A Most Curious Spring
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:00 pm
If you're at all familiar with the Middle High Country of the San Gabriel Mountains, you know that there are an abundance of seeps. They're not quite full-on springs, but neither are they dry.
For example:
Knowing this, I've never paid much attention to the dampness alongside Angeles Crest Highway just east of Cloudburst Summit.
But this past Saturday, I did the classic Middle High Country Loop: the Buckhorn - Cooper Canyon loop (plus a quick side trip up Mt. Akawie). As I did the short shuttle between the two trailheads, I heard a sound, a sound like running water. What the heck? So, I looked around.
Alongside the road, right where it's always been, there was a little dampness and some sparse greenery.
But now look up the side of the hill above the road. Notice that damp spot on the rocks? Hmm. Let's have a closer look.
Well, I'll be danged. There's not a lot of flow, but there's water shooting out of a crack in the rock with enough force that it clears the rock and free falls a foot or two onto the slope below. The thing that's kind of neat about this little mini spring is that the water is so concentrated that it you can collect it easily in a water bottle.
It's also odd to me in that it comes right out of a fairly solid piece of rock. Most springs seem to well up out of little gullies and such. I've not seen one come out of a sheer rock face before. Kinda cool.
The approximate location of the spring is denoted by the letter "M" on the map link above. It's on Angeles Crest Highway, just a bit east of Cloudburst Summit, on the south side of the road. I didn't sample the water this trip.
HJ
For example:
Knowing this, I've never paid much attention to the dampness alongside Angeles Crest Highway just east of Cloudburst Summit.
But this past Saturday, I did the classic Middle High Country Loop: the Buckhorn - Cooper Canyon loop (plus a quick side trip up Mt. Akawie). As I did the short shuttle between the two trailheads, I heard a sound, a sound like running water. What the heck? So, I looked around.
Alongside the road, right where it's always been, there was a little dampness and some sparse greenery.
But now look up the side of the hill above the road. Notice that damp spot on the rocks? Hmm. Let's have a closer look.
Well, I'll be danged. There's not a lot of flow, but there's water shooting out of a crack in the rock with enough force that it clears the rock and free falls a foot or two onto the slope below. The thing that's kind of neat about this little mini spring is that the water is so concentrated that it you can collect it easily in a water bottle.
It's also odd to me in that it comes right out of a fairly solid piece of rock. Most springs seem to well up out of little gullies and such. I've not seen one come out of a sheer rock face before. Kinda cool.
The approximate location of the spring is denoted by the letter "M" on the map link above. It's on Angeles Crest Highway, just a bit east of Cloudburst Summit, on the south side of the road. I didn't sample the water this trip.
HJ