8/21/24: Cleveland National Forest- Hiking to Oasis Spring- Mt. Laguna, Ca
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Cleveland National Forest- Laguna Mountains- San Diego County, California. On a warm August morning, I decided to try my luck at reaching Oasis Spring again! I do make it this second time, but it was a struggle at times over several spots of off-trail gully walking and bushwhacking! The effort was worth it as I reached a small, lush spot hanging precariously over Storm Canyon and the nearby arid desert!
Wow timely video! We just hiked that upper PCT trail today and were super curious about that Oasis trail. Thanks for posting! It looks like it would absolutely be worth the bushwhacking to see those native orchids in bloom in the spring.
I've only come across that plant twice, and both times were unfortunately well past bloom! I'd love to catch them in flower so I can do a plant video on them! I'm glad you liked the video; thanks for watching and commenting!
Wow, Brian, you just hit ANTHOER one, out of the park with your magisterial Laguna Series and Sagas! Sadly, no Maria Muldaur to be found at this oasis. Sigh, oh well(Laughs!!).
Isn't amazing, how the seeds and spores of Riparian species, found their way to this spring? In addition, I'd have expected Alders, Sycamores, Poplars/Cottonwoods to have found their way here, too. A strong lush fortress right at the threshold of the harsh desert! Springs are nearly always the genesis of brooks and creeks, and, ultimately rivers. Is there a stream issuing from this spring? Does Storm Canyon proper have a reliable creek, or does it have only a flash flood Wash? All of the Eastern Sierra has creeks and rivers that start out gangbusters, only to eventually disappear into the Sinks of the Great Basin or Mojave.
Geographically speaking, could the Lagunas be considered to run all the way to the Eastside of Cuyamaca Basin, even Julian's Eastside, where they turn into the Volcons at the North Bank of Banner Canyon? All an impressive rampart, palisade, to be viewed from Anza Borrego.
Could there also be an uncharted frontier--for you, at any rate--to explore in the WESTERN branch of the Laguna Range--for example, West of Laguna Meadows & Big Lake, a little Northeast of Pine Valley? Your Series is overwhelmingly comprehensive, for what you've currently explored thus far for us.
Who would have used that old pumphouse? This abandoned roadbed looks too modern--the culvert's construction details--for old time stagecoach & freight wagon use--more suitable for motor vehicles. Might it have been part of the initial alignment for Sunrise Highway, say, 110-115 years ago? Or a Forest Service Road for FS workers to canvass The Forest? We should be learning history as well as botany, geology, geography, and being knocked out by your stunning views.
I would like to call you a Video Docent--bar none--among the topmost presenters of this format on YT. For being an extremely astute and disciplined layman, it's HIGH TIME that you receive some sort of official recognition of your work here, from Academia, the Scientific Community, Environmentalists, and Natural Resources Managers. You can channel that inner John Miur like no one else, Brian. Open a PayPal PayPoint, and I'll chip in.
In a thumbnail picture above, is this waterfall really in the Lagunas, the Cuyamacas?
Thanks for the kind words!! Since we are on the topic of the Lagunas, I have another couple of hiking videos upcoming from Mt. Laguna this week too! Yes, I went there for a third week in a row, as there is a lull in the mountain heat, and I am taking FULL ADVANTAGE of that! The first 2 weeks of September look like one extended nasty heatwave, so I really "went to town" with 2 hikes yesterday: a short mini warm up, and a much longer loop, so expect a short hiking video for the former, and expect a LONG video, a sort of a tour hiking video in yet another area of the Lagunas! Stay tuned; the videos should be up in a couple of days!!
@@swithinbarclay4797 I believe the Cuyamaca Laguna area is a set of 4 or 5 shelves that runs down to Davies valley and skull valley past valley of the moon. I can't remember if it's the roadside geography book, or the Anza borrego desert book that talks about it. However the layout of the coinciding rims and peaks is pretty well illustrated if you can find it.
Epipactus gigantea is whats growing with the woodwardia and lupine! Edit: you got it 😅
I also didnt find the maple when i was out, its a bit sketch but not as bad as some of the other ridges of laguna. The umbellularia is super rad in there.
I wonder if the crazy fire history in that area has extirpated the maples! I would one day like to see if I could get to the pumphouse below, maybe when it gets colder (no rattlesnakes), and see if I can get any historical data as well! It's cool to see another like-minded individual out there checking for the same stuff!!
@@brianpowell5082 From my understanding is there was one tree remaining at the pumphouse for a long time, and collections and observations of it stopped in 2012 coinciding with a fire that ripped up that whole canyon in I believe 2013? Could never get conclusive evidence on if it was planted or naturally occuring, but there's healthy populations of Acer negundo tucked around to the S and SW of Laguna, so it's not lunacy to think there could be more.
@@danieldow3094 I will have to check out if I can find the negundo's near Laguna! I have seen a few at Palomar Mtn State Park along Doane Creek and Doane Valley Nature Trail, but just a few. Interestingly, there is a decent sized population pf Acer negundo californicum near where I live in Santee along the San Diego River, several of which are seen along Ca-52. There are several in a remote part of Mission Trails Regional Park as well, along with a medium sized tree in the popular Mission Dam Trailhead parking lot! There is a large population of negundo's in the San Jacinto Mtns Riverside Co near Lake Hemet, along the early part of the Cedar Springs Trail, accessible from Morris Ranch Road off Ca-74 (Pines to Palms Hwy)!