It’s so depressing to see the mountains on fire. After hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains (hike #47), I could see the massive pyrocumulous cloud over my mountains on the drive home.  The whole drive home.  The fire-created cloud was visible even from Pacific Palisades, some 35 miles away!  After the hike, I stayed inside my apartment, not to protect myself from the bad air quality, but because I didn’t want to see the smoke.   I didn’t want to know that my favorite mountains were burning.  And when they reported that two firefighters lost their lives battling the blaze, it just brought me even lower.

Station Fire on August 28th, 2009 as viewed from East Pasadena

Station Fire on August 28th, 2009 as viewed from East Pasadena

However, during the day on Sunday, I would get a rush of emotion – a strange primal excitement – and a desire to know everything about the fire. Where it has gone, where it is headed, what people are saying about it on Facebook and Twitter, what images the Mt. Wilson TowerCam is capturing.  I became obsessed for longer and longer periods of time (which lead to my own map of the burn area).

On Thursday, I went to a town meeting where the heads of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff Department, and the United States Forestry Service discussed the current status of the fire. It was there that I found out (along with most in the room) that it was concluded that an arsonist started the fire.  I also found out that the fire is the largest fire of the San Gabriel Mountains ever recorded.  Judy Noiron, USFS supervisor, said it best:

“Life is not going to be the same as we have known it.  I do not know what the long-term effects of this fire are going to be, but it is definitely history in the making.”

The fire has consumed 148,000 acres, roughly ten times the size of Manhattan Island in New York.  The facts are still not clear on what has been destroyed and what has been saved, but it is certain that many of the trails I have fallen in love with are within the burn zone. The fate looks grim for beautiful areas such as Switzer Falls, Colby Canyon, Mount Lowe, Chilao Flat, and Newcombs Ranch. Charlton Flats, and areas of Chilao Flats have been confirmed as burned.  Vetter Mountain Lookout was also lost to us this week.

These fires have changed the tone of the remaining hikes. I’ve made it a new goal to revisit the locations that are within the burn area of this fire before I’ve completed my 100th hike. I’ve also committed myself to finding, sharing, and working on volunteer opportunities in the San Gabriel Mountains. For instance, if Vetter Mountain Lookout is to be rebuilt, I want to be there with a hammer and nails. If trail sign need to be replaced, I want to be there with a post-hole digger.

While on hike #46 in the Santa Monica Mountains, a friend of mine seemed really excited to see the lush beauty of the canyon we were in. I felt nothing. I realized that I had become a little numb to the unspoiled beauty after nearly 200 miles of trails in four months.  If there’s a positive gem I could pull from this tragic fire, it is that it has renewed my appreciation for unspoiled wilderness. I feel lucky to have had the chance to visit these places before the fire.

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Switzer Falls canyon