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Blood continues to spill in Tijuana and and other border-area communities.
And the debate rages on as to whether it's safe for surfers, campers, fishermen and other tourists to travel in northern Baja California.
First, the latest grim news: Nine human heads were found Sunday in Tijuana, along with a note tying the massacre to the ongoing war between rival drug gangs.
A day later, a report emerged describing November as the deadliest month during President Felipe Calderon's two years in office, with at least 701 killings linked to organized crime occurring throughout Mexico.
Tourists, by and large, have not been victimized.
Now for two voices on the issue of safety in northern Baja:
Read on »
A U.S. Department of Commerce decision is expected soon regarding a controversial toll road extension that would slice through a portion of San Onofre State Beach, jeopardizing a pristine watershed that is home to endangered species, and also jeopardizing the famous Trestles surf breaks.
In case you missed it, the L.A. Times devoted nearly a page in Monday's California edition outlining issues that have made the proposed project so contentious.
Personally, I despise the idea as much as I despise heavy traffic.
What the story glossed over were the pros and cons of developing state parks.
Outdoors enthusiasts ought to oppose any project that sacrifices even a portion of any state park. Parks ought to be considered sacred ground and protected against all infringements of civilization.
Isn't that the purpose behind them?
San Onofre receives 2.8 million visitors a year and is the fourth-most visited park in California. Reasons: proximity to ocean and wilderness, and aesthetics.
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I recently embarked upon a late-afternoon stroll through a San Fernando Valley oasis known as Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve and found the display of nature to be breathtaking.
White pelicans, such as those pictured above, peddled en masse around Wildlife Lake, providing a snow-colored contrast to their greenish surroundings.
Egrets, such as the one pictured below, lined the lake's perimeter, probing the shallows for unsuspecting fish. Cormorants stood sentinel on island treetops and circled the lake in high-speed flight.
But there's an ugly side to this refuge that seems finally to be receiving attention from its caretakers, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks:
Read on »
I stood alone atop massive Eagle Rock late Monday afternoon, until a rock wren emerged from the face of the cliff and joined me.
Bird photography is difficult because the subjects don't generally loiter in the open for long and do not like being looked at or have cameras pointed their way.
Amazingly, this wren remained close by, hopping around, long enough for me to change lenses and take several pictures.
Finally, when I inched one step too close, it vanished over the edge, leaving me alone again, with a bird's-eye view of Topanga State Park, which is billed as the "world’s largest wildland within the boundaries of a major city."
Read on »
Beneath a dense canopy of oak and eucalyptus, hidden from the trail, deer rose and began scaling the hillside.
Crunch! Crackle!
They tried to be silent. But that’s impossible for large hoofed animals walking across branches and dried leaves.
I didn't actually see them until they’d reached a narrow clearing atop the ridge, over which they quickly vanished.
It was too dark for photography. Night was falling on Malibu Creek State Park yet I was in no hurry to leave. I was a world removed from civilization, and it felt good.
Nobody talked politics. Nobody got fired. There were no foreclosure notices dangling from limbs and the only precipitous drops involved terrain, not the stock market.
Indeed, the animals, especially the birds and including the deer, until I spooked them, seemed in an enviable state of existence. Immersion here seemed more therapeutic than usual.
So my advice for anyone overdosing on politics or feeling blue because of the sad state of economic affairs or precariousness of the workplace:
Take a hike. This weekend if possible.
Read on »
Well, it's been four months since I posted an item wondering when repair work would begin on a giant landslide on the Mt. Wilson Toll Road trail to Henninger Flats above Altadena. Henninger has been closed for three years and counting. In June I was told that work was set to begin in October and would be completed in April, and ... guess what? Rocktober is about to have come and gone and nary a bulldozer in sight.
Here are the signs at the locked Pinecrest gate, circa mid-October. Look familiar?
According to Gary Pankara, principal engineer for Pasadena Water and Power, the city is STILL trying "to tie up the loose ends" on funding from FEMA to fix the trail. One grant for roughly $630,000 was approved, but a second grant for about $850,000 is hung up in bureaucracy purgatory. Once the amount of the second grant and time frame for repairs are greenlighted by FEMA, L.A. County will hire contractors to begin the repairs. Pankara said there was apparently "some confusion" between Pasadena and
the state Office of Emergency Services, which deals with FEMA. Suffice it to say, FEMA wanted to provide a lower amount and the
work to be done more quickly than L.A. County could do it.
Read on »
Outposts has reported that presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are not hunters or serious fishermen.
But both appear genuine when remarking, in the November issue of Backpacker magazine, on their fondness for hiking.
Obama: "I remember fondly my childhood visits to Yellowstone, and I would very much like to return there for some autumn hiking."
McCain: "I would want to take you to Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, which I believe is among our nation’s best-hidden natural treasures."
So both appear to be sincerely appreciative of the great outdoors. That’s good.
Today the L.A. Times ran a story outlining the candidates’ energy agendas — McCain supporting more offshore drilling and nuclear power plants; Obama supporting renewable power sources, cleaner energy and eventual widespread use of hybrid cars.
Backpacker touched on this and other issues, including the candidates' comments on global warming, national parks and gun control within national parks.
On the importance of protecting and maintaining national parks in an age of daunting maintenance backlogs caused by a lack of funding, Obama harshly criticized the Bush administration for broken promises pertaining to parks funding.
McCain touted his role as lead sponsor of the National Parks Centennial Act, which "would have eliminated all national parks’ annual operating deficits."
When asked about whether a general ban on carrying loaded guns in national parks should be eliminated, the answers were sharply different and somewhat predictable.
Read on »
The presidential election is two weeks away and I’m flipping through yet another outdoors magazine that touts John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s views on such issues as gun control, fisheries and public land access.
There are no revelations in the November issue of Outdoor Life.
John McCain is still against gun control and Obama still supports the Second Amendment but favors a ban on assault weapons and cinching a gun show loophole that allows trading of weapons between private individuals in states where this practice is currently legal.
Both candidates claim to be conservationists who want to protect fisheries and preserve angler opportunities. McCain, however, appears to be more of a proponent of hunters and anglers at a time when environmentalists are increasingly pressing for wilderness preservation versus public access.
“I have long supported multiple uses for public lands that ensure they are available for this and future generations to hunt, fish and explore,” he is quoted as saying.
Obama tends to include a disclaimer whenever he discusses access. And Outdoor Life, which claims to be objective, countered McCain’s statement with this one from Obama:
“We need to make sure that we’re good stewards of the land. It means that we are maintaining access to public lands but are also making sure that we are doing it in a responsible way.”
Certainly, those who hunt, fish and use off-road vehicles are disturbed by trends toward wilderness preservation. Shutting sportsmen and other user groups out does not always seem justified, and in some cases it seems un-American.
A recent survey commissioned by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation found that hunters and fishermen view loss of habitat and public access as the largest threats to their pastimes. They'd like Congress to prioritize federal lands for habitat available to all.
Read on »
On our annual fall trip to the Eastern Sierra last week, we looked forward to escaping Santa Ana winds in exchange for cool, crisp days — perfect for hiking and the final fishing of the season. We got more than we bargained for. Within a few days, we experienced a temperature difference of about 80 degrees. The San Gabriel Valley was hovering at around 100 when we left, and two days later a cold front from Alaska hit the Mammoth Lakes area with temps in the 20s. It snowed about 4 inches. The shot above is of the Sherwins from Old Mammoth Road on Oct. 11. Although it's in the 60s during the day right now, it's staying cold at night and at this rate, opening day of ski season at Mammoth Mountain may come earlier than Nov. 13.
Fall color was nearly peaking in the areas we visited: the San Joaquin River, Rock Creek Canyon, Rush Creek, Hot Creek and Bishop Creek Canyon. Snow amidst the vibrant yellow, orange and amber of aspens, cottonwoods and willows made for some fine leaf-peeping photo opportunities.
Read on »
Even the pelican in this photo probably senses something funny about the air.
The wildfires have burned thousands of acres, and smoke and ash seem to have advanced beyond the horizon. I snapped this photo just before 6:30 p.m., while standing amid joggers and brisk walkers exercising and breathing invisible soot.
Experts probably would agree that it's best to wait until the air clears before exercising outdoors, unless you're certain you are out of the path of smoke. Hikers will find red-flag closures throughout much of the state park system because of the potential for fires in this extreme dry period.
Let's hope there won't be any additional fires and the situation improves Tuesday and Wednesday. Pelicans, as well as people, are sure to agree.
--Pete Thomas
Have travel plans for the weekend?
The Eastern Sierra's fall color season is peaking now, more than during our previous report.
An update Monday from a Mammoth Lakes tourism website lists some of the locations in which the hues are most radiant.
They include Conway Summit and Leavitt Meadows in the Bridgeport area; the June Lake Scenic Loop and Carson Peak; the Mammoth Lakes Basin, Mammoth’s scenic loop and Laurel Canyon; Rock Creek Lake, and the roads leading to South, North and Sabrina lakes atop Bishop Creek Canyon.
The predominant color is yellow, but there are splashes of gold, red and orange. In fact, the Rock Creek Lake area is now a dazzling blend of all four colors.
How long will the season last? Till one of those long, cold windy spells rattles the leaves from their trees and hints at another impending season: winter.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo courtesy of Tom Loe/Sierra Drifters
Outposts last Wednesday asked for reader photos of the birds at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach. Only one responded. His name is Darryl Wong. He left no other information, but if these are his photos, he's either a photographer of admirable talent or great patience -- or both.
Above is a peregrine falcon, a raptor that preys on small mammals and birds. (Nice framing!) Peregrine sightings are not unusual at the vast reserve. Below is a snowy egret enjoying a fishy snack.
Lastly, an impressive image of a black skimmer, whose hunt was successful. These are graceful long-winged fliers, commonly seen foraging in the evenings. Outposts would like to thank Wong for sharing.
--Pete Thomas
The ocean breeze was stiff and cool — but misleading.
I began to trek far into Point Mugu State Park, certain I’d be comfortable and that swift-moving air would keep mosquitoes and other biting insects at bay.
I emerged, a few hours later, sweltering and resembling some crazed addict, with reddish-white bumps tracking along the bulging veins of my arms and legs.
Hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains has been one of my favorite pastimes since I became an outdoors columnist for this newspaper years ago.
But hiking while it’s hot and humid, while trying to fend off a relentless multi-frontal assault by devilish black bugs, is for me nearly as tortuous as enduring a poison oak-induced rash.
I tell myself the same thing every year: Don’t be fooled by a calendar that informs you it’s fall, because that generally means several more weeks of blazing weather.
And yet I am fooled, time and again.
Read on »
Sierra Vista Restaurant on Highway 178 in Weldon has added these items to its menu for the weekend: Vulture Stew, Road Kill Quiche and Compost Fruit Salad.
That can only mean one thing: It's time for the annual Kern Valley Autumn and Vulture Festival, coinciding with the remarkable abundance of these bald, red-headed raptors within the Kern River Valley above Bakersfield.
Activities are scheduled Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Audubon Society's Kern River Preserve, 18747 Highway 178, in Weldon.
Renowned ornithologist and artist John Schmitt -- I've toured the valley with him and he's an amazing birder -- will discuss vultures and raptors. Among activities: bird walks; children's activities; workshops on bird feeding, birds of prey, rare plants and weather; and live music.
Little-known turkey vulture fact: They are the only scavenger birds that can't kill their prey. Their feet are not strong enough, but their powerful beaks can tear through even the toughest cow hide. They feed by thrusting their heads into the body cavities of rotting animals.
Sierra Vista Restaurant is at 16575 Highway 178. Enjoy! (And in case you're wondering, the the restaurant isn't serving real turkey vulture, road kill or compost.)
--Pete Thomas
File photo by Casey Christie/Bakersfield Californian
Jared Smith, owner of Parchers Resort high in Bishop Creek Canyon, provided Outposts with a taste of things to come the other day, and today reports the fall-colors season is beginning to peak and, in higher elevations, close to full splendor.
Nature photographers and hikers should travel to their favorite Eastern Sierra region within the next few weeks to take advantage of this brilliant phenomenon -- because once it peaks all it takes is a strong wind to tear those colorful leaves from their branches.
Smith provided these images. At the top, the Table Mountain area along the east side of South Lake Road, at 8,845 feet. At bottom, the aspens and willows near Willow Campground, at 9,065 feet.
Below 8,000 feet it's still mostly green. But that will quickly change.
-- Pete Thomas
I'm embarrassed to write that after driving past Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve hundreds of times, I finally pulled in Tuesday afternoon and strolled about.
Wow!
I could not believe how alive the vast marshland was. Pelicans were in low flight, terrorizing schools of tiny fish. Black skimmers, with their bright-red bills, were skimming. Forster's terns were turning this way and that, fluttering and dive-bombing.
Herons stood on stilted legs and struck like snakes at passing prey. And snowy egrets were a little more animated than in any other place I've seen them.
Unfortunately, I did not have a long enough lens or steady enough hand -- I'm bringing a tripod next time -- to capture any truly vivid images of the speedier birds, so I'm providing just these of the egrets.
And since these wetlands. located adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway at the north end of Huntington Beach, are a bird-watcher's paradise, I'm asking anyone who is willing to share their best images. Please send them to pete.thomas@latimes.com, mark "bolsa chica" in the subject field, and Outposts will post the best samples, if any come in, next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, I can't wait to go back and do more exploring. This ranks as one of my top discoveries of the last few years. Easily.
--Pete Thomas
Photos: Pete Thomas / Los Angeles Times
Today marks the first day of fall, and Jared Smith, owner of Parchers Resort above Bishop in the Eastern Sierra, e-mailed to say the colors of leaves in Bishop Creek Canyon are beginning to change.
"We're still a ways off from the peak of the fall colors but there are some places where the color is already breathtaking," Smith writes. "I would expect the peak of the color at places like North Lake and Lake Sabrina, as well as the lower reaches of the South Fork of Bishop Creek, to really pop sometime between the Sept. 25 and Oct. 7."
Attached are two of Smith's images, offered as proof. They don't do justice to a phenomenon that, at its peak, splashes a radiant mosaic of yellow, red and orange across meadows and canyon walls.
The bottom photo was taken alongside South Lake, which sits at about 10,000 feet. The top photo was snapped from the road leading to the lake. We presume the fall color season is similarly close at hand in Rock Creek Canyon, along Lake Mary Rd. above Mammoth Lakes, and elsewhere in the region.
If you haven't witnessed the changing of the Eastern Sierra season, you've missed out on something truly breathtaking.
--Pete Thomas
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water at Trestles, along come the bureaucrats with plans to tear up San Onofre State Beach and erect a toll road.
Again.
The California Coastal Commission in February rejected the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ proposed 16-mile extension of the 241 toll road, which would have diced through the San Clemente-area park and its watershed, and placed a gargantuan artificial monstrosity amid a pristine setting.
But the U.S. Department of Commerce has scheduled a hearing Monday in Del Mar to appeal that decision, and it feels like February once again — and just as cold.
A united opposition led by the Surfrider Foundation and other admirable groups stands by claims the project — whose solution to any traffic problem is questionable at best — might ruin one of the world’s premier waves and will spoil the aesthetics of the park and alter a watershed that includes a creek that supports endangered steelhead trout.
But proponents will be better equipped this time. For example, the toll road agency has funded a study that finds the new thoroughfare would adequately protect water quality.
Uh huh.
Lower Trestles, one of several breaks on the remote stretch of coast north of Camp Pendleton, plays host to the only Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Tour contest on the U.S. mainland.
This portion of coast is unspoiled, save for the train track. The proposed Foothill Transportation Corridor South would spoil the Trestles experience, which includes a long walk on a dirt road to what seems a bygone era, seemingly a hundred miles from any freeway.
What’s worse is that it’d set a dangerous precedent. State parks should be off-limits. Sacrifice one and you jeopardize others. They offer great escapes and need to be protected as such.
I recently covered the Boost Mobile Pro at Lower Trestles. The world’s top surfers were competing. I asked eight-time world champion Kelly Slater what he thought of the project, and he replied: "I think it's an unfortunate direction in trends that continue to destroy natural habitat that otherwise doesn't need to be disrupted. It's based on money and business as opposed to necessity and common sense in my opinion."
Score this man a perfect 10 for that answer.
Below is a short video of Slater and others in action at Lower Trestles. Anyway, here’s hoping that common sense prevails — again. The meeting, for those wishing to attend, will be from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday in O’Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds
, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd.
There also will be a public rally at 9 a.m. Sunday at San Elijo Avenue and Chesterfield Drive in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Bring your board. There's a modest swell.
—Pete Thomas
Caption: Kelly Slater, getting tubed en route to a triumph at the Boost Mobile Pro, is among the wave-riding opponents to the proposed 241 toll road extension that might jeopardize this perfect wave.
Credit: ASP Rowland / Covered Images
I enjoyed a thrilling air show late Friday afternoon. It was carried out in a remote meadow in the upper recesses of Leo Carrillo State Park north of Malibu, and it involved only two fliers, which looked like northern harriers.
And these birds of prey were good.
They cruised at high speed, one after the other, only a few feet above the golden field. They owned this meadow. They’d twist and dive-bomb into the tall grass, rise, continue their errant patrol, and dive again.
Ultimately, one remained down, so I presume it had captured a rodent or small bird. The other, perhaps detecting my presence, took refuge on the branch of a distant oak and cried shrilly.
I cried too, because I'd come unprepared. My camera battery died after only a few shots -- long before the raptors were within range -- during a show that lasted two long minutes. So all I captured was the poor image at the bottom of this post.
I’ll go back soon, however, better prepared, to see if I can spy this scene again -- but I'm curious as to how unusual this scene was. If anyone has an opinion, please share.
I'm almost certain they were northern harriers, because both had the telltale white band across their backsides. I'd seen them a few times before, in Northern California and in the Kern River Valley, but not during dozens of hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
My "Sibley" field guide informs that they're uncommon but widespread, so that explains that. But it also says they're solitary, and these were definitely together. The guide further states that they rarely perch on anything higher than a low fence post, yet one of these perched for a long time atop a broad oak.
On the trail surrounding this meadow -- in which I'd once seen a small bobcat -- were sporadic piles of soft, gray bird feathers, so it was not a good day for small, gray birds. But it was a fantastic afternoon for a hike.
--Pete Thomas
Photo credit: Pete Thomas / Los Angeles Times
Caption: This distant shot is presumably of a northern harrier, one of two hunting together in a meadow atop Leo Carrillo State Park.
Residents of Glendora remain on alert after last week's apparent near-miss attack by a mountain lion on a cyclist traveling south on Glendora Mountain Road near mile-marker 930.
The incident occurred at dusk on Aug 25. An adult male cyclist was traveling downhill at about 20 mph when the predator appears to have vaulted down a steep embankment in an attempt to attack him.
Kevin Brennan, a biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said in an interview Wednesday that the cyclist saw the cougar behind him first to his left, then to his right, "then he peddled as fast as he could to get out of there."
The incident was not reported until 24 hours afterward and hot, dry weather made tracking the animal with hounds impossible because the heat had removed the scent. Brennan did see paw prints, though, and said they were from either a yearling or full-grown adult.
Had a DFG team been put on this predator's track sooner, it likely would have been cornered and killed because of its aggressive behavior so close to civilization.
There have been no reported incidents since. Mountain lions have a very large home range--up to 200 miles for adult males--and this one has extensive Angeles National Forest wilderness in which to roam, so it is hoped this was merely a case of the cyclist being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But bikers and hikers are urged to exercise extreme caution, and Brennan suggests resident follow these guidelines:
--Do not hike, bike, or jog alone.
--Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active -- dawn, dusk and at night.
--Keep a close watch on small children.
--Do not approach a mountain lion.
--If encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms; throw rocks or other objects. Pick up small children.
--If attacked, fight back.
--If a mountain lion attacks a person, immediately call 911.
For information about coexisting with mountain lions, visit the DFG's Keep Me Wild website.
--Pete Thomas
Photo credit: Associated Press
Shameful though it is that man has eradicated grizzly bears from California and most of the lower 48, there are times we might be thankful that the only wild animals we really have to be concerned about while exploring our wilderness are mountain lIons, rattlesnakes and, in some mountain locales, much smaller, tamer and more predictable black bears.
Now is one such time. I just read in the Anchorage Daily News a frightful tale of a fortunate woman named Clivia Feliz, who was attacked by a grizzly as she jogged on a trail Friday evening in Far North Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, Alaska. Fortunate, because she suffered on a partially collapsed lung, cuts to her arm and puncture marks on her head and neck.
It was a hiker's worst nightmare. Feliz, 51, who was with her border collie, Sky, had come across two cubs, which playfully chased her as she and Sky sprinted away from them. Sky split off in another direction, luring the cubs, but a 400-pound sow took their place. Feliz crouched between fallen trees and the bear was upon her momentarily. At one point it took her head in its jaws and shook. Then it went for the rib cage, and Feliz could feel the separation of bones.
For whatever reason, the bear suddenly left and Sky returned. Feliz found help and had become the second person in six weeks to have been mauled by what biologists believe is the same bear. They're currently hunting and hoping to kill the animal. What wi ll become of its cubs remains to be seen.
How this resonates with me is that I sometimes prefer to hike alone because it affords a better chance to see wildlife. Many times I've seen mountain lion tracks, and at least once I experienced an eerie sensation as though I were being watched.
Though I'd love to see and perhaps photograph a mountain lion — so far, in the Santa Monica Mountains, I've seen only coyotes, deer and one bobcat — the last thing I'd want is to have a couple of cougar cubs rushing toward me, hoping to play.
I can only imagine what raced through Feliz's mind and can only guess that her dog luring the cubs away saved her life.
— Pete Thomas
Photo: This grizzly bear near Soldotna, Alaska, had to be euthanized June 15 after it wandered near Mackey Lake Road and the Sterling Highway, wounded at least three times by hunters days earlier, a biologist reported. Credit: Colin Tyler Bogucki / Associated Press
Is it any surprise that Portland, Ore., rocks?
Where else can you walk or take public transportation to trail heads in the largest forested natural area within a city limits in the U.S.? Hiking, cycling and kayaking are a snap. All in a city with the most breweries in the nation (more than two dozen in the city nicknamed Beervana).
We wanted to check out exactly how easy it would be to get to outdoor pursuits in Portland sans car, so we flew up and spent a vehicle-free weekend recently in the urban gem of the Pacific Northwest.
The photo at right is along Cornell Road, in the northwest section of the city. A trail head into Forest Park is just before the tunnel (one of several ways into the park), about a 15-minute walk from our hotel. This is also minutes away from popular Northwest 23rd Avenue, aka "Trendy-third."
Read on »
California State Parks has posted a new trail guide on its website. It's not for serious hikers and the list of trails for each region is sparse. But it does provide a general overview of some trails within each park, and of the parks themselves.
And it does include one of my favorite local hikes: the Eagle Rock Loop Trail (Backbone Trail) within Topanga State Park, at the trailhead of which I came across the deer in the accompanying photo.
The guide is organized by region so it’s worth bookmarking and consulting during travels to unfamiliar destinations. More than 150 trails are highlighted, most between one and 15 miles long. There are only 10, though, in Los Angeles County; only five in Orange County, and only seven in the Sierra Nevada.
Length, elevation gain and trailhead directions are described in detail for each trail.
A news release announcing the Take A Hike website offers "information about hiking safety, preparation tips and the Governor’s Challenge to Californians to improve their physical fitness through outdoor recreation in California’s wonderful state parks."
That's a challenge worth meeting.
—Pete Thomas
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