San Gabriel Mountains D6, Vincent Gulch Divide to Islip Saddle | ||
| Fig. 1. | ||
| Segment Start | Segment End | Segment Length | Elevation (feet) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min | Max | Range | |||
| Vincent Gulch Divide, 6580 feet | Islip Saddle, 6600 feet | 11.5 miles | 6580 | 9400 | 2820 |
Introduction
Survey Dates
The Trail Plant Checklist
Introduction
See The Flora of the Pacific Crest Trail: Overview for an Introduction to these plant checklists, and D. San Gabriel Mountains for an Introduction to the San Gabriel Mountain section.
Fig. 2. Trail Map for the PCT Section D6 through the San Gabriel Mountains, from USDA Forest Service Interactive Map.
This hike starts with some serious elevation gain as you make your way up to Mt. Baden Powell. The forest changes in species composition from Jeffrey Pines to Lodgepole Pines, with ancient Limber Pines found near the summit. Kennedy's Buckwheat is an alpine species found on the summit along with other unusual plants such as Cycladenia and Oreonana. The trail then mostly stays along the crest of the ridge separating the L.A. basin from the Mojave Desert for a number of miles, going in and out of an old burned area. Just past Windy Gap, Little Jimmy Springs is a small, lush area with a number of showy and unusual plants.
This section is also divided into four segments, each with their own plant list:
- D6a Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden-Powell (3.8 miles, +2800 feet)
- D6b Mt. Baden-Powell to Throop Peak (2.6 miles, +400, -800 feet)
- D6c Throop Peak to Windy Gap (2.9 miles, -1300 feet)
- D6d Windy Gap to Islip Saddle (2.4 miles, -900 feet)
Survey Dates
The entire section was surveyed on 6/2/2013 by RT, Shaun Hawke and Tom Chester. 112 species were observed, a low number of plants were in bloom due to a dry year.
Subsets of section D6 have been surveyed separately. Section D6a, from Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden-Powell, was surveyed numerous times in 2002-2004, and several times each in 2013 and in 2014. Section D6c was surveyed extensively in 2010 and 2011 as part of the Lily Spring Study Area, and surveyed additionally in 2013 and 2014.
As expected, significantly more species were found by surveys in additional years and at different times of year. The plant list as of 9/25/14 contains 162 species.
The Trail Plant Checklist
The Plant Checklist is available in four different formats:
- Illustrated Family Order List from Calflora, with two thumbnail pictures for every species (162 species). Note the checkbox at right that allows a sort in family order instead of scientific name order, or to sort by bloom start month. Check Show photo service links and then click on Display to get links to all Calphotos et al pictures.
- Species in Order Along the Trail, from Vincent Gap to Islip Saddle, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (162 species)
- Species Seen on or near the Trail in a Family Order List, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (162 species). This version is further subdivided into the four segments, indicating which species are found on each segment.
- Species Seen on or near the Trail, along with species vouchered from this general area, in a Family Order List, with links to Jepson Manual Treatment and Calphotos (not available yet)
Separate condensed print versions of just the checklist names are available for all except for the Calflora thumbnail picture version, as a link on each of those pages.
See also Michael Charters' Photo Gallery from Throop Peak to Vincent Gap on 7/14/13 and Photo Gallery from Islip Saddle to Throop Peak on 6/24/13 and 7/1/13)