Category Archives: trees

ahmanson ranch, climate change, drought, los angeles, nature, nature|trees, nature|weather, nature|wildfire, photography, photography|landscape, smmc open space, southern california, trails, trails|smmc open space, trees, trees, upper las virgenes canyon open space preserve, weather, weather, wildfire

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) After the 2025 Kenneth Fire

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Ahmanson Ranch after the 2025 Kenneth Fire

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.

Here are some photos and notes from recent runs in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) following the 2025 Kenneth Fire.

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

malibu creek state park, nature, nature|trees, photography, running, santa monica mountains, trails, trees, trees

Turning California Sycamore Along Malibu Creek

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Turning California Sycamore Along Malibu Creek. Photography by Gary Valle'

Multihued leaves of a turning California sycamore near the seasonal bridge on Malibu Creek. The photograph was taken on a recent run of a variation of the Bulldog Loop.

Related post: Reagan Ranch at Sunrise

malibu creek state park, nature, photography, running, santa monica mountains, trails, trails|malibu creek state park, trees, trees

California Black Walnut Along the Phantom Trail

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California Black Walnut Along the Phantom Trail

A California black walnut lends a little Fall color to the chaparral on the Phantom Trail in Malibu Creek State Park.

From a run of the Phantom Loop, starting at the Cistern Trailhead on Mulholland Highway. Here’s an interactive 3D-terrain view of the 7-mile route.

Some related posts:
– Spring Fever Running the Phantom Loop in Malibu Creek State Park
– Ladyface Via the Phantom Trail and Heartbreak Ridge
– Bulldog Loop Plus the Phantom Loop

clouds, geology, landscape, malibu creek state park, nature, nature|clouds, nature|trees, photography, photography|landscape, running, santa monica mountains, trails, trails|malibu creek state park, trees

Wandering Around Malibu Creek State Park

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Century Dam from the end of the Forest Trail in Malibu Creek State Park.

Here are a few images from a meandering run in Malibu Creek State Park on the Cistern, Lookout, Crags Road, Forest, and Chaparral Trails.

Some related posts:
– Spring Fever Running the Phantom Loop in Malibu Creek State Park
– Malibu Creek State Park: Lake Vista Ridge, the Forest Trail, and September Wildflowers
– Afternoon Run on the Forest and Lost Cabin Trails in Malibu Creek State Park

adventures, climate change, landscape, nature, nature|trees, nature|wildfire, photography, photography|landscape, running, running|adventures, san gabriel mountains, trails, trails|san gabriels, trees, trees, wildfire

Facing a Future of Runaway Wildfires in Southern California

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A group of Jeffrey pines on Mt. Waterman killed by the Bobcat Fire with smoke from the Bridge Fire in the distance.

It was a sobering sight. I had stopped at a point on Mt. Waterman burned by the Station Fire in 2009 and the Bobcat Fire in 2020.

To the east, smoke from the Bridge Fire filled the canyons and clung to the ridges between Mt. Baldy and the East Fork San Gabriel River. A group of skeletal Jeffrey pines, once full and green, stood starkly in the foreground.

Another devastating fire had stormed through the San Gabriel Mountains, destroying homes and ravaging the forest and all that lives within. Not far away, the Line and Airport Fires were also burning, the extent of the three fires totaling over 117,500 acres.

Conventional methods of land and fire management usually do not prevent the rapid spread of a fire when forest or weather conditions are extreme — and extreme conditions are now the norm.

Incremental changes to long-established policies will not be enough to prevent runaway wildfires. Novel approaches must be considered, researched and evaluated. New tools and technology, including AI, need to be more widely applied. The hesitancy to spend money proactively must be overcome.

Today, it is difficult to do a hike or run of more than a few miles in the foothills or mountains of Southern California without passing through an area that has been burned in the past 25 years. In 50, 100, or 200 years what will the outdoor experience be? Will conifers only exist in widely scattered stands? Will the ecology be forever compromised?

Every effort must be made to mitigate the impacts of runaway wildfires and preserve the nature and ecology of our open space areas and wildlands.

Some related posts:
– Bridge Fire Perimeter and Some Area Trails
– After the Bobcat and Station Fires: Three Points Loop Around Mt. Waterman
– After the Station Fire: Pine Seedling Along the Mt. Waterman Trail
– Waterman Mountain: Fallen Trees, Forest and Ferns
– After the Station Fire: Three Points – Mt. Waterman Loop

ahmanson ranch, climate change, nature|trees, photography, trails, trees, upper las virgenes canyon open space preserve

Searching For Another Blue Oak In Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

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Blue oak-like leaves of an unusual oak in in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch).

After the Ahmanson Blue Oak in East Las Virgenes Canyon died this Winter, I started to search for another blue oak (Quercus douglasii) in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (aka Ahmanson Ranch). Blue oaks are rare at the southern limit of their range, but I was hopeful that if there was one blue oak at Ahmanson, there might be another.

Valley oak leaves in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch).
Valley oak leaves.

Typically, blue oak leaves are noticeably different than valley oak leaves. The Jepson eFlora describes the leaf margins of blue oak as being more or less entire, wavy, or more or less lobed. The leaves of the Ahmanson Blue Oak fit this description. Valley oak leaves are usually much more deeply lobed and readily identified.

Recently, while on a run, I noticed an unusual oak near the top of a service road on the western margin of Lasky Mesa. Its leaves are not deeply-lobed and are a bit more dusky than the usual valley oak leaf. But the tree doesn’t look quite the same as the Ahmanson Blue Oak. One difference is that the shape of the leaves is not as uniform as those of the Ahmanson Blue Oak. This might be due to the wet 2022-2023 rain season and the flourish of leaves that resulted. And, as with the Ahmanson Blue Oak, this oak was burned in the 2018 Woolsey Fire, and its trunk is partially hollow.

Blue oak-like leaves of the unusual oak on the western margin of Lasky Mesa.
Blue oak-like leaves of an oak on the western margin of Lasky Mesa.

Based on its leaves, the “West Lasky Mesa Oak” could be a blue oak, blue oak hybrid, or valley oak hybrid. A 2002 study of a mixed stand of blue and valley oaks found that appearance can be misleading. When DNA tested, four of the five hybrid-appearing oaks in the study were not classified as hybrids. Of the four trees deemed most likely to be hybrids, only one oak was intermediate in appearance.

Although it seems unlikely this tree would have been overlooked, I could find no specific reference to the oak in the various studies and surveys done of Ahmanson Ranch. Please get in touch with me if you can provide additional information about this tree or how a DNA analysis can be arranged.

Some related posts: Ahmanson Blue Oak, Ahmanson Blue Oak Succumbs to Climate Change