Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Walking the Perimeter



We had almost unbearably beautiful weather after all the storms this weekend and I was treated to a walk along the edge of the Angeles National Forest. It was warm, but not too hot. Wildflowers were beginning to bloom. I saw poppies and lupines and although there are places along the edge of the mountains where the devastation from fire and mud is readily apparent, if you look the other direction everything looks normal.




I don’t know at exactly what point our walking took us out of Tujunga and into the Forest. I think the trail we were on goes in and out of the Angeles Forest. I didn’t see any signs or markers; on the other hand I wasn’t paying much attention to that. Although I remember after the fires that it was announced that the Forest was closed, a couple of months ago the openings of the roads running through the forest were announced, although subject to closure on stormy days. In my mind this meant that the Forest was also open. How do you close a forest while the roads running through it are open? Just as we reached the Haines Canyon junction three very shiny dirt bikes crested the trail ahead and came toward us. We stepped aside to make room for them to pass and one came to a stop right in front of us. That was when we saw the sheriff’s insignia the rider was wearing. Ah, so then we are informed that the Forest is indeed closed, don’t you know. We take a peek at the Haines Canyon Debris Basin and head back the way we came. I wonder in hindsight, do they really take those bikes down the rocky embankments and ford the stream?




Angeles National Fire Area Closure Order

4 comments:

Kathryn Hansen said...

hmmm...interesting! thanks for passing that info on! that's a pretty hefty fine!!

Dianne Poinski said...

This brought back many memories of the times I spent in the Angeles Forest when I lived in Sunland. I was just telling somebody about taking my dogs up there and finding swimming holes hidden away. So happy to hear you are having nice weather and got a chance to get out and enjoy it. Hopefully they will reopen the forest soon.

Katherine Kean said...

Hi Kathryn, You're welcome. It is steep, isn't it? The idea of jail time kind of got to me too!

Dianne, that's a fun thing to remember! And thanks - the weather has been very enjoyable lately.

Diane Hoeptner said...

I remember how the ever present Los Angeles smog used to get swiped clean away after a big rain there... Thanks for sharing, that first photo is magic!

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