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Transverse Dreams

@transversedreams.bsky.social
42 followers 10 following 234 posts

A SoCal hiking and skiing blog

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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
NWS radar is even picking up these clouds as stationary thunderstorms. Not clear if any rain is really reaching the ground and there is a real dearth of weather stations in the San Gabriels. Basically if radar isn’t catching it no one knows what’s happening between the front range and the desert.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Those certainly aren’t the kind of clouds we’re used to seeing over the San Gabriels but for that atmospheric profile yeah this makes sense!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
There’s been some really strange cloud decks over the San Gabriels lately. And despite the high humidity (60 dewpoint) the lapse rate has been high, almost 5! It was 92 in Azusa and 60 at Table Mtn!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Not exactly the weather we were expecting for Table Mtn on Labor Day but we got prepared and toughed it out!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Some people say SoCal sunsets can’t be beat, but they probably just never woke up early enough
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This article is a great example of how science evolves, and how we can still learn from the past. As much as we’ve all dreamed of skiing San Gabriel Peak’s southeast gully, the evidence for glaciation in the San Gabriel Mtns is very weak, and it’s now thought the Gabes escaled Quaternary glaciers.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Ventura County remote mountain valleys are undefeated in the heat. 46F last night??
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
It might be hot in LA but it’s just another week of the world’s best summer weather at Table Mtn.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Have you heard the good word of Mt Marcus Baker Thought?
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
There’s always a thousand bad reasons I tell myself I shouldn’t go… and two really good reasons that I should.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
You belong among the wildflowers… You belong somewhere you feel free
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Grandview… high and lonesome in the Basin and Range… though I suppose not too lonely by the standards of those mountains!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Table Mtn, Los Angeles County, CA: the perfect summer climate
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Yesterday and today were another two days of reverse clearing for LA County and this is truly the blessed SoCal climate mode. Sunny at the beach to take the chill out of the sea breeze, cloudy in the San Gabriel Valley where it’s a little warmer and drier.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The flip side of living in the foothills, where the marine layer can trap smoke and you occasionally get hot nights if you’re just above the inversion, is that a strong marine layer will get squeezed into honest to goodness precipitation, even in the summer.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Took advantage of some late season June Gloom to try a new mountain bike outing today - the Colby Trail in Glendora. This was a little more reasonable grade for my skills than Van Tassel Motorway and I made it about 1000’ vertical before I ran out of time. The Glendora volcanics outcrop here!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I made it a little further up Van Tassel Motorway this weekend but it’s so steep, I ended up pushing my bike up a few times because I couldn’t get going. It’s at the outer limits of what’s physically possible with my bike… and my skills.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Baldy was easily visible an hour ago now totally lost in the smoke
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Boyle Heights structure fire smoke plume from Van Tassel Motorway in Duarte, central San Gabriel Valley.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Goal for this summer is to get in good enough shape to mountain bike to the top of Monrovia Peak. It’s 5000’ vertical and I gassed out after 400’ vertical, so we have some work to do. These fire roads are just relentlessly steep.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
All week it’s been clearing up everywhere around LA *except* for the clouds piled up against the San Gabriel Mountains and I’m so here for it.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Got an unexpected free morning at Table Mtn and decided to use it for a light quick hike of Baden Powell. Still a little snow up there! And I never get tired of the grand East Fork Canyon with 5000’ of relief between BP and Baldy.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Whoa that’s super cool- we were just there this weekend and I will have to tell my kids about it! (In addition to having the best climate in SoCal, Table Mtn hosts a JPL facility!)
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Camelback ski area in eastern Pennsylvania stayed open through the first weekend in May and they still haven’t thrown in the towel for next weekend. This is like me being the GM of a ski area, completely amazing.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Meanwhile we came over to the West Sierra to check out Bear Valley. I *always* have selective memory about what it’s like to get up to the west Sierra from LA. Lots of fun though!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Looking at all these videos of Colorado, Utah, and Tahoe… and yeah Mammoth has an elevation advantage but also: no one moves snow around as aggressively as Mammoth. www.instagram.com/reel/DV1uUo7...
instagram.com
Mammoth Rides on Instagram
695 likes, 116 comments - mammothrides on March 13, 2026
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Tuscaloosa AL getting freeze watches when it’s going to be 100 in Los Angeles
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Wrekt (no snow sports enthusiasts were harmed* in the making of this video) *seriously
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Also, it looks like Mountain High is doing a $249 college Cali pass if you get 4+ people. That is a serious steal, that’s like what I was paying Les Otten for 20+ years ago in the American Skiing Company days lol. www.thecalipass.com
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
No one can say Mountain High didn’t give it their all with snowmaking! NW face of Baldy showing a lot of snow - I think north slopes above 8500’ still have a decent amount of snow and on a warm day the Throop trees will be nice!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Classic Santa Ana winds with upper support from a cold Great Basin high. Down to ~25F in Wrightwood last night and Mountain High was able to make snow. 42F at 7000’ and 77F at 300’ / that is pretty much pure adiabatic heating (downslope winds). 35F difference, at the dry lapse rate it would be 37F.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Last weekend the kids and I hit Snow Valley (last pic) Saturday and Mountain High on Sunday. I love Snow Valley’s view of the high San Gabriels and Gorgonio, and its ancient boulder-strewn topography with decomposed granite soil is a stark contrast to Blue Ridge’s tumultuous Pelona Schist.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Before all the snow melted (2/23/26) I checked off one that’s been on my list for a long time: Table Mtn campground with its big beautiful pines, desert views, and mellow slopes. The snow went surprisingly far down the north side and the slopes got a lot steeper there!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
And after that storm cycle, right back to the pattern we’ve had all winter of above-freezing temperatures all night at the 7000’-8000’ level, with even Wrightwood getting the inversion. 😕
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Reposted by Transverse Dreams
Garry Hayes @geotripper.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
A sparkling clear day in the Central Valley! Half Dome in Yosemite was visible from my Keyes Road viewpoint. #halfdome
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
All I want is that sequence of storms, every week, from November 15 through April 15. Is that too much to ask for?
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
My heart goes out to everyone affected by the Castle Peak avalanche disaster. A lot of people lost someone close, maybe even more than one person. It’s reminded me of my own personal white whale in Sheep Canyon. March 2023 found the cliffs and chutes buried under a tremendous amount of snow.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
👀
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Garry Hayes @geotripper.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Hundreds of pupfish at Salt Creek in Death Valley! The flood damaged boardwalk has been replaced and is a nice walk. The fish have survived here since the ice ages in water that at times is three times as salty as the sea and sometimes as much as 100° (1/2)
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
The bad thing about being a SoCal backcountry skier is you might have almost no snow in early February. The good thing about being a SoCal backcountry skier is that you only need one storm to be in business. 🤞
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Man this is super bleak for the Salt/Gila basin in AZ/NM and the Colorado River in general. And not looking great for the State Water Project in California with those numbers on the northern Sierra.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
The people competing in this event are incredible athletes and it’s obviously a passion for them. For me it’s weird for ski mountaineering to be a competitive sport bc one of the things I like best about it is the lack of competitive pressure. www.latimes.com/sports/olymp...
latimes.com
Everything you need to know about ski mountaineering, the newest Olympic sport
Ski mountaineering, also called Skimo, will make its Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games. Here's everything you need to know about the sport.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Connective sunny day thunderstorms over the San Gabriels? in February?? Sure why not. Right on brand for this winter.
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Ugh finally get that damnable ridge off California
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Table Mountain is so fascinating as a reflection of the air mass over the Mojave Desert. Incredibly little diurnal variation! But what I’m really curious about is the relatively quick crashes in dew points. -30F!? What causes that?
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
A cold start in Big Bear and Wrightwood with a shallow inversion back in WW. Super dry air at 7000’ with dew points down to -20F!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Finally! I’m sure SoCal ski area managers are breathing a nice dry sigh of relief after humidity finally crashed allowing the return of snowmaking weather. Everyone was set up last night but it was too humid for snowmaking despite temps near freezing. Here’s Mountain High.
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
In some parts of central and southern California, the first portion of the 2025-2026 rainy season has been both record warm and record wet! How does this fit into the bigger picture regarding California climate on a warming Earth?
youtube.com
A record warm & record wet start to rainy season in parts of California: What's the bigger picture?
The October through December 2025 period was record warm across much of California, and also record wet in central and southern parts of the state. But California has also experienced record-breaking dryness and drought in recent years. So, how does this all fit into what we know about California cl
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Congrats to anyone who pulled the trigger on a midweek Mountain High trip and is getting rewarded with this surprise snow squall! Forecast snow levels were 7000-8000 but with stronger than expected precipitation leading to evaporative cooling, it’s enough to accumulate a little bit! Woohoo!!
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Transverse Dreams @transversedreams.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Another morning with a super shallow inversion allowing Snow Valley to make snow only at the base! The low was 29F while just a mile away and 400’ higher up it was over 40F.
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