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By Tom Maloney
Photos by Keith Phillips, Dave Schurhammer & Tom Maloney
Early morning, Saturday, December 29, 2007 a group of 13 hearty
soles ventured into the wilderness of the Santa Ana Mountains with
our destination being the mysterious and remote Yaeger Mesa.
Some of the participants were: Dave Schurhammer and Chris LaFave who
assist aircraft historian Pat Macha on many of his searches for
historical aircraft losses in Southern California. Other folks who
successfully made the climb were Debra Clarke USFS Trails Manager,
Peter Jorris and Kevin Kettems of the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust,
Mike McDermott, Keith Phillips, and Tom Maloney, Forest volunteers,
Dr. Peter Bryant of UCI, and several other guests.
Yaeger Mesa was named after Mr. Jacob Yaeger who settled into
the upper Trabuco Canyon way back in 1899. The Mesas are actually made
up of two high-elevation (high for Orange County) meadows which are of a
certain soil make-up which allows for some surprisingly unique plant
groupings. The soil also seems to exclude the regular chaparral
plants.
The views were spectacular on the mesas and on this day was no
exception. The tops of the trees were shrouded in low clouds. The
mesas also hold a few historical surprises for visitors. An old
mine shaft (gold?), the wreck site of an old PT -19 aircraft which is
still a mystery as to how it got there, what year it crashed, and the
disposition of the pilot and passenger, and there is also a curious
memorial plaque affixed to an Oak tree.
The hike or assault upon the mesa was deceptively easy in the
beginning as we followed the West Horse Thief trail up Trabuco
Canyon for about 1 ½ miles before looking up at the near vertical slope
that we had to climbed in order to access the mesas. No sign of any
original trails that Mr. Yaeger may have used were currently visible, let
alone useable. So we dug down and accessed our inner billy-goat to
make it up the steep slope. Up, up and up some more and just when our heart
and lungs could take no more, we broke into the lower meadow (I was glad
we were lucky enough to be on the correct trail!).
In addition to the wonderful meadow views, we saw many large-cone
Douglas fir trees hundreds of feet tall, bracken ferns and great
examples of Manzanita (our state shrub). We also took the opportunity to
clean up around the meadows picking up fresh trash, and debris we came upon.
The land currently belongs to the San Bernardino Mountains Land
Trust and we were fortunate to get special permission to visit this site.
Negotiations may be underway soon to secure the purchase and
transfer of this unique and valuable habitat to the USFS Trabuco Ranger
District.
This would help to ensure protection of this special place unto
perpetuity.
Click onto the SAMNHA's Photos page for links to more pictures of the Yaer Mesa Hike and other events.
Check the SAMNHA website often to find out when and where our next
adventure will be!
Happy Trails!
By Keith Phillips
On Saturday morning June 2, 2007 five of us set out from the Trabuco Canyon trailhead at the end of Trabuco Creek Road for a hike to Main Divide Road. This can be a brutal hike in the summer heat, but we were able to enjoy morning temperatures in the 60s and a mid-day high in the low 70s. This is a beautiful hike which begins in the riparian area adjacent to Trabuco Creek, climbs through the chaparral and eventually winds through one of the best conifer forests in the Santa Ana Mountains.
While the effects of the drought were evident by the low to non-existent water level in the creek, there were a surprising number of wildflowers on this hike. We saw bush poppy, matilija poppy, purple yerba santa in bloom, monkey flower, golden-yarrow, Mariposa-lily, caterpillar phacilia, aster and Canterbury-bells. Although we saw a number of Humboldt lilies, none were in bloom yet. Upon reaching Main Divide Road, we had lunch and decided not to hike the full loop along Main Divide to West Horsethief trail. The hike along Main Divide Road would have been unpleasant given the amount illegal dirt bike activity that afternoon. Debra Clarke, Dick Sherman, Lee Shoemaker and I returned via the same trail, and MikeMcDermott decided to take a detour along Bell Ridge trail before heading back.
This trail is in good condition due to the efforts of the Forest Service volunteers including the Warriors Society mountain bike club. Starting out at 2,000 feet elevation, it is approximately 1.6 miles from the trailhead to the junction of West Horsethief trail and Trabuco Canyon trail. It is an additional 2.2 miles to Main Divide Road at a 4,100 foot elevation for a climb of just over 2,000 feet. Thanks Lee for leading this hike!
Photo by Debra Clarke
Members of the Santa Ana Mountains Natural History Association have been awarded the Orange County Wild 2006 Environmental Education Group of the Year. The honorees include: Tom Maloney, Larry Shaw, Lee Shoemaker and Daryl Walezak
The award was presented at the Earth Day celebration held on April 23, 2006 at the Muth Interpretive Center located at Upper Newport Bay.