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devastation

(17 Sep 2009 2:11)

All my life, my beautiful mountains were always right here, right above where I lived. I learned to know which way north was as a child in the San Gabriel Valley, by looking toward the mountains. On clear, winter days, the snow capped peak of Mount Baldy beckoned, teasingly, reminding me of how easily one could wake up on an 80 degree day and be playing in the snow in less than an hour. The mountains have been a constant presence in my life. Sometimes, the rain, smog or haze made them less visible than others, but they were always there and on a clear day, the most beautiful pictures of LA feature the mountains in sharp relief in the background.

My father, remembering the Tatras of Slovakia, would take us on drives up through the trees, and as a Girl Scout, I learned to hike and camp in the Angeles National Forest. As someone who was fascinated by astronomy, I loved being able to see a really dark, Milky Way filled sky up there, something you can't really see from the light polluted skies of LA.

The smell of pine trees and sage, the sound of the wind blowing through the trees and the beautiful red bark of manzanita all trigger so many memories. I remember hiking up the mountain and climbing up to the top of Vetter Mountain and climbing the fire lookout tower and seeing beautiful forest for miles and miles and miles. At Christmas, we'd buy mistletoe gathered from the forest and hang it up.

I remember one day at Caltech, being taken up to what is essential an attic storeroom in the Robinson Astronomy building and seeing the telescopes that were hauled on muleback, up and down peaks in the area when Hale was looking for a site for his new observatory, which he finally built on Mount Wilson and marvelling at the feat, having hiked so many of those trails myself. I camped and hiked in those mountains again, as a mother, with my kids and as a Cub Scout Den leader with my pack. There have been times I've driven up there myself, just to enjoy the solitude. I've said many times, one of the things I love about living in LA is that you have the all the benefits of the city right here and yet in half an hour, you can be at the beach or up in the mountains. A little farther and on the other side of the mountains, you can be in the desert. And I've taken more than a few special drives on star filled nights full of romance up there.

The Angeles Crest highway is closed. I read in the LA Times that it may be some time before they fix enough of the damage to reopen it. Even then, so much of what was there is just gone. Totally. It's going to take so long to grow back. Even before they said it was the biggest fire in LA County history, I knew it. I had never seen anything like it in my entire life.

Today the LA Times had this article with a video from You Tube. The Sheriff's Department escorted a car through the area so they could take this video. It's as bad as I had imagined. I've seen the aftermath of forest fires before but never this total. Never this big. I look at places on this video and have very specific memories of what used to be there. What beautiful things took place there. How could anyone have done this to all of us?

[ link ]

Angeles Crest Highway drive reveals moonscape in wake of Station fire
September 16, 2009 | 8:43 am
*Updated to reflect it was an Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department escort
Scorched earth is a depressing sight, especially when it had been lush with chaparral and old-growth forest.
The extent of the devastation caused by the Station fire, which has burned almost 250 square miles within the Angeles National Forest but finally is close to being contained, will be unfathomable when assessments are made.
Dead animals are said to litter the blackened and barren countryside. Rattlesnakes -- those that had burrowed and somehow survived the inferno -- slither across a moonscape hunted from the sky by raptors.
Campgrounds and important structures have been destroyed and trails are ruined. A once-verdant paradise is lost for who knows how many years to thousands of campers, hikers, bikers, runners, birders and horseback riders.
The Angeles Crest 100-Mile Endurance Run had been scheduled to begin Saturday. Obviously it has been canceled as its route is off-limits.
The scenic Angeles Crest Highway also remains closed, but a video shot by a couple touring the road behind a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. escort is making the rounds on YouTube. It reveals a charred countryside, melted road signs and guard rails that simply lie atop or alongside the pavement, their wooden support beams burned to ashes.
If you're familiar with the highway and forest, click on the video and tag along. It's a surreal odyssey, to be sure.
-- Pete Thomas
Video credit: Courtesy of YouTube

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September 2009

devastation