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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Jan 27, 2013 - 12:03pm PT
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Mushroom rock was where i first onsighted a 5.11 in 1995.
bring me back to whilliamson.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Feb 20, 2013 - 09:31pm PT
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Climbing the upper wall at Williamson with some teammates from the cross country team, high school 1984. This was pre Bosch era, I remember surmounting the final little head wall and it being protected with a pin and a few star bolts. Those were fun days.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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May 22, 2013 - 11:35am PT
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Here's the culprit that climbers are being scapegoated for...yup, another illegal immigrant.
Invasive frogs carry amphibian-killing fungus
A study links African clawed frogs, which were brought to California decades ago for use in pregnancy tests, with a deadly pathogen.
By Geoffrey Mohan, Los Angeles Times
May 19, 2013, 9:56 p.m.
African clawed frogs were first brought to California decades ago to help doctors figure out whether their patients were pregnant. After new technology made those pregnancy tests obsolete, the creatures were let loose, and thrived for decades in the state's drainage ditches and ponds.
Now there are signs that the proliferation of African clawed frogs may be putting native species in peril. A study published last week in the journal PLOS ONE reveals that they carry a deadly fungus responsible for wiping out vast numbers of amphibians around the world.
The spread of the deadly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus is contributing to one of the greatest disease-caused losses of biodiversity in recorded history. The fungus causes amphibians' skin to harden, interfering with the regulation of electrolytes and eventually causing cardiac arrest.
Entire species of amphibians, which are among the oldest vertebrates on Earth, have been driven to extinction since the fungus first was described in 1999.
"This pathogen is like no other pathogen we have seen," said Vance Vredenburg, a biologist at San Francisco State University who led the new study.
African clawed frogs don't appear to succumb to the fungus' deadly effects. But its presence in a hardy and thriving population that is difficult to control has raised alarm among conservationists.
Native to an arid region of South Africa, the Xenopus laevis species is extremely hardy. The frogs can adapt to cold and drought and can survive for several years burrowed in mud. Efforts to eradicate them here and elsewhere have proved fruitless.
"Once they're established in the wild they're very difficult to eradicate," said Stanford University veterinarian Sherril Green. "I don't know of any place in the world where they have been introduced that has had success in eradicating them."
The fungus has been circulating among African clawed frogs for some time — a sample from 1938, from Africa, tested positive for it. But the fungus had never been detected in California's population. The researchers found signs of it in specimens preserved in a Stanford collection at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The frogs had been caught in 2001 and 2003, in San Diego and San Francisco counties.
Scientists can't be certain that the African frogs of California are responsible for spreading the fungus to native species, such as the mountain yellow-legged frog. The American bullfrog, a non-native species introduced here during the Gold Rush, also is a known carrier of the fungus. Which species infected the others remains unresolved.
Still, discovery of the fungus among the African frog population in California "tightens the noose around the idea that humans really are responsible for moving this pathogen around," Vredenburg said.
Because of its biological similarity to humans, the species is important to biologists. The frogs' hormone system is analogous to that of humans, and they ovulate when exposed to urine from a pregnant woman. That made them useful for detecting pregnancies — a practice that became widespread in the 1940s and continued until more sophisticated blood tests were introduced in the 1970s.
That's when many hospitals simply released their frogs.
"We weren't as conservation-aware in those days," Green said.
The mystery of the fungus has vexed biologists, who consider it a potential harbinger of emerging diseases that could affect domesticated species crucial for food, such as cattle and poultry.
"Science thrives on predictability," Vredenburg said. "We have very little predictability in this. In the very same habitat, sharing the same lakes and streams, you have frogs that are surviving. They've been infected and are doing fine. For every rule that we put down we find an exception to it."
Even within the same species, some frog populations appear to survive the fungus, Vredenburg said. A South African researcher found that the fungus was not causing mortality in the wild frogs that carried the pathogen. The fungus and frog populations there could be evolving to adapt, a common evolutionary path for pathogens and their hosts.
The mechanics of such a process could be crucial to solving future pandemics.
"We really need to understand the fundamental biology here," Vredenburg said. "That same biology is occurring in other kinds of pathogens."
geoffrey.mohan@latimes.com
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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May 23, 2013 - 02:52pm PT
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I thought that was a picture of the judge who closed Williamson.
Here is a shot of Williamson taken a few years ago, from the road of course.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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May 25, 2013 - 11:29pm PT
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What????
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Heyzeus
climber
Hollywood,Ca
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Dec 18, 2013 - 05:17pm PT
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Looks like the FS is finally getting around to moving on this. I just got an email that an environmental scoping is going on until January 24, 2014.
They only want to open it for 3 1/2 months.
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Dec 18, 2013 - 05:48pm PT
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.....how about some more information????????
who
what
where
when
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10b4me
Ice climber
Bishop/Flagstaff
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Dec 18, 2013 - 05:59pm PT
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so I saw this on a website. this is the latest forest service proposal.
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Heyzeus
climber
Hollywood,Ca
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Dec 18, 2013 - 06:20pm PT
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I'm trying to figure out how to post a PDF. Does this screenshot work?
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Dec 18, 2013 - 06:56pm PT
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I still miss that place but if it ever opens part time or full time it'll never be the same experience again.
[shrug]
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Dec 18, 2013 - 08:22pm PT
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1 year minimum before we are allowed back.
The annual closure will be renewed on 01/01/14.
There will be public meetings and input needed from the climbing community in the new year.
The frog population "has exploded" not only at Williamson but throughout the San Gabriels.
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L
climber
California dreamin' on the farside of the world..
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Dec 18, 2013 - 09:03pm PT
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Williansom might re-open!!!
What do you mean, it'll never be the same????
Hell, give me 2 days of climbing there and I'll die a happy woman. I would climb till my fingers fell off and still feel lucky.
The Far Side
Being There
Labyrinth
Valdez
Industrial Disease
Timber
Mushroom Boulder
Shaman
And dozens more...
It won't be the same--it'll be better!
Woohooooooo! Williamson!
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Dec 18, 2013 - 09:28pm PT
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I got my scoping letter too. Oddly, I can't find it on the Angeles Nt'l Forest website to post a link for you.
PM me if you want a copy by email.
It's a great opportunity for input. I plan to propose:
1. Send volunteers in to remove invasive fish etc from all of LIttle Rock Creek drainage.
2. Install and optional "crest-route" version of the PCT that takes the ridge straight over Waterman and skips the canyon.
3. Implement a carry-out waste program and public education.
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john bald
climber
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Dec 18, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
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Last time I climbed there was 1971. Hope to get back someday. Really enjoyed the Angeles Forest.
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Brock
Trad climber
RENO, NV
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Dec 18, 2013 - 10:38pm PT
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I think I did my share of making those frogs rare. I put my hand in a crack/pocket and had frog plasma all over my hand.
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Iron Mtn.
Trad climber
Riverside, Ca.
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Dec 28, 2013 - 07:30pm PT
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Here's my 2 cents that I sent:
Dear Forest Supervisor Thomas A. Contreras,
Upon reading the Forest Service's Proposed Action in regards to access I felt compelled to comment on this.
As a rock climber and avid hiker I find the proposed actions for the most part fair and reasonable, especially the closing of the scree trail as well as certain climbing areas like the Mushroom Boulder, the London Wall and the Stream Wall in order to preserve the protection of the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog. These are small sacrifices that are very important on many levels.
After reading and reviewing the proposal many times I have one concern, the window in which climbers will have access to Williamson Rock. My concern is that with such a short window for climbers it will cause overuse of the area thus defeating the purpose of protecting the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog. While I do not know the scientific evaluations in depth, I would think a partial closure (as suggested in the proposal) of lower areas for certain months and extended access of the upper climbing areas would be a reasonable trade off especially given the fact that there are plenty of routes that would satisfy the demand of the Williamson Rock. Furthermore I would suggest that the impact of foot traffic of the PCT could potentially be just as or more damaging to the habitat due to the sheer volume of hikers accessing the wilderness would be greater than the amount of climbers using Williamson Rock.
I thank you for taking the time to read my concern.
Sincerely Yours
William L Tuck III
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Yafer
Trad climber
Chatsworth, California
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L
climber
California dreamin' on the farside of the world..
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^^^^And in that chasm is Ridin' The Storm Out, a stellar 2-pitch 10b that I still dream about.
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