Cool weather, light winds, picturesque clouds, and Dales-green hills… If running in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) could always be like this.
Here are a few more photos from the run.
Some related posts:
– After the Kenneth Fire: The Theme is Green
– Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) After the 2025 Kenneth Fire
The theme is green in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch), nearly two months after the Kenneth Fire.
This photo contrasts unburned and burned terrain along a firebreak and containment line in East Las Virgenes Canyon.
Some related posts:
– Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) After the 2025 Kenneth Fire
– Mountain Lion Tracks in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon
– 2025 Kenneth Fire Perimeter and Some Area Trails
The Kenneth Fire started at about 2:30 PM on January 9, 2025, near the Victory Trailhead of Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch). The Los Angeles Fire Department issued an alert about the Kenneth Fire at 2:39 PM.
According to the CAL FIRE Kenneth Fire Incident Page, the fire burned 1,052 acres, and was contained on January 12, 2025. The Kenneth Fire is the third significant fire to affect this area in the last 20 years — the other two being the 2005 Topanga Fire and 2018 Woolsey Fire.
At about the time the fire started, a personal weather station near the Victory Trailhead recorded the wind from the ENE at about 11 mph, gusting to 22 mph. At this station, the wind moderated somewhat over the course of the afternoon and early evening, but picked back up overnight.
The vegetation within the burn area is oak savanna — a plant community characterized by grassland and scattered oaks. In the case of Ahmanson Ranch the oaks are valley oaks and coast live oaks. The last known blue oak in the Preserve died in the Winter of 2022-23.
Taking into account their respective populations, the percentage of valley oaks destroyed by the Kenneth Fire far exceeded the percentage of coast live oaks. As the climate has warmed, the mortality rate of valley oaks in the southern part of their range has been increasing and their range retreating northward.
Although the wind was not as strong as it was on January 7-8, it was exceptionally dry. Prior to January 2025, Downtown Los Angeles only recorded 0.16 inch or rain for the Rain Year starting July 1 and Water Year beginning October 1. As of January 9, the period July 1, 2024 to January 9, 2025 was tied with 1962-63 as the driest on record.
Some related posts:
– 2025 Kenneth Fire Perimeter and Some Area Trails
– Very Dry Start to the Downtown Los Angeles 2024-2025 Rain Year
– After the Woolsey Fire: Ahmanson Ranch
– The Topanga Fire, Part I: Rain, Wind and Fire
Update February 8, 2025. See the January 26 Trail Update from the Santa Monica Mountains Task Force regarding some of the impacts of the Palisades Fire on the area’s trails .
The Sunday before the start of the Palisades Fire, I ran the Trippet Ranch Loop from the Top of Reseda. Yet another weak cold front had brushed Southern California, producing little precipitation. The weather was nearly perfect for the run — breezy at times, with moderate temperatures and some high clouds.
The NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard office was already expressing concern about a potentially dangerous wind event early in the week. In an Area Forecast Discussion midday Sunday, they warned, “..STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS AND HIGH FIRE DANGER LIKELY FOR PORTIONS OF VENTURA AND LOS ANGELES COUNTIES…” Of course, few of us could envision the staggering devastation that would ensue in the week ahead.
The eastern horizon glowed orange as I ran down Fire Road #30 from dirt Mulholland. If I could have seen a few days into the future, the road would have been filled with firefighters and equipment battling to halt the Palisades Fire’s westward progress. The road was empty this morning, save the scurrying towhees and raucous scrub jays.
At the Hub, I stopped to take a photo of Eagle Rock. Bush poppy, a prolific fire follower, covered much of the area between the Hub and Eagle Rock. This burned in the 2021 Palisades Fire. The hazy view extended past Eagle Rock to Calabasas Peak and Boney Mountain.
Before descending to Trippet Ranch on Eagle Springs Fire Road, I turned east on Temescal Ridge Fire Road. I would return to the Hub, but first, I wanted to visit Temescal Peak and Temescal Lookout. These viewpoints have expansive views of the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond. This photo (from a previous run) is a view of downtown Los Angeles from Temescal Peak. The chaparral in the photo is typical of the vegetation in the Santa Monica Mountains. Most of this would have burned in the 2025 Palisades Fire. On a day with good visibility, San Jacinto Peak can be seen from either viewpoint. Despite some haziness, San Jacinto Peak could still be seen from Temescal Lookout this morning.
Returning to the Hub, I ran down Eagle Springs Fire Road and through the footprint of the 2021 Palisades Fire. The bright yellow flowers of bush poppy shone brightly in the morning sun. When the perimeter of the 2021 fire is overlapped with the 2025 fire, it suggests that bush poppy and other transitional vegetation in the 2021 burn area did not burn as readily in the 2025 fire as the usual chaparral species.
Later, as I approached the Trippet Ranch parking lot, I was welcomed by the local mule deer herd (video). It’s common to see them here and other nearby fields. There were a few does of various ages and a multi-point buck. Although extremely wary, several of the does were oddly curious.
Continuing past the information kiosk at the corner of the parking lot, I headed up the paved road and picked up the Musch Trail. Although we haven’t had much rain this Rain Year, the past two Rain Years were very wet. Paradoxically, the vegetation is bone dry, but some small creeks and springs that haven’t run for years — such as Eagle Springs — still have water. Reflecting last year’s rain, a heavy load of red-orange berries cover most of the toyon bushes along the Musch Trail and throughout the Santa Monica Mountains.
At the top of the Musch Trail, I turned left and worked up Eagle Rock Fire Road, past Eagle Rock, to the top of the Garapito Trail. At times, over the past couple of years, this outstanding trail has been almost impassable. Volunteer trailwork has cleared and repaired the trail multiple times. It’s a good trail for wildflowers, but the lack of rain has reduced the number of early bloomers. Today, canyon sunflower, California everlasting, and California fuchsia were blooming along the trail. This misshapen bush sunflower was blooming along Fire Road #30, near its junction with the Garapito Trail.
This zoomed-in 3D-terrain view of the Palisades Fire perimeter shows the general area of the Trippet Ranch Loop, Temescal Peak, and Temescal Lookout. As of January 23, the Trippet Ranch main parking lot, Musch Trail and Camp, and Eagle Rock appear to be outside of the burn area. Most of Eagle Rock Fire Road, Eagle Springs Fire Road, and the Garapito Trail also appear to be outside the perimeter.
Most parks and open space areas in or near the Palisades Fire burn area remain closed. For more information see:
– 2025 Los Angeles Fires
– California State Parks Incidents Overview
– MRCA Parks
– Topanga State Park
– Top of Reseda (Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park)
The last time Downtown Los Angeles had more than a smattering of rain was mid-April 2024 — more than 250 days ago. To date, the Rain Year beginning July 1, 2024 has been one of the two driest in the 147+ year weather record for Downtown Los Angeles.
Because of the time of year, and lack of rain, not many wildflowers were blooming along Los Angeles area trails at the end of 2024. One exception was this brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) on the southwest corner of Lasky Mesa in Ahmanson Ranch.
If Los Angeles doesn’t see any rain by January 9 — which appears likely — the period July 1, 2024 to January 9, 2025 will be tied with 1962-63 for the driest on record.
Clearing clouds along the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains from Bulldog Mtwy fire road. The photograph was taken on a recent run of a variation of the Bulldog Loop.
Some related posts:
– Turning California Sycamore Along Malibu Creek
– Reagan Ranch at Sunrise