Showing posts with label San Gabriel Mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Gabriel Mountains. Show all posts

Monday, January 30, 2023

San Gabriel Mountains - January 30 Snow Edition


When I got to Victory Park this morning, it was cold and overcast.  My phone said 45 degrees.  I looked to the mountains for snow.  I saw only clouds.  

But, I knew there were snowy mountain tops behind the clouds.  So, I waited.  

I stood in the middle of the park, with my mountain view framed by light poles and trees.  As the morning wore on, more and more people came to the park. Some walked dogs, One lady pushed a dog in a pink stroller.  A few parents showed up with small kids.  I saw an occasional PHS student. City workers tended the park grass.  

No one was looking toward the mountains. I waited.


The clouds didn't exactly lift and I wouldn't say the sun shown through.  Instead, the clouds just became less dense and the snowy mountain top appeared.  No alarm went off. Not really any drama or great reveal. But, beautiful nonetheless. 


And people noticed where they were. Dog walkers glanced north to the mountains.  A lady walking on the path took her phone out for a picture.  I did the same.  

Then, I heard honking.  Not the honking of a car, but that of birds.  Geese to be exact.  The birds flew right in front of me.  I tried to get a picture of the birds flying with the snowy mountain backdrop.   

Well, not exactly the picture I had in my mind.  But, I did get snow and birds in the same shot.  


Saturday, August 17, 2019

Spanish Bayonet


You do not have to walk far into the local mountains to see one of these.  The bright flowers on these Spanish Bayonets stand out against the generally brown-green landscape.   It takes five years to produce a mature plant that flowers like this.  After flowering, the plant dies. These photos were taken on my hike a couple weeks ago through Eaton Canyon up to Henniger Flats.

The plant goes by many names -- Spanish Bayonet, Our Lord's Candle, Foothill Yucca and Quixote Yucca and Chaparral Yucca -- all of which make sense when you see the plant.   The botanical name, Hesperoyucca Whipplei, needs explanation.

The species is named after Ameil Weeks Whipple.   An Army engineer, in 1856, Whipple was ordered to lead an expedition from Little Rock, Arkansas to Los Angeles to plot a railroad route along the southern part of the country.  Whipple surveyed a route that that traversed Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, which route was later used for the famous Route 66.  After his expedition, Whipple surveyed the Mexico-US border and then worked to improve naval navigation through New Orleans and the Great Lakes.   When the Civil War started in 1861, engineer Whipple created maps that guided Union forces into battle and provided Union generals reconnaissance by going up in hot air balloons that floated across Confederate lines. He also fought in the battles of Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville, where he was mortally wounded by a Confederate sharpshooter.   He died in 1863 with the rank of Major General. He was 44 years old.      

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Henninger Flats Hike from Eaton Canyon

 This morning I walked into the Eaton Canyon Natural Area and just kept going.    I walked through the parking lot, around the native garden, on to the wide trail that leads down to Eaton Wash, then on to the steep Walnut Canyon trail which leads to the Mt. Wilson toll road and on up to Henninger Flats.

This is the view from Henninger Flats.  The view is expansive.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see St. Lukes in the foreground, downtown Pasadena and downtown LA at the middle left and if you look hard toward the center of the photo there are the vague outlines of Catalina Island with its two conical hills.   Directly westward, toward Santa Monica, you can see the Pacific Ocean.


 The Mt. Wilson toll road dates back to 1891.    All the way up the road, you can look down the mountain to see tiny cars traversing the streets below.   I thought this contrast was interesting -- the old dirt toll road on the left somewhat paralleling the shining sliver of 210 freeway down below.  The freeway is the white line toward the upper right of the photo.


Though not an easy hike, I crossed paths with many other hikers, some runners and a few mountain bikers.   Here's a mountain biker making his way up the trail in the face of the morning sun.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Mountains on a Fall Morning

Fall is here.  No, we don't have biting cold weather or crimson leaves lining our streets.   But, we have the San Gabriel Mountains.  It is a constant in the San Gabriel Valley -- always the backdrop of the mountains.    And, early on an October morning, the air a cool low-60's, sometimes the clouds will bank against the mountains and mingle with the sun to frame a wonderful mountain vista.   The photo above was taken driving north on New York Avenue, just above Sierra Madre Blvd.     Photo by my favorite photographer.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Last Night's Snow on San Gabriel Mountains

Palm trees, sun and snow.  View this morning from Wilson and Colorado Blvd.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

New East Pasadena Vons Hits Homerun

 
 Today I went to the new Vons on Sierra Madre and Colorado.  I like the store. I like it a lot.

For openers, samples are important in a grocery store.   That's one reason why Trader Joes on Rosemead has been a favorite.  In fact, around our house, TJ's is called "Samples."    But, frankly TJ's samples have gotten a bit tired.  Well, they had better take note -- the new Vons knows how to do samples!  I had eight different samples including New York steak, sushi, chicken enchiladas, fresh pineapple, chips and salsa, jambalaya and more.   My recommendation is to find the meat department for the steak -- it was really good.  

But, most of all, I like the design.   I like the respect paid to our most dominant scenic asset -- the San Gabriel Mountains.    The main Vons building is set back from Colorado and has as a central design feature a see-through arch that highlights the mountain views.  This building was very plainly designed with the mountains in mind. 

Care to preserve and emphasize mountain views should be a signature design element for any new East Pasadena development.  Too often building design ignores mountain views.   For example, just east of the new Vons on Colorado is a hulking multi-story storage/office building that was built-to-the-street and obliterates mountain views.  And the Sierra Madre Villa metro station seems to go out of its way to block mountain views.

Hopefully any new building in East Pasadena will follow Von's example and give due respect to our mountain views. Great job Vons!      

Above is a little reminder that the mountain views from Sierra Madre Blvd. can be spectacular.   The photo above is a winter-time shot taken a few blocks north of the new Vons.

Now, the new Vons has rooftop parking, which is convenient.   But it also provides unimpeded mountain vistas.  In the short time I was in the parking lot I saw one photographer shooting toward the San Gabriels.

I'm sure I'll be back to this store.  

Friday, February 25, 2011

Snow down to 500 feet?

San Gabriel Valley ca. 1890
Pasadena Cal: C.J. Randall
Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento


The San Gabriel Mountains, our city's dominant scenic assets, are spectacular when snow capped. But, what if it snowed in the city too? I just heard on the radio that the snow level tomorrow might get down to 1,000 - 1,500 feet. Then, I read where snow might go down to 500 feet elevation.

This from Accuweather: "Snow is on tap for even some valleys of the L.A. Basin this weekend.... Saturday is when rain showers in the L.A. Basin are expected to start mixing with and changing to snow at elevations down to 1,000 to 1,500 feet. However, in a heavier shower Saturday afternoon or evening, snow could fall all the way down to areas at 500 feet in elevation, including some valleys."

So what is Pasadena's elevation? Well, the elevation at City Hall is 864 feet above sea level. But, elevations on the city's north-western and north-eastern edges exceed 1,000 feet. Will we get snow?

Update 8:20 am Saturday morning:   Heavy rain last night and this morning, but no sign of snow.  For now, mountains are covered in clouds.  We have intermittent sun.  Cable was down until moments ago.

From this morning's LA Times:  "The storm was expected to pass into Southern California around sunrise Saturday, bringing snow to levels as low as 1,500 feet. Snowflakes could fall on the the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Antelope and the Santa Clarita valleys, and in the higher elevations on the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley...  As for foothill communities like La Crescenta and Altadena, "absolutely, they'll be getting some snow for sure, at least a dusting of it," [meteorologist Curt] Kaplan said.

Update 9:30 am:    Had a blast of hail about an hour ago.  Usually the hail melts away when it hits the ground, but this stuff is staying and we have white drifts of hail around the yard and on the roof.  Being southern Californians, we naturally ran around outside while the hail fell.  I saw neighbors doing the same.   The white on the ground look like snow, but alas is hail. 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Let it Rain -- at least a little

This photo, taken this evening from Gwinn Park (on Orange Grove just west of Eaton Wash), shows the park's pines in the foreground and Mt. Wilson in the background with dark clouds gathered around. I saw quite a bit of lightening against the mountains and to the west.

Oh, there was a light rain at the park as I took this shot. Ahhhhh, a cool respite from all the recent heat.

Very, very unusual weather we're having.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Where is the One Place You Would Take a Newcomer?


Let's say your friend has just moved to Pasadena. You think Pasadena's pretty special and you want to your friend to know why. Of all the places you want them to see, where do you take them? You can only pick one place.

My great aunt and uncle had an answer to that question. Here's the story:

My great aunt and uncle, God rest their souls, were known for their unannounced visits. I remember as a kid watching their car pull up in front of our house and hearing my mom frantically announce, "Margaret and Allen are here," as she raced from room to room. They were wonderful people, their only apparent flaw being a resistance to calling ahead. Drove my mom nuts.

And so, when Marcia and I married and moved to Pasadena, it was ordained that one day (we knew not when) Margaret and Allen would come visiting. Sure enough, not long after we moved here, they showed up on our doorstep.

The visit was unannounced, but not without reason. My great aunt and uncle had an agenda. There was something they wanted us to see. Something very special.

They knew a few things about Pasadena. My aunt had grown up here and, after they got married in the 1930's, she and my uncle settled here. They raised their family here and my uncle worked as an accountant. Later in life they moved on to another city. But, they still had fond memories of Pasadena. They were excited we had moved to their old hometown and there was something they wanted us to know about our new home.

So, after obligatory pleasantries about our super-fixer bungalow, my uncle said, "Let's take a drive." The four of us got in the car (elderly couple in the front seat and the young couple in the back) and we were off. My uncle mentioned the name of the place we were going and asked if we'd ever been there. Not only had we never been there, we hadn't even heard of the place. "Well, this place is beautiful," my uncle said. "You just have to see it."

Now, Pasadena has a lot of great places. Maybe more than any city its size, Pasadena can boast of historical landmarks, architectural gems, famous institutions. There are the grand public buildings, magnificent mansions, tree lined streets, museums, colleges, the Rose Bowl and the list goes on and on.

But, we weren't going to any of these.

Instead, my uncle drove north out of town. He went up Lake Avenue all the way to the end of the road, then left on Loma Alta. From there he turned onto Chaney Trail and drove us up a steep narrow road along a sparse hillside into the mountains.

Finally, the road dipped into a cool green canyon. We had come to the end of the road and the end of the mystery. We were at Millard Canyon.

Margaret and Allen were too old by then to get out and walk up the trail. So, my uncle parked the car looking toward the stream and trail. Marcia and I listened as the elder couple reminisced. They talked about the stream and the falls and the many times they came to the canyon. They talked about how fortunate we were to have such a beautiful place so close to Pasadena.

In all their decades of living in the city, the place they most remembered and most cherished was actually outside the city limits. It was Millard Canyon. That's the special place they wanted us to know about. They had driven over an hour, gambling we'd be home, to show us the canyon.

After the drive to Millard Canyon, my great aunt and uncle had accomplished their mission. They drove us back to our house, dropped us off and were gone. I don't remember any more about their visit other than the mention of Mijares as a good restaurant.

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That visit took place more than twenty years ago. Since then we've often been back to Millard Canyon. Before kids and after kids, we've hiked along the stream to the waterfall countless times. For his fifth birthday, my son and I camped there at the small campground. It is truly a remarkable spot.

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I am grateful to my great aunt and uncle for sharing their canyon with us. But, beautiful as it is, Millard Canyon is not the first place I would take a newcomer. That special place is, of course, East of Allen. I'll get to that in my next post.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Giant Butterfly Over Hamilton Park

Hamilton Park was a buzz of activity yesterday afternoon before the Super Bowl -- football, baseball, softball, tennis, etc. And, the wind was just strong enough to lift this monarch butterfly kite up toward the clouds.

I've been enjoying the sky and cloud photography in many of the local blogs I follow. Yesterday's effort at Pasadena Daily Photo was incredible. Avenue to the Sky has a great piece up showcasing Mt. Wilson and the tower cam.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

My Mom's Kitchen Window

Clear skies and snowy mountain peaks remind me of my mom's old kitchen window. The window, like the house itself, was the definition of ordinary. An ordinary double hung sash above the kitchen sink in an ordinary small ranch style house on a street of other ordinary small ranch style houses. But, on a clear day, my mom's ordinary kitchen window became extraordinary. When the sky was clear, her kitchen window framed a spectacular view.

The house I grew up in had the good fortune of being the last house on a street that dead-ended into acres and acres of fields. My mom's kitchen window was on the north side of the house and overlooked an expanse of fields capped by the San Gabriel Mountains. The view was kind of like the photo, only without the buildings. The fields and the San Gabriel Mountains -- they were just there for the taking. At least that's how it seemed. And we appropriated it all. The kitchen window and the mountain views were my mom's. I remember her standing over the sink looking out her window. I often heard her talk about her window and her magnificent view. The field belonged to the kids. When not in corn, the field was inhabited by kids from our neighborhood. There were kites, football games, forts and any of a million things kids conjure up. It was our field. At least that's how it seemed. In truth, my mom owned the kitchen window and that's about all we could lay claim to. The field belonged to a farmer named Homer who lived in the rock house behind us. Homer had been there long before we arrived, with his horse, Dot. And my mom's mountain view? Well, who really owns a mountain view? In time, a swath of Homer's field was acquired by the state or Caltrans or whoever takes land for freeways. A phalanx of bulldozers dug a giant trench at the north end of the field that became the Pomona Freeway. The familiar southern California story followed. Homer's barn came down and Dot went away. The dead-end sign in front of our house was removed. New streets were paved across the field. Driveways and foundations were poured, houses framed, stuccoed and sold. All too soon, our field was gone.

And, my mom's kitchen window, which had for a time framed such a glorious mountain view, now looked north upon the stucco side of the house next door. Her extraordinary window was now forever ordinary.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Mt Wilson Tower Cam

The Mt. Wilson Tower Cam has some extraordinary photos following snow storms and is well worth a look. Photos today are spectacular. The Tower Cam is one of my regular links along the right side of this blog.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

After the Storm

San Gabriel Mountains this morning from Sierra Madre Blvd.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Abbot Kinney and Mt. Wilson

While we're on Abbot Kinney....

One of our local peaks was nearly named after Kinney -- and not just any peak. Mt. Wilson was, for a short time, referred to as Mt. Kinneyloa. In 1887 a US survey team mapped the local mountains renaming the peak as "Mt. Kinneyloa" in honor of Mr. Kinney and his foothills ranch. However, as described in The Mount Wilson Observatory by Allan Sandage, the name change was short-lived. Sandage writes:

The ensuing local uproar - led by Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis - was fierce. In a scathing editorial Otis extolled Don Benito Wilson as "one of the foremost citizens of Los Angeles County and Southern California. If [Kinney] hungers and thirsts after a mountain [to be named after him], let him build a trail to the summit of one of the many Sierra Madre peaks yet unchristened, with chisel in hand. and let him cut deep into the face of its topmost granite rock the talismanic word KINNEYLOA, but keep Wilson's Peak for Don Benito."

Otis' editorial was not only hilarious with its image of Kinney chiseling his name on a mountaintop, but was apparently effective. Except for the surveyor's map, the peak continued to be named after Don Benito Wilson.

Thanks to Nat Read, who relates this story in his excellent book Don Benito Wilson: From Mountain Man to Mayor.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

San Gabriel Mountains -- From Santa Anita

I think I've posted more pictures of the San Gabriel Mountains than anything else. The mountains are our "most dominant scenic assets."

Views of the mountains -- really good panoramic views -- are few and far between. Though the mountains loom a mile high behind us, it is hard to see or feel the full force of their presence. The built out city predominates.

But, if you're looking, there are mountain views to be had. Among the reasons I like East Pas are the many ground level mountain vistas that still remain. Victory Park has great views to the east. Neighboring cities have some great views too.

For this view, I travelled all the way to Arcadia. The view from Santa Anita is hard to beat.

We were there yesterday, which was Free Friday (admission is free every Friday). Watched the horses, lost a little money, but enjoyed terrific mountain views.

Monday, December 22, 2008

San Gabriel Mountains with snow


The San Gabriel Mountains extend eastward well into San Bernardino County. The eastern San Gabriel peaks are spectacular after a snow. This was taken yesterday from the train station in Upland.
With snow on the mountains it is a great time to check the Mount Wilson Tower Cam. The Tower Cam has some great scenes when the clouds lift.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

The San Gabriel Mountains: Our "Dominant Scenic Assets"

San Gabriel Valley ca. 1890
Pasadena Cal: C.J. Randall
Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento


I've posted on this before, but I like the old panoramic views of the mountains. There is a dramatic and awe inspiring feel to these old photos.

In 1930, a group of eminent landscape architects examined the sprawling Los Angeles region. At a time when land was still available, they wrote an ambitious plan for parks and open spaces. They had this to say about our mountains:

“The mountains, which are the dominant scenic assets, are slowly losing value because of the intensive urban growth. On the one hand, such growth is steadily cutting off views of the mountains, views that can be obtained only across open foregrounds sufficient in scale to complete and unify the landscape. The constant process of building upon open areas, the confinement of highways between rows of dwellings, stores, advertising structures and other nearby obstructions is gradually eliminating the enjoyment of the inspiring mountain scenery from the plains. This is a great loss which can be stopped only by reservation of occasional public foregrounds.”

(Quoted from “Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region” a 1930 plan prepared by the Olmsted Brothers and Harland Bartholomew & Associates and submitted to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.)

The Olmstead plan appears in the excellent book, Eden By Design: the 1930 Olmstead-Bartholmew Plan for the Los Angeles Region, by Greg Hise and William Deverell. In their book, Hise and Deverell tell the story of the Olmstead plan and its ambitious recommendations for parks and open spaces. As they explain, the plan was quickly shelved and never implemented. The story is a good one and the Olmstead plan is fascinating.

In a future post, I'll take a look at East Pasadena's mountain views.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

San Gabriel Mountains -- 1880's Views

Sierra Madre from Sunny Slope
Carlton Watkins, 1880
Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento


At one time, panoramic mountain views could be had from seemingly anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley. This Watkins stereo card was made from a photo taken from L.J. Rose's Sunny Slope ranch that covered some of present day East Pasadena (south of Foothill) and San Marino. The card's title ("Sierra Madre") refers to the mountains and not the yet to be founded city.


San Gabriel Valley View
Unknown Photographer, ca. 1880
Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento


I cannot tell where in the San Gabriel valley this photo was taken. But I like it because it gives a good feel for how the mountains dominated the scene when the San Gabriel Valley was mostly open plains.


Friday, June 20, 2008

Mother Mountains

Snow Scene on the Sierra Madre from the Raymond
Lucien Emerson Jarvis, 1890
Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California.


It will push 100 degrees today and snow on the mountains looks awfully inviting, even if its 1890's snow. But, I add the photo because it refers to our mountains as the “Sierra Madre.”

A lot around here is named Sierra Madre – there’s the city to our east, and Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre Villa Ave., and the Sierra Madre Villa Metro Station. But, I always wondered why we had so many things named Sierra Madre when our local mountains are the San Gabriel Mountains.

It turns out that the mountains have gone by both names, with the officials favoring San Gabriel Mountains (named after the mission) and many locals preferring the name Sierra Madre. As the Field Guide to the San Gabriel Mountains points out, in 1927 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names ended the controversy and ruled the mountains would be officially known as the San Gabriels.

Early Pasadena historian J.W. Wood knew the official line, but preferred the name Sierra Madre anyway:

“Officially the range we contemplate is known as the San Gabriel, but the padres of old -- more poetic and sentimental – chose from their own nomenclature the more satisfying “Sierra Madres” – or Mother Mountains; and so they are known and preferred, despite geographers and pedagogues.”

J.W. Wood, Pasadena Historical and Personal (1917)

I like where J.W.'s coming from.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Camping at Gould Mesa


Last weekend my son and I went on an overnight campout with his scout den to Gould Mesa. The campground is about a mile north of JPL in the Arroyo Seco. The weather was hot and I saw four snakes over the two day trip. This is a rattler that was coiled in the shade of a post right outside the privy that serves the campground. The most interesting snake I saw was a striped racer snake that darted out of a bush chasing a mouse. The chase ensued down the trail until the mouse darted back into a bush and with the snake in pursuit. Watching the chase was fun, but the chaser and chasee were out of sight before I could get my camera out.

The stream is across the trail from camp and was welcome relief to the weekend's 100 degree heat. Nightime was also cool with a light breeze drifting through our mostly mesh tent.
Maybe the best thing about living in Pasadena how close we are to natural settings like this. The Arroyo Seco, Millard Canyon, Eaton Canyon - we have hiked these areas over and over and it never gets old. I am always amazed at the natural beauty that is so available to us who live in the ever more urban Pasadena.