On Tuesday, I walked along the path parallel to Eaton Creek, trying to comprehend the gray-scale scene around me. Charred limbs of manzanita and other small trees and shrubs jerked out of the earth like seared skeletal remains. Heaps of leathery brown prickly pear pads sagged into the dirt and ash. Even the rocks were burned. Just a week prior, this was a vibrant place of abundance.

The utter desolation felt disorienting. In the summer, thousands flood the canyon to escape the heat, splashing in its crisp, cold waters. It is easily one of the most popular hiking destinations in Los Angeles County. I often avoid it, seeking quiet refuge farther into the San Gabriel Mountains, where I can be alone with my thoughts and the trees.

But there I was Tuesday, standing alone near the scorched earth and blackened chaparral. For once, I missed the crowds.

Eaton Canyon has been empty in recent years only because of tragedy, first during the closure orders put in place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now because of a fire that has, as of Thursday morning, taken 16 lives and burned thousands of homes and businesses, and just over 14,000 acres. The Eaton fire is believed to have started somewhere in the preserve. Its cause remains under investigation.

Although much of Eaton Canyon burned, many of its sycamore and oak trees are believed to have survived the blaze.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

I would have been in tears had I not already spoken with biologist Cristhian Mace, an L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation employee whose expertise on the ecology of the region gave me hope.

Mace’s job includes developing plans for how the county should manage Eaton Canyon and its other natural areas. She has spent the last year researching the canyon’s unique landscape. When she drove into the canyon the morning after the Eaton fire began, Mace cried tears of relief. The oak and sycamore trees, which would have taken decades, if not centuries to return if they had been killed by the fire, were still standing, some just lightly singed. Only “one gigantic mama of an oak” had come down, and that was because of the 60+ mph winds racing down the canyon before the fire broke out, Mace said.

The Eaton Canyon Nature Center, a 7,600 square-foot building, was destroyed in the Eaton fire. It housed live animals, exhibits, classrooms, a gift shop and more.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

“I was so relieved but also shocked,” Mace said. “The coastal sage scrub is burned to the ground. All that’s left are stumps. The chaparral burned to the ground, or burnt shrubs are left behind like of manzanita or sugar bush …But the oak woodland? Resilient. It’s my silver lining in all of this.”

Before the fire, Mace visited the hummingbird nests in the canyon so often that she had their locations memorized. Sycamore trees were full of nesting holes for birds like western bluebird and house wrens.

Clockwise from top left: The Eaton Canyon Nature Center was destroyed in the Eaton fire. It housed live animals, exhibits, classrooms, a gift shop and more; The numbers that used to display the Eaton Canyon Nature Center at 1750 N. Altadena Drive in Pasadena; Remnants of the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, a 7,600 square-foot building that opened in 1998 after the previous facility was destroyed in the Kinneloa fire in 1993.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

“Every single day, I would hear a red-shouldered hawk just screaming at the top of its lungs flying in circles over the canyon,” she said.

Last Wednesday, Mace looked for signs of life. She spotted quail, towhees, juncos and white-crowned sparrows. Above her, she heard a red-tailed hawk screech.

“It was this beautiful but stark reminder that life continues,” Mace said.

Officials have not had the opportunity to fully study the canyon and report the full damage, as the Eaton fire is still burning. It was 55% contained as of this morning.

Many of the oak and sycamore trees near the Eaton Canyon Nature Center appear to have survived both the windstorm and Eaton fire. Several had burn scars from the 1993 Kinneloa fire.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

Mace estimates that the alluvial scrub, where buckwheat, sage and yucca grew amid seasonal streams, could take five to 20 years to recover. The riparian habitat, where plants like willows and mule fat grow along the creeks and rivers, could take five to 10 years. The coastal sage scrub could take between five and 20 years to recover. The cottonwood trees will take longer. And the chaparral — including the red-barked manzanita shrubs, sugar bush and lemonade berry — could take between 10 and 30 years. And all of her estimates, Mace said, depend on how much rainfall the region gets.

“The Eaton Canyon we recognize is probably going to take at least five years” to grow back in a way that starts to feel familiar, Mace said.

Along with the damage to the land, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center also burned down, destroying exhibits and relics. The reptiles inside were killed, as the fire moved too quickly for staff or volunteers to save them.

This large oak tree was blown down in the windstorm leading up to the Eaton fire. It is one of the only large trees that staff believe was destroyed in the front area of the Eaton Canyon Nature Area. Many of the preserve’s oaks and sycamores appear to have survived.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

There is currently tremendous interest from fundraisers and nature lovers alike to get into Eaton Canyon and start working to bring it back to its previous glory, Mace said.

But we shouldn’t rush into the area and start ripping up burned shrubs and trees, cautioned Gabi McLean, president of the San Gabriel Mountains chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Rushing to act could do more harm than good, she said.

“The general rule is — leave it alone,” McLean said. “You can make an assessment after the first year, or maybe the second year when you see where it didn’t recuperate, and if you have native seed, if you have that seed from that area, then it’s OK to help it along. In the meantime, watch for invasives and pull them out.”

After the Kinneloa fire burned through Eaton Canyon in 1993, officials rushed to stabilize the hillsides. An expert team recommended recommended grass seed be dropped from helicopters all over the hillsides, which may have introduced non-native grasses to the region.

During the years following that fire, a ranger took the California Native Plant Society group on guided tours through burned landscape that had been left untouched by humans. On those trips, the group saw fields of wildflowers, some they hadn’t seen in years, that thrived after the fire.

McLean said today we know that native seeds can live several decades in the ground, some of which germinate only after fire because they need the heat or chemicals created in the burning process. Ideally, Eaton Canyon would be allowed to recover naturally, outside of yanking up invasive plants that challenge native plants for nutrients and space.

“We get the idea that we have to do something,” McLean said. “Let nature show us what to do and how to recover.”

I will continue reporting on efforts to rebuild trails and wild places affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires. If you’d like to volunteer for future recovery efforts, whatever they look like, in Eaton Canyon, visit this Instagram page to learn more.

3 things to do

Lili Marshall, a horse trainer from Brentwood’s Jigsaw Farms feeds carrots to one of about 25 horses evacuated from the Palisades fire to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

1. Volunteer to help with fire recovery in L.A.
Whether its organizing donations, serving meals or feeding animals, there is abundant opportunity to volunteer across L.A. to help those affected by the recent fires. The Times staff has compiled and will continue to update its list of volunteer opportunities, which includes where, when and how you can contribute your time. Learn more at latimes.com.

2. Join a trail crew in L.A.
Trail crews across L.A. were already busy at work recovering trails burned in recent blazes, including the Woolsey fire in 2018 and the Bobcat fire in 2020. Many crews take any and all outdoors enthusiasts willing to show up early in the day to swing an ax or other hand tool. Learn how to volunteer in the Santa Monica Mountains by visiting smmtf.org and in the San Gabriel Mountains by visiting trailangeles.org.

3. Support incarcerated firefighters battling blazes in L.A.
In any given year, up to 30% of the state’s wildfire-fighting force consists of prisoners in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. More than 900 of them have served on the front lines of the wildfires burning in and around L.A. this past week, my colleague Keri Blakinger reports. You can help support these firefighters by donating to a fundraiser launched by the nonprofit Anti-Recidivism Coalition. Donate at antirecidivism.org.

The must-read

A Super Scooper drops ocean water on a hillside as the Palisades fire rages.

(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Beni Oren, 24, was meditating with friends after a trail run when all at once, they smelled fire. It’s any outdoors explorer’s nightmare. The men had witnessed the start of the Palisades fire. It got only worse, reports Times staff writer Noah Goldberg. The next day, Oren posted a video he’d recorded as they escaped online. A witch hunt commenced on X, formerly Twitter, where “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” actor Rob Schneider posted screenshots of the men’s faces.

“I literally grew up in Malibu. Why would I start this fire?” Oren asked. “If we did it, why would we post it? It really doesn’t line up once you know all the details.”

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

How about some good outdoors news? On Tuesday, President Biden signed proclamations establishing the 624,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument south of Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument near the Oregon border. Tribes led the efforts to protect this land, which I look forward to visiting someday. Perhaps that’ll be a trip for a future Wild.

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.