The roads are closed but the ANF is not air tight. I bagged the summit of Yerba Buena Ridge up from Oro Vista in Tujunga. Everything I saw from the top of that was totally burned out: From Pacoima Canyon across the whole Big Tujunga drainage, Condor, Fox, Lukens, Josephine, Strawberry.

Concerned about wildlife: I saw deer and coyote tracks. One lizard. Occasional trees and bushes. A rarely used fire road on the plateau saved that lizard and some ant hills. Found two deer, nothing left but a few bones.

I plan to continue to take advantage of the burn to access some ridges and peaks: Brown Mountain direct, Saucer Branch of Millard, direct lines on Lukens, Condor, Josephine and others.

Here's a video of the devastation shot by staff of the Mount Wilson observatory on the way up.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/09/angees-crest-highway-in-aftermath-of-station-fire.html

Makes my heart sink.

Firefighters I spoke with who have been in the thick of it say they are stunned by the intensity with which the fire consumed old growth in the deep remote canyons.

My home is on the edge of the affected Angeles National Forest, and my yard has become the home of many displaced animals.

One dazed and confused buck:


The Bear came over the wall:


This one's got big feet:



Mr. Coyote:



It’s sad. I can’t see things going well for a big old black bear who wanders down from here into the urban area. All so some firebug could catch a thrill.

As far as the lower part of the Old Mt. Wilson Toll Road (that leaves from Eaton Canyon Park), that is untouched from Pasadena up past Henninger Flats. Not quite sure about the upper reaches near the towers on Mt. Wilson proper. Eaton Canyon is currently open.

Gusto

Steve1215 wrote: Yes, the forest is supposed to burn on occasion, but not with the frequency deemed ....--Steve

Oh, and who dictates the frequency?

Appears our hands (human's) have already determined that issue and one major reason why 25+ years of chaparral burned with such a fury.

Each year a fire does not naturally mitigate this area, equates to one foot of growth. So 25+ years of not allowing nature to run it's course, created this inferno.

FACT!

This is the same sad scenario that is occurring throughout the West. Suppressing natures mitigating fires only creates a monster of this proportion.

FACT!

Oh yeah, and none of this has absolutely NOTHING to do with AGW. Has to do with the concept of playing CONTROLLERS of nature and it's infinite wisdom. Like we know better.....right?


I say we stop playing God and start allowing Nature to run it's course. It knows far better than we ever will.

A lot of what burned in the station fire was not what you would typically call chaparral, but groves of large ancient oaks. I have hiked through many of these groves both in the canyons and on the north side of mountains like Strawberry Peak. A fireman told me many of these old growths burned to ashes.

Of course it was chaparral which carried the fire to these places.

Now we're going to see some serious erosion and slides when the rain starts.

I wonder if they'll be able to keep highway 2 open...

ksolem wrote:I wonder if they'll be able to keep highway 2 open...

$10 says that you will driving 210 to the 14 this winter Kris....


EL NINO is COMING!


It is gonna RAIN the likes SoCal hasn't seen in 4-5 years if not more.

Mark my words.

But folks do not think about these issues when they insist on controlling the natural laws that need to play out. Instead, they feud over the "conservation" issue that they determine and deem to be important.

Folks just don't learn.....

Not at all what we here in Eastern Sierra have experienced at all.

Higher than normal Southern Monsoonal flow this summer.

Oh yeah, and this tid bit of El Nino (ENSO) beta...

[url=http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.pdf] NOAA ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Advisory
Synopsis: El Niño is expected to strengthen and last through the Northern Hemisphere winter
2009-2010[/url]

Keep reading on, Doug....

"Temperature and precipitation impacts over the United States are typically weak during the Northern Hemisphere summer and early fall, generally strengthening during the late fall and winter".....

And this from the 14 Sept 09 NOAA ENSO CYCLE update:

"Summary
•El Niño is present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
•Sea surface temperatures (SST) remain +0.5 to +1.5ºC above-average across much of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
•Based on current observations and dynamical model forecasts, El Niño is expected to strengthen and last through Northern Hemisphere winter 2009-10.



Oh yeah, not a matter of winning squat Doug.... Just looking into, researching and ingesting all of the "Rest of the Entire Story".