Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

Day 2 of the roadtrip was climbing up the coast from Palmdale to San Francisco, taking CA-166 through the mountains of Los Padres National Forest to Santa Maria, and then north along the Pacific on CA-1, with brief stretches of US-101. Easily the the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. You will be hard pressed to convince me that there is any road so breathtaking anywhere else on the continent. Unfortunately due to the need to make time on the road, I wasn’t able to stop and take every picture I wanted to (this would have taken months).

CA-166 winds through the mountains to the coast.

The city of Morro Bay and Morro Rock National Monument are quite close to the college/resort town of San Luis Obispo, home of CalPoly.

The robber baron William Hearst built an enormous (and outrageously ostentatious) castle for himself in the hills near the central coast, and filled it with art from around the world. Upon his death, he donated the entire estate to California, and it is now a state historical monument. We didn’t have time to take the tour, but that is something definitely on the list for the next time.

Elephant seals bask on the central coast between San Simeon and Big Sur, north of the castle.

There is a lovely hike along the hilly coastline somewhere along the way… we don’t exactly remember where. Find it if you can, its fabulous.

The city of Monterey is located on Monterey Bay just north of Point Lobos State Reserve. It is also the site of the Naval Postgraduate School. Tough life, getting stationed there. This photo is from Carmel State Beach, looking south towards Point Lobos.

From the same location looking north, there is a splendid view of the Pebble Beach golf course.

Farms and vinyards dot the north-central coast.

Alas, we had a birthday bash to get to that night, and the afternoon was creeping into evening with 120 miles to go. We passed fantastically beautiful stretches of road cut into the coastal cliffs, and especially at the Bixby Bridge I wanted to stop to photograph so badly… no dice. Oh well, there will most certainly be a repeat of this one.

Started off the hiking season with a bit of a doozy for me, especially since I hadn’t really done much physical activity for several months. Mt. Baden-Powell has a peak of 9,399 ft and is a somewhat rigorous climb over 4 miles of trail. Darin and Chris of course made it right to the top without much trouble, but Andrew and I only made it to 8,680 ft. Correction, *I* only made it to 8,680 ft and Andrew was kind enough to stick around. But it was a good break-in for the warm season and I plan on running some more and tackling it again in the next few months.

Beautiful views of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest, as well as some wildlife including reportedly bighorn sheep, though I didn’t see any. It’s still cold at altitude this time of year, and the winds can pick up no the ridges. Be prepared for 20-40 degF changes in perceived temperature, depending on the time of day, season, and current weather.

San Gabriels.

The Antelope Valley from about halfway up.

San Gabriels.

CA-2, The Angeles Crest Highway.

San Gabriels.

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 2.9 (4.0 to the top)
Elevation delta: ~2,100 ft (~2,800 ft to the top)
Time on trail: 4.5 hrs (including lunch and some water breaks)
Nearest highway: CA-2, mile marker 69.6, elevation 6,593 ft.

At the insistence of one of my roommates, Liz, the whole house packed up and headed for the beach a couple weekends ago. Unfortunately, we forgot that although the Antelope Valley is sunny 350 days out of the year, the rest of the world isn’t necessarily the same. By the time we hit Ventura it was cloudy and slightly drizzling. The temperature was not cold however, and deciding that we hadn’t come all that way for nothing, we took a walk on San Buenaventura beach. It ended up being very relaxing, and of course I took the camera along. Here are some shots from that day.

A sand dollar on some seaweed. 1/250 ~ f/5.6 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

A beach vista on a cloudy day. 1/1000 ~ f/10 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

The lovebirds on a stroll. 1/640 ~ f/10 ~ 400 ~ 55mm

Crab! 1/60 ~ f/5.6 ~ 400 ~ 200mm

Sandpiper 1. 1/1600 ~ f/6.3 ~ 400 ~ 220mm

Sandpiper 2. 1/1600 ~ f/6.3 ~ 400 ~ 200mm

More snapshots from the daily commute… these are from three different days I think.

Joshua Tree at Sunrise.

I can’t decide which of these I like better:

In the Bushes at Dawn 3 .


White-Hot Calm.

Sunrise Through Rain-Splattered Glass.


Bloody Clouds at Dawn. No color enhancement, this is real (and kind of wierd)!

This last weekend was probably our most rigorous hike yet. About 10 miles roundtrip, with a nice 1800 ft climb thrown in. I was worried about being too cold this time of year, but I needn’t have worried. It was a pleasantly cool day in the San Gabriel Mountains, cloudy but mostly sunny, and about 60 degrees.

The hike was Trail Canyon Falls, in the southern part of Angeles National Forest. The trailheaad starts near the big bend in Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and tracks more or less northward for about a mile and a half to the top of the falls. From there we continued on down the trail for several more miles, climbing all the way… with some fantastic views as a reward!

The trail decends somewhat into a shady forested area right up near the stream, where we had lunch on some rocks. Very moist and green, with soft earth covered by leaves; it definitely reminded me of northwestern Washington. A little further was Tom Lucas campground, where unfortunately we couldn’t stop due to the 40-some Sierra Club members taking up every available space. So we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

Fantastic variety of birds… I *really* need to get a field guide. Oof… and a good workout too.

Woodpecker Chillin. He let me come quite close before flying off.

Trail Canyon Falls at a Trickle. I assume the falls pick up in the spring, but gorgeous anyway.

Dancing Water. Tried to freeze the water splash in the exposure while blurring the outside. Didn’t quite work the way I visualized it, but I thought it turned out pretty neat anyway.

Mountain Adventure. I really liked the way the light was coming down through the clouds.

The Eye of Sauron? Holy crap I was freaked. But it *is* pretty.

Golden Reflections. Sunlight reflected in water always attracts me… “Oooo flashing lights…..”

Duke of the Forest. This fantastic photo op was dumb luck. I was actually putting my camera away in the trunk of the car at the very end of the hike when suddenly I hear a loud squawking. Looking up, I see this Red Tailed Hawk perched atop a pine tree quite nearby. I got several shots of him, the best of which I think is this one where I moved to put the moon behind him. There are others where he’s looking up at the moon which are cool too, but I can’t post them all! What luck… its almost like he wanted to have his picture taken.

All in all, the best yet, both for hiking and photography. I will definitely be coming back here in the spring and fall. Highly recommended hike!

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 10
Elevation delta: ~1,800 ft
Time on trail: 5.5 hrs (including lunch and some water breaks)
Nearest highway: CA-2, Big Tujunga Canyon Road

Last weekend Darin and I decided to start the hiking season early and hit Devil’s Chair, which is a bit of a hike from the more commonly visited Devil’s Punchbowl. These fascinating rock formations are so named for the one’s striking resemblance to a sinister throne of rock on a sort of natural altar in the middle of a canyon which happens to be somewhat bowl shaped. I have to admit the rocks do look like floating ice cubes in the right angle and lighting. We hadn’t planned for the temperature at 5500 feet however, and after about 3 hours we decided it was a bit too cold to continue in our present attire. Managed to get a few good shots along the way however:

Footsteps in the Sand. Perhaps some sort of bird?

Pretty Blue Bird. Can anyone tell me the type of bird? Man I’ve got to get a field guide or something.

Red Plant. Don’t know the name of this one. Anyone?

Acorns Underfoot.

Melting Ice Cave.

Mountain Soaring.

Remnants of Ice.

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 7
Elevation delta: ~1,500 ft
Time on trail: 3.5 hrs.
Nearest highway: CA-138

As promised, sunset pics are now available.

Clouds at Dusk.

Desert Dusk.

Treeline at Sunset, 110th St. East.

Joshua Tree at Sunset, 90th St. East.

Mojave Sunset, 90th St. East.

It’s been frustrating trying explain to people how beautiful my commute is without pictures, so today I left for work about half an hour early (at, as my girlfriend would say, “the buttcrack of dawn”) in order to be able to shoot some photos of the sunrise. The following images were taken near 120th St E. and Avenue I in the Antelope Valley, between Palmdale, CA and Edwards AFB. It really is out in the middle of nowhere, and of course the stillness out there once the car engine was off only added to the atmosphere. It was really cold though… like say, 12 degrees. And of course I don’t have a pair of gloves dexterious enough to operate my camera, so basically I nearly froze my fingers (and come to think of it, the camera). Worth it though, eh?

Crow Delivers the Day.

Crow at Dawn.

In the Bushes at Dawn 1.

In the Bushes at Dawn 2.

Had to get down in the dirt for the last two, must have looked silly. Oh well. Stay tuned… sunset pics from the same day and location coming soon. Oof, these things take so much time to process right!

Temescal Canyon and Ridge; Photo by Dan Edwards, September 2006

I left early Saturday morning with work buddies Dan and Darin and headed down to the Santa Monica mountains near… well, Santa Monica. Stupid me forgot my camera, and Darin’s apparently had no batteries, but fortunately Dan managed to both remember his and have it charged. Way to go Dan.

At that early hour there was a thick ocean fog covering most of the Valley, which we hit on the way down as for north as Acton. The fog persisted as we started our hike down through the canyon bottom, climbing slowly over about 2.5 miles to the ridgeline within the bounds of Topango State Park. While the lack of sun made it a bit cool, it did give the riparian, forested canyon floor a peaceful aura as we trekked along a stream still flowing in late summer. Even for this late month, I would still have to use the adjective “lush” to describe the canyon bottom, as captured ocean mists, a small amount of rainfall, and the perennial boost of snowmelt have all combined to make this area a year-round wild forest.

Cacti near Temescal Ridge; Photo by Dan Edwards, September 2006

The climb to the top of the ridge from the canyon is an experience in at least three different ecosystems. From the wetter, lush climate below we transitioned into some more hardy species
, mostly chapparral, some wildflowers, holly, and the like. The climate near the top of the ridge is decidedly drier, sporting mainly sage, tough shrubs, and even the occasional, rare cactus. By the time we reached the top, the sun had at least half emerged, revealing a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Continuing inward on the ridge, we reached “Skull Rock” an interesting landform which of course we had to climb.

Skull Rock; Photo by Dan Edwards, September 2006.

If you squint, you might see a speck named Darin in the “eye,” and myself scaling the left side of the rock (scale is a bit deceiving in that shot). From the top of the rock, spectacular panoramic views of the valley, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the ocean. We followed the ridgeline back instead of taking the canyon route, and decended back to the trailhead through a grove of hollies. Fantastic!

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 5
Elevation delta: ~1,000 ft (trailhead to top of Skull Rock)
Time on trail: 3 hrs.
Nearest highway: CA-1 (Pacific Coast Highway)