North Side Trail and Canyon Trail Loop, JOTR National Park

Hiked December 21, 2025. Last post of the year. Also, likely, the last hike of the year.

After returning from the Living Desert Zoo, back to the motel in Yucca Valley, we ate lunch and rested up a bit. With this being the shortest day of the year, I knew it was going to get dark early. But I also wanted to get my Interagency Senior Lifetime pass. They used to call them, "Golden Age" passports. Once you reach age 62, they're $80, and cover basic entry fees on all federal lands for the rest of your life. Alternatively, you can buy an annual pass for $20. Since I hope to be traveling on public lands for more than five years, I wanted to buy the lifetime one.

So I swung by the Joshua Tree National Park visitor center in the town of Joshua Tree (on the way to the west entrance) and bought my pass. Got wished a happy birthday, and was informed that the pass would also cover "Adventure Pass" fees in the national forest of southern California (which I already knew), and half off on camping (which I sort of knew, but wasn't really thinking about). I think it may also get me be half off on various tours and what not, too. Of course, this got me thinking about where to go camping and what tours to take. Mind you, I don't camp often, but I did spend two nights camping in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, just this past June.

At any rate, having gotten a later start than I wanted, I knew I wouldn't have much time before sunset, and I wanted to be on the trail to watch the sun set and the clouds change. So I was pretty sure I'd just stop at the Maze Loop trailhead, and walk from there, which I did.

The trailhead is on the left (east or north) side of the road, a bit over a mile from the new entry station. The lot is pretty small (maybe 6-8 cars), but I was figuring it was late enough that there'd be space, either in the lot, or along the road, near the lot. Roadside parking is usually available, unless the road hasn't been graded after a flooding incident, in which case there would be very little space on the shoulder. On this day, there was lots of shoulder space, so I parked, there.

I thought I had just been here the previous month, but apparently it was way back in May! Nonetheless, since I had walked some of the North View and North Canyon trails last time, I wanted a variation off of that. On this day, I headed north, on the North Side Trail, which runs somewhat parallel to the road as you go north. After passing through some rocks, the North Side trail then bends to the right, more or less paralleling the north boundary of the park.

After about a half mile, it intersects with the North Canyon trail, some of which I hiked, back in May, but from the other side. This trail heads back to the south, climbing steeply in parts, as it does. It then heads up a wash before eventually reaching more open space, just before you're back to the trailhead.

The sun set before I reached the right turn, but the sky was still pretty bright and I had flashlights, just in case. I wasn't worried, and I didn't need the flashlights, although it was fairly dark by the time I got back to my car.

Got some nice cloud coloration as the sky darkened. Warm color on the rocks, at first, before everything turned greyer. Nice Joshua Tree outlines, later in the hike.

In the last 1/2 mile or so, I could see a thin crescent moon, low on the horizon.

So I accomplished my goal: Bought my pass, and got a short hike in before it got too dark.

Three miles total for this hike. Three hundred twenty-eight feet of altitude change, according to my Alltrails recording. Obviously, the criss-crossing trails here give you multiple options for hikes of as long or as short as you want. And the rocks and elevation give you a variety of views during even a short hike.

Northshore Summit Trail, Lake Mead NRA, NV

Hiked October 12, 2025. I was scrolling through pictures on my phone a few weeks ago, and saw photos of a hike I hadn't yet posted. I hiked the trail prior to one of my comet shooting trips in Lake Mead NRA. I've also hiked it on numerous prior occasions.

It's a nice little hike, only about two miles roundtrip, but with pretty views over parts of the Bowl of Fire, and also with Northshore Peak, in the other direction.

To kill additional time, I also walked some along the area west of the parking area, trying to get my three-mile minimum, and also waiting for the sky to get dark enough to try to photograph comets.

Because it was late afternoon, the lighting was shadows were great.

Despite the many previous times up this way, I hadn't really noticed what kind of looks like a segment of lava tube near one of high points along the way. That's in the second- and third-to-the last photos of this post.

I don't know that this is what I'm seeing, but I have seen similar "wave" structures all around the Bowl of Fire.

This is one of the relatively few "official" trails listed in Lake Mead National Recreation Area publications and website. Nonetheless, it's not that heavily visited, and/or, because it's a short hike, it's not uncommon that I have the place to myself.

There's a vault toilet at the trailhead.

In addition to being the start of the trail to Northshore Summit, the trailhead can also be used as a jumping off point to head to Northshore Peak, on the other side of the highway, or into the Bowl of Fire.

Both are definitely worth checking out if time permits. But even if you only have time for Northshore Summit, espcially near sunset or sunrise, the view is outstanding.

Last shot was on the way down, after sunset. The dark band then lighter band along the horizon is called "The Belt of Venus." You get that after sunset or before sunrise, when the sunlight hits the sky well above the horizon, but you and the lower part of the atmosphere at a distance are still in shadow. Dark area is in shadow, lighter part is illuminted by the low sun.

Living Desert Zoo, Palm Desert, CA, 12/21/2025

As noted several times in the past five months or so, I've been coming to the Living Desert for quite some time. I actually became a member in July, after being tempted by repeated appearances of these cute bobcat kittens on my facebook feed, and have returned several times, since then.

The last few times, the cheetah has been a no-show, but with the cooler weather, the two of them were pretty active on my last visit, on the winter solstice. Got plenty of shots of them, only two of which I am posting here.

As I think I have noted several times, the Living Desert is a smallish zoo, but there are several relatively expansive (or at least expansive-appearing) animal exhibit areas that provide the opportunity for photos that look like they were taken out in the wild. I love it, here.

I suspect the sand cat is a new arrival; I don't remember it being here on my last visit. He seemed pretty unhappy, and walked continuously while we were there. Hopefully, he'll aclimatize, quickly. Most of my shots were a blur as he moved past, and it's hard to focus through the glass or chainlink. But I did manage a few shots I'm happy with.

Meanwhile, the cougars, who I have seen on each of my visits this year, have been sleeping on their little ledge every time I've come. That's the opposite extreme of the continual pacing of new arrivals.

Their exhibit is a few to the left of the bobcat habitat, so my photos are out of order.

One dramatic-looking bird, which was in an outside exhibit area. Can't remember for sure if I came across him before or after the sand cat, but he was somewhere between the cheetah and "Eagle Mountain," where the North American species are shown.

Then, many pictures of bobcat. I'm pretty sure they are all of Joann. David is the male bobcat, and greyer, but less often posing for me.

Joann, meanwhile, was on the rocks, standing or sitting, and making her way in the tree, which she's been playing in since she was a wee little kitten. She's redder on the back, and has a red tuff on her chest, so all three of the shots I posted here have that coloration, which is why I think all three shots are of her.

The two have grown a great deal; I suspect they're about full-grown size, by now. They arrived back in April, so about nine months old, now. David is substantially larger than Joann, and has been since they were tiny.

They are not quite as constantly in motion as before, but they do still spend a lot of their days trying to ambush each other, and running around the enclosure. I can't help but laugh out repeatedly as they dash about. Makes me think we'd all be happier if we could just sit around and watch them for good chunks of each day.

Immediately to the right of the bobcat habitat is a smaller habitat for the tiny Channel Island fox. That's him, on the rock. He's about the weight of a small house cat.

I saw but did not photograph a Channel Island fox on a past birthday hike on Santa Catalina Island (back when they had free trips to Santa Catalina on your birthday), and got plenty of shots of one or more on my hike on Santa Cruz Island. They're as cute in the wild as they are in captivity.

Immediately to the right of the Channel Island fox exhibit is the kit fox exhibit. He's slightly larger, lighter in color, and with bigger ears than his Channel Island relative. Channel Island fox are decendents of grey foxes (explaining their coloration), but after getting isolated on the various Channel Island, became smaller, to more successfully survive on the small islands.

By contrast, the kit fox lives in deserts, and are also smaller than their grey fox relatives, but, as noted, larger than a Channel Island fox.

Right after leaving the indoor-outdoor exhibits of Eagle Mountain is an aviary, which I have also visited before. Just walked through quickly, this time. Took a shot of the great egret, who was sitting near the "stream."

We actually started our day on the other side of the park. It was "World Giraffe Day," honoring the longest-necked creatures on the shortest day of the year.

They let us wander into the exhibit area (before the giraffe were released into the area). Various experts were there to talk about giraffe. I discovered giraffe like leaves, normally from things like acacia or willows, or palo verde. Their tongue and saliva cover the thorns, and they pull off the leaves off to eat.

I also saw giraffe poop, up close. :D

One of the people we talked to was a "trainer," by which they mean they get the giraffe (and other animals) to learn behaviors that help them receive care. They use a tennis-ball tipped stick to keep their attention, and first get them to poke their nose on it for food, then use the tennis ball to lead the animals where they need to go, then learn behaviors that allows for caring for their feet, drawing blood, doing ultrasounds, etc.

They needed to do the ultrasound-thing recently prior to the birth of several giraffe babies. They're still "babies," but not small by any means.

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 gridlocked 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. I have heard that visitation this year is way down from last year, due in part to a large drop in international tourism. When you're at Griffith Observatory, a calliope of languages is what you'll hear.

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 up to an hour 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 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 (and 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 some nice 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 clothes 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.