EISPIRATEN

very nice. A strange thing, they are not closed in Ventura, but closed in Los Angeles -- I made it into a couple of parks that way. I think the trails are opening up tomorrow.

that's good to know.

That castle looking thing should be the southwest end of the boney ridge massif. The canyon going down is blue canyon, it was dissed in the backbone trail guide, but I think it is really cool (and remote). I thought the NPS closed the backbone trail and it was only trails controlled by Ventura Count...

typically inky caps don't hold up well, so I pass on them. A few years ago (maybe 10?) we had a big flush of chanterelles in the Santa Monicas, but they have been few and far between since then.

Wes, likely right, the stipe doesn't look right for a cort also.

No. 6 looks like galerina
4-5 may well be stream
2-3 corts?

Wes, where did you find these? I have not seen any this season. I have found some lactarius, some corts and some assorted lbm's but no velosas or chanterelles

At least one of these very pretty mushrooms is one of the deadliest mushrooms in the forest.

I hiked the Mt. Wilson Toll Road from Altadena on Sunday. The last forested section before the traverse below Mt. Harvard had a lot of downed tress as well. On the summit trail there was residual snow, but no spikes needed. More snow coming in on Thursday.

I went up Bear Flat trail on Saturday. There were a few hikers, but not too many. A zoo on top, so back onto the trail for some mountain solitude. The switchbacks above Bear Flat elimnate most hikers from the balance of the trail.

Unfortunately you just have to wait it out. The hardest thing to do but the most important is don't scratch no matter what.

cool pictures. The ones that look like Turkey Tail are likely not. They are probably Stereum. You have to look on the underside to be sure, but the coloration is wrong for Turkey Tail. The unidentified white one has likely been parasitized by another fungus hypomyces. From what I can see on Sean's p...

That would not be the one. Possibly its smaller cousin lepideus (also known as the train wrecker mushroom because it decomposes wooden railroad ties) but I can't see enough of the mushroom to tell. I would need to see the gills and the entire stalk including the underground part to have a chance at ...

Nice pictures Sean. Was it at the base or near dead conifers? What size? I would need to see much more of the mushroom to make a field ID but they are possibly neolentitus ponderosas.

I have done most of the Backbone. The only section remaining is Saddle Peak Road to Malibu Canyon Road. You are right about the connector from the Dead Horse Trail to Hondo Canyon. The trail is not evident as it is behind the water towers. We ended up going down to Topanga Road through the school an...

I have done the Grand Canyon in the summer a number of times. It is an amazing place. With good conditioning and lots of water it is not a problem.

The reason to come up the Bright Angel is the lack of water on the South K. not the weather.

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑That's pretty cool looking. A succulent I assume.

HJ

No it is a fungus. It is pretty watery and those that have reportedly tried it have said "why bother?"

right it should be flora, fauna, and fungus

It looks like you have trametes versicolor also known as turkey tail, and tremella mesenterica also know as witches butter.

nice pics

I went up the toll road from Altadena and it was fine. There are a few rock slides but nothing at all challenging. The snow started about 1/2 mile below the trail junction. Quite fun, Wilson in the snow.

this was really epic Dima...nice hike

this was interesting. I have hiked Sitton quite a bit but never Bluewater -- will have to check it out.

Sean,

It actually was hauntingly beautiful. It is not often that one sees the hills in that way.

Jerry

I hiked the segment from Silverwood Lake to Swarthout Canyon Rd about two weeks after the fire. (18.5m) Here are some pics. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/2013318/pic3.jpg https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/2013319/pic2.jpg https://eispir...

Nice report and pics, thanks

Your pace was off because, well it is San Gorgonio and that is the way she rolls.

It is a great area. The scenery and the ecology make for a really nice hike...and in July, as I found out, a really hot hike.

I thought I would go for a hike near my house today. I had been in the El Capitan Open Preserve before at a wilderness medicinal plants workshop and thought the hike looked interesting. However I did not read much about it except to find out it was an 11 mile round trip. Arriving at 9:00 a.m. for a ...

nice video, nice 3rd class rock

Ah, makes total sense. I think what might have happened with that is the phone app uses a gps reading for your elevation. while it is supposed to peg you within a short distance of where you are at, on steep hillsides it can have you jump up quite a distance and then back down without showing much h...

Dima, I think you are right. I usually wear my gps on my shoulder so that it does not bounce around. If it swings or bounces up and down it can misread. I thought it might also be a cool side trip that was not shown on the map and if so was wondering where it might be. BTW: JeffH, I liked your trip ...