Awfully ugly fire
When any of our brave firefighters are injured by a Southern California wildfire, we get properly reverential, along with our proper thanks for the women and men who do a killer job in killer conditions.
So far, with the Santa Anita Canyon fire, we've got an allergic reaction to a bee sting, a turned knee and a heat exhaustion. All three firefighters are back on the lines.
And when folks have lost their homes, we stay pretty serious as well. Everything gone -- it's unimaginable. But as of now -- 11:30 on Monday morning -- a little outbuilding, something like a shack, has been lost.
So, after spending some time in Sierra Madre this morning, hanging with my regulars at Bean Town and heading up Baldwin with my camera as far as the deputies would let me go, can I just note that this the main effect for most once the coughing is over is going to be years of looking at the most godawfully ugly scorched earth imaginable? Even for those who never get closer to our mountains than the Foothill (210) Freeway, you won't be forgetting about this one for a long, long time. And you'll appreciate how gorgeous our mountains are when the chaparral hasn't been turned to ash.
Plus, of course, for the hardy souls -- and hundreds of Sierra Madreans are among them -- whose most avid hobby is hiking in those mountains, this is a more personal tragedy. Not a deadly one, no, though no doubt some critters have had it -- bobcats, mountain lions, bears, possums, snakes, skunks, raccoons and any other animal that couldn't move fast enough along the fire line -- but no human lives have been lost. Still and all, the glories of hiking the Mt. Wilson Trail, a classic since the days of the great hiking era a century ago, are not going to be the same for a long, long time. And that's a big loss.
Ugly ain't the worst thing in the world. Great work from all the public agencies for keeping it merely that, and for keeping people and their stuff out of harm's way so far. Not that this thing is over.
Sunday morning from my house near the western edge of the Arroyo Seco, the smoke from above Sierra Madre had settled in low over the San Gabriels like an almost-attractive fog in a Japanese painting:
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Comments
Thank you for the photos and the up to date information. I remember the beautifull mountains when i visited back home 3 years ago, and so i keep that vision with me at all times when i miss californias mountains,beaches and the weather as i now live in Illinois where its flat and no mountains and its cold here. I am very saddend to hear when there are fires there and the loss of the memories of the beauty, so thank you.
Posted by: mamat | April 28, 2008 12:25 PM
Larry,
You so get it! You're the only one who has written about the tragedy of losing the beautiful, flower-edged hiking trails,the rich chaparral, and the oak woods. They will take many years to recover. I mourn for the loss of parts of the Bailey Canyon trail up to Jones Peak and beyond, the Old Mount Wilson trail, and the trails that go above Chantry Flat, because I won't be able to enjoy them again for a long time. Hiking in beautiful areas full of birdsong and butterflies lifts my spirits, but crossing a fire-charred, silent moonscape upsets and depresses me,so I prefer to avoid those areas. Since coming to California 8 years ago, many of the hiking areas I grew to love - in the Santa Monicas, Santa Susannas and San Gabriels - have burnt down. Are the fires much more frequent all of a sudden or was it always like this? It's so sad!
Posted by: Barbara Ellis | May 1, 2008 4:40 PM