Monrovia Canyon Falls, Monrovia, CA

Hiked December 14, 2025. I've hiked this trail many times, but not recently. It was closed due to fire damage for an extended period of time, then closed due to mud damage that resulted from heavy rains after the fire. But, with my other usual Front Range waterfall hikes off limits due to other fire closures, well, here we were.

Relatedly, the city of Monrovia does occasional family camping events in the park, where the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers set up telescopes for family viewing. There are tentatively scheduled events in January, February, and March, although I don't see them on the city or park websites, yet.

We did a little "pilot" for that last month, where I set up my 14" dob for city staff to view through. But mainly it was for me to get an idea of what sort of deep sky objects might work from what is still a very bright sky, but at least not without any light sources in the immediate area (unlike our sidwalk astronomy site, which is surrounded by numerous light fixtures!). Turns out some of the emission nebula (Dumbbell, Ring) showed pretty nicely with various light pollution filters. The Andromeda Galaxy and M15 globular cluster in Pegasus, by contrast, did not take the light pollution well. For the fun of it, I did try the Veil Nebula with my OIII filter, and I could make it out, but it was definitely not obvious.

At any rate, if family camping and astronomy are of interest to your kids, keep an eye out for this in city of Monvoria communications, or contact Canyon Park for further information.

As for the hike, I parked down before the Dip, which is just before Canyon Blvd splits to the right (going straight turns into Oakglade Drive). Small herd of deer were feeding off the home lawns, there. From the Dip, it's about four miles, roundtrip, if you walk the road past the gate and entrance kiosk, to the Waterfall Trail. A single all-gender restroom is near the entrance kiosk. Other restrooms are located at the nature center.

It's already mid-December, but there were a few splashes of color to be seen. I assumed it was a sycamore that gave me the yellow leaves, but i was told it was a Big Leaf maple. I am not completely sure, but it was pretty, either way. Also, in southern California, the poison oak leaves turn red in the winter.

Nice to get a few steps off-pavement. Also, a chance to wear some hiking boots, to try to build up callouses for longer hikes, next year.

Utah Highway 143, East of Cedar Breaks

Hiked September 22, 2024. Blast from the past. I somehow managed not to post these last year.

This would have been during the 2024 Southwest Astronomy Festival. After a night of astronmy at Cedar Breaks and before the drive down to La Verkin and a night of astronomy at Canyon Community Center, in Springdale, I headed down UT-143, east of Cedar Breaks. Been this way before. It often has good early fall color. This day was no exception.

When I'm looking for fall color, it's a lot of stopping and walking along roads. I probably only made it about six miles down 143. Lots of good color, so I pulled over on the shoulder and along dirt roads several times. I also walked a mile or so up the Hancock Peak trail, then back. Saw the trailhead on the way out, and hit that on the way back. I could see that the trail led to a peak, and passed through aspen, and thought it might be a nice view. Not enough time to make it to the peak, though, so I just went until I got immersed in golden aspen leaves.

That's Hancock Peak, to the left. First had to cross a couple of tiny streams, which you see, below. The shots above were further along the trail.

Despite their tiny size, these creeks apparently house a reintroduced Bonneville Cutthroat trout population. Saw a sign to that effect at the trailhead.

I probably mentioned at some point that I caught Bonneville cutthroat out of Leeds Creek (west of St. George), a really long time ago. Whiter and not as "cut" as other cutthroat trout I've seen, but a relic of previous ice ages, when huge inland lakes and seas dominated the Basin and Range.

Prior to the Hancock Peak trail, I briefly drove along a dirt Forest Service Road, wandered around there through meadows and admired the scenery, and stopped a few times on the shoulder, to do the same. All told, I'm sure I covered my three mile minimum.

Great fall weather for wandering: Sunny, clear, a little cool in temperature, but perfect to enjoy the foliage, provided you're dressed for it.

Somewhat bummed I didn't manage a fall foliage trip this fall. Definitely going to try harder, next year. Not sure if Utah or California. The Southwest Astronomy Festival is going to be in September, again. But, depending on the weather, that may be too early for good foliage. It was too early in 2025, for example. So going for that doesn't guarantee a foliage trip.

One of my astronomy friends is talking about renting the a group campground in Cedar Flat, in the White Mountains, in September. Of course, that is also likely too early for fall foliage. It's more of an astronomy trip. Not sure if any foliage will be within an easy day trip from there.

As of today, I have photos uploaded from a hike up Northshore Summit. I thought I posted that earlier, too. And I have a short hike Monrovia Falls. Somewhere, I also have photos for a Ryan Mountain and a Lost Horse Mine hike, possibly also from last year. I'm also trying to up my hiking frequency, again. So lots of backlog to post, which will hopefully keep building.

Charlie Turner Trail, Griffith Park, LA, CA

Hiked Sunday, December 7, 2025. Now that we're approaching the holidays, I was anticipating gridlock traffic heading up to Griffith Observatory, so I figured I'd plan on an early arrival and hike, before my shift. I ended up leaving home later than I wanted, but the expected traffic did not materialize. It was also empty on Tuesday, December 6. Can't say for how long this lull in visitation will last.

This is probably my most walked trail over the past ten years, but I haven't walked it that frequently, recently. Policy changes let us start our telescope shifts earlier than before, so now, if I get here early from my day job, I can just log in and start my shift earlier. We officially have telescopes on the front sidewalks from 7pm until 9:30pm, but, especially in the winter, when it gets dark early, there's no reason why you can't start telescope observing at 5:30pm or 6pm, instead.

One thing that has changed since the last time I hiked here is they have gated off what used to be an official trail that avoids the long switchback that is the Charlie Turner trail. It knocks at least ten to fifteen minutes off the descent time, which was good, if I wanted to hike up to Mount Hollywood and back, but was short on time. Going the long way, it's now pretty close to an hour (about 3.5 miles) roundtrip. But because of my early arrival, I did have time to finish that hike.

I got my start somewhat before sunset, and had som enice alpenglow on the San Gabriel Mountains on the way up. Not a lot in the way of flowers this time of year, though.

Got my nice workout in -- hiking here is different from just walking in town, because there's a climb involved, which works the cardio and the leg muscles. I really need to do this more often.

After coming back down, I changed my shift and worked my shift. But the moon picture down below was actually from Friday, December 5, 2025, my previous shift. That was the night of a confluence of events: A roughly full moon near a perigee approach, and near the period of major lunar standsill.

Major lunar standstill is when the moon rises or sets unusually far to the north or south, because an extreme point in its orbital wobble causes it to rise or set about five degrees further north or south than it normally would.

A full moon near the winter solstice would mean the moon would already be rising and setting unusually far to the north, and the extra five degrees makes it even more extreme. In this case, it rises near Mount Wilson, as seen from Griffith Observatory, rather than farther east, like near Mount San Antonio, or more or less due east, as during the equinoxes. Rising over the distant mountains means it's a little higher in the atmosphere as it becomes visible, and the seeing that night was exceptionally still, so, even rising, the moon showed some decent detail. And, being a little closer than average to earth in its eliptical orbit, it appeared a little larger than normal.

Oak Glen Preserve, Yucaipa, CA

Hiked November 24, 2025. Hit this on my return drive from Sky's the Limit; there was a night sky event there that got rescheduled to Sunday, November 23.

Oak Glen Preserve used to be a pretty regular stop for me on the drive back, as a combination hike/place to get a great apple pie. However, recently, I've been in a hurry to get back from the Joshua Tree area, or just not motivated to hike. But with the Thanksgiving dinner coming up, I had a compelling excuse to stop here for the hiking and the pie.

I arrived some time before 10am; Got there later than expected, because Waze sent me up Oak Glen from the east, ignoring road construction that got me stuck in a standstill for at least fifteen minutes. There was a several mile stretch of one lane, active construction, with a flagman.

Once there, I first hiked around the ponds, northwest of the trailhead. Both ponds were full of water, with waterfowl enjoying the weather. I then headed down south among the oaks, then up to Preservation Point, then back up through Founder's Park. All told, it's somewhere abou 3 1/2 miles. I forgot to turn my Alltrails recording off before driving home, so I don't have the specific hike distance or altitude climb.

Lots of water around, given the recent rain and snow. But the weather overall has been pretty warm, as well, so there was not a dramatic burst of fall foliage. Even in late November, leaves still hung on, but were more brown the golden or rust colored.

Along the walk, someone asked me where they could see red leaves of maple. I told him they weren't native, so you'd have to check in town. There may be some maples around the parking lot, too. Red leaves, anyway, though I didn't take a closer look. I also saw some reds around the buildings and parking lot for Riley's Farm (not to be confused with Riley's Los Rios Rancho), which I could see once I started climbing towards Preservation Point. Riley's Farm is across the road, at the southern end of Oak Glen Preserve, before you get back to Founder's Park. There's seasonal creek that runs between Oak Glen Preserve and Oak Glen Road. Riley's is across the road, there.

I did see one red leafed tree, earlier, along the smaller creek that runs below the ponds. This small creek eventually runs (though, perhaps, under ground) into the creek that parallels Oak Glen Road. Not sure what kind of tree, but definitely not a maple.

It was a little hazy this day, but it's still a nice view from Preservation Point. Mount San Jacinto is far off to the east. The San Bernardino Mountains are to your north. The Inland Empire is to your south. I finally checked a map and learned that the big reservoir with a pointing island in the middle is Lake Perris. Several other reservoirs are also visible from way up there.

Closer to home is the Oak Glen orchard, with lots of apple trees lined up, and the "temporary" building that is the shop also visible from up top.

Not a lot of color, as noted earlier. Some yellows, and some yellow-fringed oak leaves. That was about it.

It must have gotten cold, overnight, because the floating dock and the wooden walkway that passes through the stinging nettle were both closed, presumably due to safety considerations of slipping on ice-covered wood. Not sure if they opened, later.

Meanwhile, even at the start of my hike, I was fine in shorts and a hoodie.

It's a hike I've done before, but I enjoy it, because there's a pretty steep (but not super-long) climb up to Preservation point, and a shorter and less steep climb back up to Founders Park. It's also at moderate altitude of 4500 - 4800 feet above sea level, so it's better for my leg muscles and aerobic capacity than just walking around town. A little far as a destination, but a great stop on the way back from Joshua Tree, with year-round interest.

First hike it quite a while. Felt good to get outside, and the slightly-tired legs I had the next day felt even better. Always hoping to get a little more hiking in, but we'll see. Currently, my America the Beautiful pass is expired. I'm trying to make it to my birthday, later this month, when I'll qualify for a lifetime Golden Age passport. It's only eighty bucks, and in the big scheme of things, it's not much, but I don't want to spend money I don't have to.