Montrose Search and Rescue – Abandoned Mine Traps Both Explorer and Rescuer The abandoned mines that hThe abandoned mines that honeycomb our San Gabriel Mountains attract adventurers like moths to a flame. These ancient holes in the ground, often held up by rotting timbers over a century old, can be death traps for those with […]
1924 Was a Great Year for the Crescenta Valley Local historians have an amusing saying about dating structures in CV: “If you don’t know the real date of when something was built, just say it was built in the early ’20s. Chances are, you’ll be right.” For it’s true – the early ’20s were boom […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – Injured Man Found Via Cellphone App and Facebook Continuing with the “cellphone rescues” theme I’ve been writing about lately, we get another good story from the Montrose Search and Rescue’s technical expert Steve Goldsworthy. Steve in my last column related that today, Montrose Search and Rescue uses every available technology […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – Lost Hiker Calls For Help On His Cellphone – in 1991! It’s a common scenario: A hiker gets lost so he whips out his cellphone, looks for a signal, and calls for help. But when this lost hiker used his cellphone in 1991, he was apparently one of the first […]
CV’s WWII Internment Camp Featured in New Exhibit I’ve often wondered over the causes for America’s decision to round up all the West Coast Japanese-Americans, the vast majority of whom were American citizens born in the U.S., and to imprison them for the duration of the war. From the comfort of the present, it’s […]
Montrose Search and Rescue – When Hikers Bit Off More Than They Could Chew It’s a common mistake. Hikers read about a particular hike, check their maps (“It looks pretty easy!”), and head out for what they estimate will be a “day trip.” But they’re halfway through the hike and it’s getting dark and cold. […]
The Mountain Lion of the Verdugo Mountains Mountain lions commonly come down from the San Gabriel Mountains to feast on the deer that eat our roses and to pick off the occasional unlucky dog. But allow me to introduce P-41, our very own mountain lion of the Verdugo Mountains. P-41 is special. He’s part of […]
The War of the Black Widow Spiders Our valley has a near-perfect climate and, as such, attracts newcomers from all over the world. Besides the human newcomers, foreign plant and animal life also do well here, so-called “invasive species.” In past columns, I’ve described several local “wars” involving the displacement of native species by non-native […]
A Description of Crescenta-Cañada Valley in 1883 We get an early description of La Cañada in an 1883 publication “A Southern California Paradise.” It should be noted La Cañada in that era was the entire Crescenta-Cañada Valley from Tujunga to Altadena. The writer was the Rev. R.W.C. Farnsworth, one of the original members of the […]
Crescenta Valley’s Very Own Indian Swami For the last few weeks I’ve been relating a small sample of the thousands of thrilling stories of the Montrose Search and Rescue team. I’ll take a break from those tales, and return to them later. Not many people know that La Crescenta had its very own Swami, Swami […]