Hike 2013.019 -- Ryan Mountain, Joshua Tree National Park

Hiked Saturday, April 6. Yep, I'm again two weeks behind in my blogging. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I didn't get any hikes in since last week, so I'm not falling any further behind, but I sure would like to go hiking, again!

Ryan Mountain is roughly equidistant from either the North or West Entrance. Both entrances are access from US 62. The West Entrance hits US 62 in the town of Joshua Tree, while the North Entrance hits US 62 in the town of 29 Palms. From the West Entrance, follow Park Blvd south out of town, enter the park (paying a $15 entry fee, or showing your America the Beautiful Pass), and stay on the road you're on, avoiding all turns. About a mile after passing Ryan Campground, the parking area for the Ryan Mountain trail will be on your right. There's a pit toilet there.

Ryan Mountain itself is not visible from the trailhead. Your trail takes you almost due south, up into the hills. Looking back, you'll see the parking lot for quite some distance.

Finally, the trail bears to the west, and you'll see some dramatic rocks. They make Ryan Mountain an easy place to spot from other high points to the west (including the Lost Horse Mine loop).

In several spots, dark igneous rocks stand in your foreground, with cinder cones in the distance. One to the east (which you don't see until you cross over to the east side of Ryan Mountain, a mile or so into the hike) looks an awful lot like Amboy Crater, but minus the crater.

Great views in all directions from the top. Mount San Jacinto, on the other side of the Salton Sink, is easy if the sky is moderately clear.

It's listed as a three mile roundtrip, though it may be a bit less. Steep in parts, and definitely dry. If you're hiking when the weather is even moderately warm, be sure to bring something to drink.

Hike 2013.018 -- Mastodon Peak

Hiked Saturday, April 6. That was a week ago last Saturday. Since then, I've done six additional hikes, and may try to squeeze one more in this afternoon.

I hiked this area once before, so I'm a little confused as to how I managed not to pass the Mastadon Mine remnants. Don't remember seeing the sign there, or maybe I just wasn't interested in seeing the mine. Either way, I did something wrong.


Hiking the loop adds a little bit of mileage to the direct hike east from Cottonwood trailhead. The loop more or less parallels that path along other washes, but also continues a bit west of the trailhead before turning north, then back east to the parking area. It's designed to link with a trail that leads from the Cottonwood Campground.

Oddly enough, the wash closest to Cottonwood Springs was closed. Not sure what that was about, but you did not have the option of hiking down that path this time as I did last time.
The trailhead itself is at the end of the road that branches east, off from Cottonwood Spring Road, which itself runs on down to I-10. The small parking area at the end of the road was full, so I had to park about 100 yards down the road. It turns out this was right next to the other end of the Mastadon Peak Loop, however, so I had a small directional sign from the very start.

As noted above, from this western terminus of the loop, the trail starts off heading further west, away from your destination. That's why the loop is longer than a straight there-and-back hike from the parking lot trailhead.

After about 1/4 mile of slow trudging through the sandy wash bottom, the trail heads north. It briefly runs along another wash bottom before heading up and to the east. However, I continued a bit further up the wash. Concrete ruins of and rusted steel pipes were scattered along the wash rim and down near the base, as well.

A very small pond of water was also down there, where birds and bees gathered their hydration. A small cottonwood/palm stand of trees was also ahead. However, because I didn't want to keep the birds away from their watering hole, I did not go past the water. Of course, a family diverted off the loop and plopped themselves right near the water hole about a minute after I left, so the birds weren't going to get any water, after all.

Canterbury bells were mixed in among the sand, as were some smaller white and purple flowers I did not identify.

After getting back on the trail and climbing out of the wash, I headed east. Of course, you're in another wash, but this one's broader. Joshua Tree were in bloom, and Canterbury Bells were hidden in the shade and sand, scattered about.

Mastodon Peak soon appears before you. It looks less mastodon-y coming from a clockwise direction than it did from the counter-clockwise direction. On the other hand, you do walk right by the mine entrance from the clockwise direction.

Made my way on up to the top. The last bit requires a brief class 3 scramble.

Nice, expansive views from the top (including the Salton Sea), but I only took a few shots before my camera battery died. Fortunately, I had a portable charger in the car, so I could charge the phone after I got back to the car for my hikes later that day.

Descended, then finished my loop.

It's still pretty cool in Joshua Tree--probably mid-70s last week. But it is also dry, so even with the lower heat, you'll start feeling thirsty quicker than usual. I couldn't drink anything on this hike, though. Turns out I left the water bottle in the trunk. Found that out about 3/4 of a mile out. No biggy, though. For a hike this short and with these temperatures, water would have been nice, but its absence was far from life-threatening.

It's about a 2.5 mile loop, not long enough to qualify as a regular hike. However, before I took this hike, I stopped and took the short Bajada Nature Trail, down near the south entrance. The ocotillo bloom at the top of this post is from there. I also took a short use trail up near Keys View. Between those two shorts hikes, I'm willing to count both the Mastodon Peak Loop and the Ryan Peak hike (not yet blogged) towards my annual tally.

Hike 2013.021 -- Little Santa Anita Canyon

Hiked Monday, April 8. I'm just about a week behind in my hike blogs, and, if I get some hiking in over the weekend (as I intend), I'll be even more behind in a few days.

Little Santa Anita Canyon is the "classic" Mt. Wilson Trail. When I was growing up, the sign said it was 8 miles to Mt. Wilson. Now, the sign says it's 7 miles. I don't believe them.

The trail starts at the corner of Mt. Wilson Trail (a small, private street) and Mira Monte Avenue, in Sierra Madre, about 1/4 mile east of Baldwin. To drive to the trailhead, you'd take the Foothill Freeway (I-210) to Baldwin and head north. If you're coming from the west, this will mean exiting at Baldwin, turning left, then making another left on Foothill Blvd, right after you cross under the freeway. Then you'd make a quick right to get back on to Baldwin.


Head north on Baldwin, through Old Town Sierra Madre, and on up to Mira Monte (about the second to last street before you run out of city). Turn right, and look for parking near the small Mt. Wilson Trail Road, which will be on your left.

As this was an after work hike, I was planning to keep it short. That made First Water the logical stop. It's only about 1.5 miles up the canyon. Still has a pretty serious climb (made more serious by a series of slides that require a detour above the slide area and adds perhaps 100 vertical feet in each direction to this hike.

As you near the high point (altitude-wise) of this hike, you'll note a trail that turns sharply to the left, off of the Mt. Wilson Trail.

That's a relatively new addition, and provides a ridge route down towards Sierra Madre. In theory, it also provides a ridge route up towards Hastings Peak (which I took, once), but it's crazy-steep, and I don't think it made my trip faster than if I headed up the more established trail towards Hastings Saddle.

Walked easily, as is my nature. What this means is, I normally walk pretty fast. But then I stop to take a lot of pictures. I mean, a LOT of pictures. Well over 100 on this 3 mile roundtrip.

As is usually the case, the water was running at First Water. Kind of low for this early in the season, but very nice.

I headed downstream just a few score yards to get the view of the small "waterfall." This spot has some nice memories for me, but that's a tale for another day.

Easy 3 mile roundtrip. There's a significant altitude gain, but if you take it slow, it should not deter you. Relatively child-friendly, too. The trail is generally pretty wide, although a careless person could, I suppose, still walk right off into Little Santa Anita Canyon.

Hike 2013.022 -- Schabarum Park

Hiked Wednesday, April 10. Yeah, I've been on a lot of hikes the past week. Haven't been able to write them up, yet. This one's short, because I don't have many pictures. I let my camera battery die.

The main entrance of Schabarum Park is on Colima Road, just east of Azusa Avenue. From the Pomona Freeway (CA-60), exit at Azusa, head south about 1/2 mile, turn left at Comima Road, then prepare immediately to turn right into the parking lot. There's a charge to park in the lot on weekends, so I usually visit during the week.

I parked near restroom #6 today. The restrooms all seem to be numbered, though I haven't memorized the numbering pattern. I just headed south on the main access route and parked when I saw a sign for a butterfly/hummingbird garden. Shot about a dozen shots right there. Didn't see any butterflies or hummingbirds, but I did see some colorful sage.

Continuing on the main road, I ran across an "ume" forest, donating by a sister park in Japan. Big signs warned the picking the ume was considered stealing from the county, so you better not steal. I saw no flowers and no fruit, which is weird, since you'd figure they would have bloomed recently, with the coming of spring.

There are several spurs marked as the Schabarum Trail in this area. I took the one that would lead to the west, towards Hacienda Blvd. However, I turned to the south as the trail progressed, and headed up towards an area that in past years has seen crazy wild radish blooms. When I got there, the blooms seemed past peak, however.


Sort of a moot point anyway, as my camera battery died long before then.

By far the most common bloom today was the wild mustard. Many fields of yellow

I completed the a loop up the hill above my radish patch, arced towards the east, joined up with the Purple Sage Trail, then back on a Schabarum spur, then back to the park. I'll call it three miles. Took about 70 walking minutes, anyway. Will probably try to return shortly, with a fully-charged battery.

I've updated my list of hikes so far this list in the Hikes of 2013 link. Will blog when I have the time.

Hike 2013.017 -- Altadena Crest Trail

Hiked Wednesday, April 3. I can't believe it's already April, and I haven't been up to Henninger Flats all year. So I was planning to head up there today. But for reasons that no one would want to hear, I decided to do the Altadena Crest Trail, instead.

The east end of this trail is down below Pinecrest Avenue. But, rather than crossing the bridge and heading towards Henninger, you turn sharply to the left, just before the bridge, and head up a hill. The trail can be followed about four miles in total, with a short break around Loma Alta and Rubio Canyon Roads. Today, I walked no more than 1.5 miles to the west. I stopped at a canyon that had Indian Paintbrush growing, the same this year as it has many other times along this path.

The thing is, if you go much further, there's a climb, then a fire road, then a house with an annoyingly loud dog that I didn't feel like having to listen to.

I mainly walk for the exercise, but I like having the camera handy in case anything interesting happens. I also like to shot wildflowers, when in season. It's been a dry year here, so the wildflowers are scarce. And most of what you see is non-native: wild mustard, Spanish broom, common vetch. I did see a single Canterbury bell plant, and two or three lupine. Oh, yes, and a WHOLE BUNCH OF SAGE.

So I've been humming "Deep in the Heart of Texas" all night. "The sage in bloom, smells like perfume." Also, very attractive to bees. The hills practically buzz with activity when the sage is this thick.

Easy 3 miles for the day. Lots of pictures. Short post.

BTW, there's a trio of crosses as you make your way around one of the "coves" of the mountain face. Oftentimes, there are various objects wrapped around the largest cross, which is right adjacent to the trail.

On the day I hiked, there were many ball caps with the words, "Julius Klein Camp 19".

I thought maybe Julius Klein was a firefighter who died here, and that's why they had the crosses and the hats.

However, a google search did not support that theory. Instead, he would appear to have been a. . . Well, you can google that yourself.

[Incidentally, on a later trip, I saw caps, framed certificates, and other materials related to two firefighters who did die here in Altadena.  And there were only two crosses.  Not sure if the crosses came first, or the memorial].

Hike 2013.016 -- Observatory to Ferndell, Griffith Park

Hiked Saturday, March 30. Sixteenth hike of the year, which means I'm way behind my pace for even 80 hikes this year, never mind 100. With the longer days between now and early November, however, I hope to pick up the pace. Ideally, three a week through the end of summer and two a week after that would do it. Tough schedule with the two jobs, though.

This was an afternoon hike. Started from the Observatory. Normally, you'd take the Golden State Freeway (I-5) to Los Feliz, head west about two miles, turn right at Hillhurst, then continue on up after you intersect Vermont, pass through a tunnel, turn left, then either park on the road or hope to find a spot in the lot.

You can also get there by taking the Hollywood Freeway (U.S. 101), exiting at Vermont and heading straight on up.

Or you could take the 101, exit at Western, go north, and turn right at Los Feliz, then make a quick left on to Ferndell Drive. You can then either find a place to park (here, you'll be near the bottom of Ferndell--the sign for the south end of Ferndell is at Black Oak Lane, the first road that comes into Ferndell from the west, north of Los Feliz), or drive on up to the Observatory via Western Canyon Road, or stop somewhere in between.

From the top, the trail you want heads down from the east side of the Observatory. Staying on the main path (and ignoring a few use or service paths near the top) will take you down to a four (or five) way intersection of trails.

I took the sharpest right turn, which begins as a sidewalk-width trail that takes you below the observatory before narrowing and running down a ridge, soon rejoining the Upper Observatory trail. From there, continue south, initially keeping Ferndell (Western Canyon Road) on your right.

As you pass through the picnic area, you can see and feel that you're in a drainage area, where rain falling on the hills around you would be guided towards. When it's not raining, those culverts are dry and not especially attractive.

Continue on downhill and the "creek bottom" narrows. Eventually, there's even water. I'm not sure where it comes from and if it's recycled, but the water slowly builds, from a trickle to a slow flow, with occasional pools and small waterfalls.

In promotional material for Griffith Park, I saw a picture of a waterfall not unlike the one at the top of this post. I was really skeptical that I would find such a thing in this park. Yet, there it is.

Yeah, the whole waterways is clearly human engineered, but the water does run and the flora is lush.

Also, despite the proximity of city streets, cars, picnickers, and wanna be Steven Spielbergs shooting their performance art in the park, the walkway along Ferndell was peaceful. There were plenty of moments where I could take my time framing a shot, then bracket around the exposure to try for the look that best matched the mood I felt as I made my way down the Dell.

I passed a large, impressive cedar tree along the way down.

After a very short walk, I was at the end. A sign said "Ferndell," and a lockable gate was behind it. This was just north of Black Oak Drive.

I headed back up, still shooting crazy amounts of photos as I did.

It's a steep climb, but, given the short distance, the incline helped make it feel like an actual hike.

Still, I wasn't very tired when I reached the top. So I continued up the steps of the Observatory. The dome housing the big 12" Zeiss refractor was open, and the setting sun gave it a soft, slightly-orange glow.

Expectant crowds were already lined up, and some may even already have viewed Jupiter by the time I got there. The sun was still up, but Jupiter's bright enough to be seen in telescope in the evening, if you know where to look.

Another large crowd hugged the west-facing parapet walls, watching the sun set.

A number of cameras were set up on tripods, and probably taking a series of photos at regular intervals. One was focused on the Griffith Observatory lettering that overlooks the front lawn. He was probably annoyed at people who wouldn't get out of his shot. But then, he was also in my shot, of the lettering, with the open Zeiss dome in the background.

Not sure if I made 3 miles, even heading up, down, and around the roof of the Observatory, and around the parking lot a few times. Close enough, though. So call it hike 16 for the year.