Mt. Wilson/Valentine's Day

Common beggarticks (above)

Stinging Lupine (above)

Wishbone bush (above)

Lacepod (above)

Sweet alyssum (above, along the trail)

Western wallflower (above)

Baby blue eyes (above)

California bay (above)

Coffee fern (above)

View looking west towards LA and the Pacific (above).

Mt Lowe, Mt. Markham, San Gabriel Peak (above)View looking east towards Mt. Baldy (above).

It's been a fantastic President's Day weekend so far. Most of the snow that blanketed the San Gabriel's in the beginning of the week has melted away. Temperatures this weekend have been in the mid 70's lower 80's. I decided to hike the Mt. Wilson trail for the first time today. I really enjoyed this trail. Not only was I able to put in 14 miles and over 4000ft in elevation gain/loss, but I was able to enjoy a variety of landscapes. The first couple thousand feet was a springtime feast for the senses, wildflowers were bursting forth from both sides of the trail, the air was crisp and clear, and water flowed freely from the canyon below. The trail also provided plenty of shade at times from the intense sunlight, and kept temperatures cool. Around 4000ft or so, the trail entered some refreshing pine forests, all the while, the sound of water could be heard flowing down from above. Once at the summit, snow was abundant, drifts seemed to be a foot deep in places. There weren't too many people hiking the trail today, I expected to see many more after witnessing the crowds at Inspiration Point a couple of weeks ago. I met a hiker named Justin just above Manzanita Ridge. We leapfrogged each other up most of the trail and ended up striking up a conversation all the way to the summit and back down to the parking lot. I tend to do most of my hiking solo which allows me to pay closer attention to the vegetation. However, it was nice to meet someone new and share information about good hiking trails in the area.

Another Beautiful Winter Day

Windmill Pink (above)

Oriental Mustard (above)

Coast figwort (above)

The city of Los Angeles and in the distance, Palos Verdes. (above)

Santiago Peak? (above)

Looking towards the city of Eagle Rock and snow covered Mt. Baldy in the distance. (above)

The snow covered San Gabriel front range. Looks like the snow level dropped to about 4500 ft or so after yesterday's storm.

No snow in the Verdugo's. Mt. Lukens is snow covered in the distance behind the Verdugo's.

Russian thistle (above: otherwise known as tumbleweed!)

I was fortunate to have the morning off from work, so I decided to take what I had planned to be a quick hike in Griffith Park to keep my body in shape for the upcoming PCT. It turned into another photo-fest, and the last half hour a rush to my car to get to work on time in the afternoon. The park is the greenest I have ever seen it. The temperatures were perfect, great visibility, and I was able to discover some new specimens (for me at least).

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I must throw a "shout out" to Michael L. Charters, whose webpage I use to identify a lot of the flowers I find. Thanks Michael!

Web Cams

Mt. Wilson

Mt. Josephine

Mt. Lukens

Mt. Lukens

Hills and Highways

LeBird, here is a shot from Monday's hike at the summit looking West. Burbank is the city down below, and the Pacific Ocean is visible in the distance. Behind me is roughly where the picture you were asking about was taken. There you would see the San Gabriel's, the 210, and the towns of La Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge.

Hills and Highways

LeBird, here is one more photo from Monday's hike looking southeast. Clicking on the picture will make it larger. The 210 is on the left heading southeast parallel to the front range of the San Gabriel's. If you look at the upper left hand corner of the picture, and if you were to hook left around the base of the mountain, you would be in Pasadena.

Highway 2 is heading to the right (just in front of the foothills in the distance in the middle of the picture. Continue driving to the right (south) on highway 2, and Eagle Rock would be further to the right in the distance.

Verdugo Mts.

Canyon sweet pea (above)

Chaparral currant (above)

Prickly Cryptantha (above)

Woolly blue curls (above at the summit)

Black sage (above)

Spanish broom (above)

Manzanita (above)

I went for a hike in the Verdugo mountains along the Northeast side of the range. It's interesting how different the east side is compared to the west. Along the east, there are more trees and the vegetation seems thicker. It was also nice to hear water pouring through the canyons. Every other time I've hiked here, it's been dry as a bone. I saw some familiar wildflowers today, I think the highlight was finding some blue woolly curls at the top of the mountain. I've noticed I've started hiking differently as of late. My eyes are glued to the plants, trees and flowers along the side of the trail and it's taking me forever to get from point A to point B. In fact, I feel like I've got whiplash from turning my head from side to side. I'm not sure what to make of it, perhaps it's just a phase I'm in at the moment. Another storm is coming our way tomorrow. I heard on the radio that the snow line may drop as low as 2000 feet. That means snow in the Verdugos! We'll have to see about that...