sized loads in and around small packs in the parking lot, somehow looking more capable than the average person jury-rigging a load. There's a little bit of water crossing the ford as I turn up the trailhead nearest the creek, but the bench at the junction with the trails up the other two forks seems to be looking over dry creek bed. In a section where the trail climbs up past a hard rock layer, water can be heard falling a fair distance far below, but can't be spotted. There is water again at the pool above the creek crossing. A little bit of water is coming down Cold Spring Canyon. It is getting easier to miss the trail just after the second crossing where it heads a...

Los Padres National Forest (map link) There's a sign in Fillmore that says "Forest, thata way" and it's time to stop ignoring that. Dough Flat seems a sensible spot to go dipping a toe into this area, with no difficulties except that the road is "impassible when wet", possibly "rutted", and probably "closed for the season next Monday". With rain coming, the time is ripe to check it out. I decided to head toward Ant Camp and loaded the GPS with the possible location of a couple monuments in case I didn't feel like I had time for a long hike. Twisting along the dirt road around the side of the mountain does take quite some time, especially if heeding the 15 MPH speed limit. It turns out the sensible person with FWD and 6" clearance should turn around about 1/4 mile from the last gate where the first ruts appear on a bit of a slope. I give up on the road in a spot of good road just big enough to turn around in between ano...

Not many drawings this month while I've been challenging myself to paint something fully from memory or imaginary once a day throughout the month. Up on Rocky Pine Ridge with an oversubscribed Sierra Club hike.

Angeles National Forest Map link. Mount Lowe may not be the highest in the area, but it certainly has a centralness to it. I promised the folks at HIKE the GEEK a six mile round trip with a bit of elevation change and got three takers. We met at Red Box and drove up the last half mile to the start at the road up Mount Disappointment. Crossing the road from the parking, we start up the trail and get to climbing quickly under the cover of oaks with a few pines thrown in. Switchbacks overlooking the San Gabriel River's west fork carry us further and further up until finally meeting with the road again. Looking northeast, we see the west fork of the San Gabriel River as it winds east. The now closed road passes a few old car camping sites including Valley Forge. The ski areas in the background seem to have a little snow. In the direction of Strawberry Peak across Arroyo Seco, there seem to be a few more snowy tops in the far distance, perhaps Pinos and the closer S...

Angeles National Forest Map link. I decided to head out to the current end of Templin Highway again to check out a little more of the extreme western section of Angleles. The excuse for this one is to search out five Public Land Survey System markers, all witness corners, that rest in the bottom of Cienaga Canyon, mostly along Castaic Creek. They were placed before 1958 ( Liebre Mountain 7.5' ) as they can be found on the quad from then. Otherwise, I know nothing about them. I loaded up some guessed locations into the GPS and made a plan of attack. I would follow the canyon up, pausing from time to time to stomp through the undergrowth on the side looking for a monument, then follow the old road back down. This road was reduced to a trail in more recent maps and has been mostly removed from the 1995 quad . Still, the route up the ridge and back down can be seen from satellite, so I'm pretty confident I can follow it. The canyon bottom seems to have a bit of trail ...

Los Padres National Forest Map link. After reacquiring permission to head up to Thorn Point to attend to the trees crossing the trail, we gather at the intersection of Lockwood Valley and Grade Valley, the ranks shrunken to only four. I have never been on one of these, but will still get to hold onto the big saw under the watchful eye of someone who is certified to the correct level. We call into service and head down the road, which is looking excellent if ignoring the first, and currently only, water crossing which is an ever deepening bowl of slush. There are a couple hunters out actually hunting, but no one is parked at Thorn Meadows. We get out the tools and have a safety talk. It is extensive, and boils down to: Respect the saw, especially the teeth, for they are long and sharp and will bite if given the chance. Respect the ax, and always swing it so that if it deflects, it must go through some great obstacle like a trunk or the ground to get to you. Respect the tr...

Sketches from this month... A star fish on the beach. The lake from up on Camino Cielo . A piece of the ridge with the Castro Motorway passing through it. Whiteacre Peak, I think, from near a random benchmark near the edge of the forest.

San Bernardino National Forest San Gorgonio Wilderness Map link. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 It was a cold night. Sometime early on, wind had found its buddy fog and together they froze an amazing among of ice onto the south facing side of everything, thicker as it gets higher. Chunks of ice lie around my little roof, having been shaken from the trees by that same wind. The ice doesn't look in the mood to melt, but my water hasn't frozen inside my shelter. The view from under my shelter out into the stiff wind and fog shows trees heavy with ice on the south side.

San Bernardino National Forest San Gorgonio Wilderness Map link. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 The night was cold, the morning is cold. The camp is devoid of the sounds of people getting up, but I'm pretty far from the other two groups. The water in the Platypus isn't frozen and I eventually get up to turn it into breakfast. The new pump refuses to add any pressure to what is already in there, but the stove goes just fine after four matches fizzle and a fifth lights. After breakfast, the last layer of washing water left in the pot freezes to it. I'm wondering if it could actually be getting colder as the sun gets up when the sun finally starts hitting the camp. Once it gets to me, the neighbors who got it first finally emerge. The sun instantly heats the place to the point I don't need my jacket anymore. Some of the area of Limber Pine Bench with one of the rock walls that grace the south face of the numerous flat spots. The big group is a bustl...

San Bernardino National Forest San Gorgonio Wilderness Map link. DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Wanting to hit the initial points near one end of the San Bernardino Peak Divide Trail and San Gorgonio Mountain at the other, I decided on a loop starting at Forsee Creek and finishing at South Fork. With the last bit of walking to connect the ends, it looks like about 35 miles of travel. I didn't like the way the second day was working out when insisting on camping by water, so settled on an easier four day plan giving much more time for wandering up all the peaks and searching for all of the initial points. Most of the hiking is in the San Gorgonio Wilderness, so I stop by the Mill Creek Ranger Station on the way up to get a permit. They have quotas to limit the number of people in the wilderness, implemented mostly by campsite for backpackers to keep the sites from overflowing. My desired sites are all available, so getting the permit is painless. Stoves a...

Angeles National Forest Locate the trail head. It's cooling down, a little anyway. I decided to head over to Townsend Peak in the Los Padres administered area of Angeles National Forest. The peak itself isn't much, but there's plenty of trail behind it to check out, including quite a bit that was removed in the 1995 Whitaker quad leaving mostly fuel breaks. There isn't much for destinations unless one hikes through to Lake Piru, but I picked out a few monuments of various sorts to try to find. I'm sure I'll find something nice to look at along the way. Unfortunately, the printer insisted on rendering my map badly into black and white, leaving out the red, to increase the challenge. Access off the 5 is simple. Just get off at Templin Highway and head to the old bit of 99 on the left. A left on the Golden State Highway doesn't leave a lot of road, but there's a strip of dirt after the "end" sign. Let the water tanker pass and then...

Malibu Creek State Park Map link. After the morning hike, I decide to go up to Upper Solstice Canyon where I can finish off the last bit of a loop I started in 2009 . Going past the entrance to Lower Solstice Canyon, I am reminded that it is actually a part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by the locked gate across it. Some of the users of the overflow parking don't seem to realize the road does go somewhere and present minor obstacles to passage. Up at the end of the road, there is plenty of parking, so a grab a spot and start up Castro Motorway, the continuation of the road. At first the views are quite tame, but once up to the top and the north side opens up, they become excellent, if a little difficult to see. The Backbone Trail passes through the parking lot heading over these rocks to the southeast and should head along the motorway, but it has to reroute down into the valley instead. Looking into the valley to the north. Lovely r...

Topanga State Park Map link. Although not officially a hike of the group, a number of the LA chapter of HIKE the GEEK collect themselves on a street corner in Pacific Palisades to hike into Rustic Canyon from the Sullivan Fire Road with a few extras who were actually organizing the hike. Coming in from the fire road gives a little easier route than the usual from Will Rogers State Historic Park. When we're all good and ready, we start down the fire road past a gate and dodging a few cars on their way to the boy scout camp. The area up Rustic Canyon from near the start of the hike. Sullivan Fire Road curves its way along the upper right of the canyon. After a short while climbing slowly along the fire road, there's a whole in a fence where there might have once been a gate. Turning, there is a short bit of trail, and then a long flight of steps. The steps are short and shallow and, of course, without handrails as they drop very nearly to the bottom of the cany...

Los Padres National Forest Locate the trail head. Heading back to the Ventura River Preserve, but this time to the Oso Trail Head, gets me into the prime location for hiking Camino Cielo, at least as far as it has been cleared. This one is a little harder to find, with a small sign by a small opening in a gate. Other signs warn the gates will be locked at 7:30 PM until October 31, after which it will be even earlier, and I'll just have to wait until morning if I'm too late back. We don't make our mini lions fast every Thursday like the zoo, so it seems like a good idea to get back before their tummies get to too much rumbling. Anyway, it's not Thursday. Packed up, I pop through the fence and onto a bit of trail. Following the signs for Rice Canyon, I jog over to the right where a road crosses the dry river stones and climbs out the other side. On the far side, this ends in another road that is blocked to the north. Heading south, it quickly splits to cross...

Santa Barbara city park Map link. The city has a few large open spaces kept as parks. One such park is the just over 20 acre Honda Valley. Oddly, the city web site does not list it under the open spaces, but it is signed as such. The park is open from sunrise to half an hour after sunset, although there are no gates to enforce that. It runs much of the length of the valley, with many areas shaded by oaks and eucalyptus. It is much less used compared to the other open spaces, at least in my experience, and can harbor actual wildlife. I found a fox on my first visit. Entry to Honda Valley directly from Carrillo is along a narrow, undulating path and is signed. Entering from Carrillo near the top of the hill puts one high on one side of the valley and gives views of the mountains and some of the homes that ring the edges, mostly right at the top. The narrow and well established trail passes through ice plant, then into native vegetation. It gets into some oak trees, t...

It is time to leave for Grade Valley, where I will meet with a group of volunteers to help cut through the nine trees that are currently on the trail to Thorn Point.  Well, I would be, if it weren't that volunteers are not free.  Even when the forest has been cash strapped for so long that they now have well trained volunteers to wrangle their volunteers, volunteers are not free.  While we are working, we keep dispatch up to date on our status, but the skeleton crew at dispatch need to focus on the skeleton crew of fire and law enforcement left in the forest.  While we are working for them, the Forest Service insures us on their own self insurance.  If we get hurt, it is a new bill to the Forest Service, and they are not allowed to run up new bills so they can't take the chance of having us work.

Sketches for the month of September were a bit more plentiful, at least in the second half of the month. Sketch made while at the waterfall in Cooper Canyon. One while sitting on the breakwater of the harbor. Down on the beach on a foggy day when we had a massive cruise ship in the bay. Up on the hillside just after entering Honda Valley as the fog is breaking. Sitting on Arlington Peak when the water looked a bit low. Hanging at Reyes Peak again.

Los Angeles Deciding to go to see Endeavour doesn't take long. Sung and I arrive at the California Science Center in time for an early showing of Flight of the Butterflies, which is the first time I've watched an IMAX movie and the first time I've watched something in 3D. Yes, I seriously haven't indulged in either of these before. Shuttle viewing is free with the movie. (It is also free without the movie, but they try not to mention that.) I manage to arrive without my camera, so all of these photos are taken by Sung Byun. We park right next to the SR-71 and Sung is already happy he came. It means nothing to me, so he tells me of listening for the sonic boom every day as one of these would take off to fly over North Korea and Russia. We have plenty of time before the show to check it out. A massive chunk of titanium. Okay, I have to admit that this does look like a pretty special plane. It does Mach 3 and seems to be all wing. This is the training mode...

Los Padres National Forest We head down the mountain in the morning to join with some folks from Habitat Works and take out tamarisk that are invading the Dome Springs area. There are many invasive species trying to crowd out our native plants, but this Asian plant is set apart by its incredible ability to suck water out of the ground. Although capable of surviving without any water for half the year, it takes up water at a rate far in excess of other plants when it can get it. Of course, salts from the ground also come up with the water and the plant tends to increase the salinity of the soil around it, which is part of why it gets called a salt cedar. The soil becomes too salty for other plants long before the tamarisk is bothered. To get rid of them, we simply cut off the tops. Unfortunately, they are very good at growing back. Spraying herbicide on after will decrease grow back quite well, but just cutting it a few times in the year will eventually be effective. We head ...