Moments in Dirt and Ink

Sketches done out in the open for the month. Foolishly heading up the canyon in the rain. Bits of cabin foundation remaining along the burned creek . The creek coming over the debris dam . New growth in the nearby maples.

Angeles National Forest Locate the trailhead. The desire to see how Arroyo Seco has fared after the fire got the better of me and I had to go see. I think this is the first time back since that first hike with sketchbook in hand. Most of the trail is not, strictly speaking, open to the public. Much earlier along than the actual closure, the city had put up a road block to be annoying. Perhaps the city has closed the park between the city and the forest as well, but they didn't actually put up any informative signs about that. Usually they remember to try reason with you about how it's such a bad idea and threaten fines. These signs were just shouting "No! Not allowed!" which doesn't convince anyone who's already decided to go into the forbidden zone. Many other people were also ignoring the signs. Maybe not as many as would usually be found there without the signs, but plenty of people. Dog walkers and joggers as well as hikers. I even saw a...

Altadena front country Locate the trailhead. I haven't been hiking in a few weeks and even though it wanted to rain again today, I went out. Even out into a canyon. Because I can now, I parked up at the top of Mt. Wilson Toll Rd. and passed through the long closed gate to the bridge, reducing my rock hopping crossings by one. In spite of the threatening rain which had even materialized once earlier, many people were out on the trail. I circled down from the bridge to the trail that passes under it to the falls. Almost at the mouth of the canyon, there is a funny concrete thing like the one the fishermen in Fish Creek said was for measuring the flow of the river.

Altadena front country Locate the trailhead. Last week, I noticed this trail heading along the back of the water facility at the end of Rubio. The trail heading out behind the water facility, photographed the week before. This trail looks to me like it gets a fair bit of use. I looked at the satellite photos to see where it might go, but couldn't be very sure from them. They did show that there is likely a mile or two of trail heading off around in the Eaton Canyon direction. It also showed a rather clear route down from the Rubio trail. I started as normal for Rubio, with the turning off Lake at Palm, then turning down everything that says Rubio on it and parking in the corner. I started down the trail as usual, watching for the trail down. There was a large dirt spot to the side of the trail as though people liked to stand out on that bit for the view, which so often is a good way to hide a trail junction. It turns out it was the junction I was looki...

Quite a few sketches done of the wilds this month. Although this bit of wild was actually after the fact, from a recent Wilcox Property photo. Some oaks that looked like parts weren't that healthy hiking in a state park . A small waterfall in the state park . A more elaborate fall just below the previous . Another from the same recent photo set of the Wilcox Property, so not really wild. Up a little tributary in Monrovia Canyon . Ripply little waterfall in Fish Canyon . The bottom of the big falls in Fish Canyon . A willow in a crack by the waterfall edge in Rubio . One of the tall falls in Rubio .

Altadena front country Locate the trailhead. The snow is all quite melted again and the water level not quite still at storm surge level, but I decided to go out and see Rubio's falls once more. At least a few of them. Sometime, I would like to go up to the valley high above for the day, but this wasn't the day. I would also like to see where the well trod path that goes up past the water storage and into the bit of canyon area between Rubio and Eaton goes, but this wasn't the day for that either. This was a day to hike up to the first falls and then decide what else to hike to. That ended up being both to the top of the first falls and the little falls behind it and then up to the lookout for the biggest waterfall. The trail continued to look about to be washed away in places and yet somehow no worse than before the rains. The falls by the pavilion I've never seen are still buried. The falls we do see are still short. Everything was as it was left, exc...

Duarte front country Locate the trailhead. I went up Fish Canyon again today. The quarry guys were telling us to finish by 2 or 2:20 today instead of 3 like usual. I was sort of counting on that usual time out to have enough time to dally here and there. I went up the trail fast enough to feel the up even though it is a very mild trail. (Then again, I am rather out of shape these days.) I came upon a tributary I was suspicious was the one I'd heard the waterfall up before. I listened closely, but couldn't hear it today because everything else below it was so loud. I followed the faint trail up it anyway and found the delightful little waterfall. It turns out that if you go even closer to it than I had before when I was in a hurry to get down, it's even more delightful. The water comes down into a bit of rock that looks like a square has been cut from it. My sketch of the waterfall along the way to the big falls. This one comes down one very flat sid...

Monrovia Canyon Park Locate the trailhead. We had a fair bit of rain, so I decided to go out and see the waterfalls, or at least one. I wanted to go to Fish Canyon, but the shuttle was canceled "due to rain" even though it was supposed to be sunny. I was going to go anyway, hiking over the edge of the canyon down into it, then I got lazy and just went out to Monrovia instead. I still needed to get exercise, so parked on the street and walked in. The snow level came down very low over the many days of rain and there was a little snow that could be seen still up on the hills on the way in. The hills around Monrovia Canyon aren't all that high, but a little snow remained in among the vegetation. The park has quite a variety of trees that really shouldn't be growing here. Pines, yes, but the furs and ceders and palm are a little odd.