On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youāre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Slight change in the schedule for Friday. Ā Elma is on vacation, so JanieM will be up on Friday and Elma will be up during the first week in April.
BillinGlendaleCA
The Santa Monica Mountains run from Glendale in the east to the Oxnard Plain in the west(though the western Channel Islands are thought to be an extension of the range). The mountains increase in height from Beacon Hill in the east to Sandstone Peak in the west before quickly falling in elevation as the range meets the Oxnard Plain and the coast. I hiked up to Sandstone Peak, I didn’t quite make it to the summit. As I prepared to head out, I checked the weather for the area and noticed that a strong wind would be blowing from the coast since we had a dry cold front move though the area. I decided to head out anyway and as I drove over Kanan Road to the coast the winds noticeably increased. There were whitecaps on the ocean. The trailhead is up a steep and winding road in an area that used to be the Circle X Boy Scout Camp which is now the NPS ranger station. There are two options to get to Sandstone Peak from the trailhead, one is a 1.1 mile hike up 1000 feet to the peak, the other is about a 4 mile hike though the valley north of the peak and a more gradual climb to the peak and down the more steeper trail. I took the second option.
As the trail skirts around the west side of Sandstone Peak, the valley to the north comes into view with cliffs on the northern side. Atop the cliffs at their western end is Balanced Rock, a large rock that lies on the edge of the cliffs. The cliffs are popular with climbers and there were a couple of groups there. The winds decreased noticeably once I got into the canyon. Once past the cliffs the trail and the creek at the bottom of the canyon meet up at Split Rock, a large rock that has split into three parts. There was a bit of running water in the creek and a grove of somewhat live oak that was recovering from the fires of the past decade. After Split Rock the trail begins it’s climb out of the canyon with access to Tri Peaks and Sandstone Peak. This is where scenery changes to the more lush foliage on the northern side of Sandstone Peak and the wind became stronger since the trail became more exposed to the coast. I didn’t take the side trip to Tri Peaks but did take the short trail to Inspiration Point(gotta bag them all). I took the side trail to the Sandstone Peak summit but stopped about 20 feet below the summit due to the strong winds.
Balanced Rock shot with a 590nm IR filter.
Close-up view of Balanced Rock and the cliffs below it.
Looking up the valley past the cliffs.The rocks at the top right are part of Bonny Peak.
Split Rock shot with the IRChrome filter.
A burnt tree near Split Rock.
A flower.
The climb up, the trail heads past this rock formation and then in back of it.
Tri Peaks.
eclare
Love the burnt tree, had there been a forest fire?Ā Ah…I see in your write up that you did mention a forest fire.
Baud
Beautiful.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@eclare:
We didn’t rake.
@Baud: Thanks.
Geminid
Bill, thanks for the beautiful pictures. I’ve forwarded them to a couple friends. That sure is some clear air!
The flower looks like a morning glory.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Geminid: I went on another hike to the west of Sandstone Peak last weekend and the air was pretty clear, again a stiff breeze off the coast.Ā Yeah, that’s a morning glory; there’s quite a few of them and other flowers blooming right now in the Santa Monicas.
JPL
The colors are amazing.
Benw
“A flower” COL (chortled out loud)
I love the SoCal landscape. It’s still home. Thanks for sharing!
zhena gogolia
You are an artist!
WaterGirl
@Benw: A picture is worth a thousand words?
HinTN
I’ve learned some geology today because Sandstone Peak is aptly named. I had labored for years under the impression that all those mountains out yonder were granite, which is beautiful in its own way. Excellent pix as always and thanks @?BillinGlendaleCA:.
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: ha!
Almost Retired
Excellent photos.Ā And I have no selected my destination for this weekend’s hike!Ā This looks way better than trying to spot pre-Oscar celebrities hiking Runyon Canyon.
stinger
Great photos of a beautiful location! That Balanced Rock — wow!
Bill, you are gradually teaching me to love IR.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Thanks.
@Benw: We do have some nice landscapes, I used to see Sandstone Peak and the surrounding mountains from where I grew up.
@zhena gogolia: Thanks, very much.
JustRuss
Nice. Did some hiking in the Santa Monicas when I lived down that way, beautiful spot. Did not know about Balanced Rock, very cool.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WaterGirl: Yes.
@HinTN: The San Gabriels are granite, the western Santa Monicas are more influenced geologically by the volcanic activity of the extinct Conejo Mountain volcano.
@Steve in the ATL: Yeah, we really don’t have forest fires in the Santa Monica in the traditional sense, more brush fires.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Almost Retired: Happy to help!Ā There’s also Malibu Canyon.
@stinger: One thing about IR is it really shows clouds and that worked especially in the first shot.
@JustRuss: I didn’t either until I started planning my hike up there and I grew up about 10 miles from there.
BigJimSlade
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I was going up the Ray Miller trail that day – it was windy! We turned around near the top because of the wind and some nausea that really put me out of commission that day! These things were in bloom like crazy.
Really nice IRs of Balanced Rock and Split Rock :-) and really nice detail in the morning glory – that can be tough with highlights getting blown out – I zoomed into the un-reduced version here.
If you haven’t done it before, it’s fun to hike around the rocky Tri Peaks area, and you get really nice views.
My favorite area in the SMM is just past there around Mugu Peak. There’s a long circuit (a hard day!), going up Mugu Peak, through the La Jolla Valley, and down the Overlook Fire Road to the Ray Miller trail – and takes some highway walking since part of the trail washed out in La Jolla Canyon. But nice big landscape to enjoy.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@BigJimSlade: I hiked the Ray Miller Trail to La Jolla Valley last Saturday…yes sunflowers everywhere!
Benw
@WaterGirl: always :)
BigJimSlade
@?BillinGlendaleCA:Ā ?Ā ?Ā ?
BigJimSlade
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Doing the big circuit I mentioned was the first time I went crazy with flower pictures – took over 100. Every flower those mountains have to offer was going gangbusters (looking back this was 4/1/17). Up the Chumash trail to the top of Mugu peak, down through La Jolla canyon and across the rest of La Jolla valley, along the ridge and after 5+ hours, I got to the bottom of the Ray Miller trail and announced to everybody, “if I see one more flower I’m gonna puke!”
LOL, I was channeling Roseanne Rosannadanna (sp?) talking about the drop of sweat hanging off the end of the nose of Dr. Joyce Brother in the sauna (“you tryin’ ta make me sick or something?!”)
My favorite thing to do with those sunflowers is try and get some blue sky behind them – here’s one from the day you were at Sandstone Peak.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@BigJimSlade: My dad and I used to hike when I was a teen and one of those hikes was from Newbury Park down Big Sycamore Canyon and up to La Jolla Valley.Ā I did the hike down from Newbury Park last month but took the wrong trail and by the time I reached the Overlook Fire Road it was too late and had to head back.Ā So, I still wanted to revisit the valley,Ā My plan was to take the trail up the canyon, except I didn’t do a Google search on that hike and found out that trail was closed when I got there.Ā Up the Ray Miller Trail I went.
The kid did the hike to Mugu Peak on the Chumash trail and said it was a good climb, but I might try it as part of the valley loop, I’ve heard that’s not too bad.Ā Good shot of the sunflower and I agree they look great against a blue sky.Ā Blue and Gold always look good together, Go Bruins
ETA: The radar installation on the hill on the west side of La Jolla valley (Laguna Peak) are part of the Pt. Mugu base(used to be the Pacific Missile Range), my dad worked there and took me up there on one of my visits to his work.