Above Town

With the sun setting to our left and an old road beneath our feet, John and I enjoyed a walk above town on the Sunset Mountain Fire Road on the Fourth of July. You have to take Chaney Trail to get there and Chaney Trail is closed at 8pm, but we had plenty of time for a good hike, or so we thought.

On our way out at about 7:40pm we approached the locked gate near the bottom of Chaney Trail. Several Forest Service vehicles were there and the workers let us out (not that they had much choice, but they were nice about it). One Forest Service guy told us a sign had been posted for early closing at 6pm, but we sure hadn't noticed it. And we weren't the only ones. When we left there were at least four cars still parked at the trail head.

Can you spot the unexpected vehicle in this photo?

Theme Day: Contrast

This is not a scene from the Station Fire. It's the remains of a small brush fire that occurred within the Cobb Estate in Altadena within the last year. I thought it appropriate for today's City Daily Photo blog theme day because it shows the contrast of the burned forest in the foreground and the living forest behind it.

The Cobb Estate is a natural, wild area that belongs to the U.S. Forest Service. It didn't burn in the Station Fire but it remains closed (see the closed gates here) in order to aid the USFS in limiting access to the burn area. The station fire burned more than 250 square miles of forest and is still burning in some spots after more than five weeks.

We look forward to the reopening of our forests, although we know what we'll see when we get back up in the mountains will be in stark contrast with what we remember.

Check out the other blogs participating in today's theme.