Griffith Park- Brush Canyon

Total Size of Griffith Park: 4,100+ acres
Location of Brush Canyon: 2980-3000 Canyon Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068
Hours: dusk to dawn
Length of Hike: 6.2 mi summiting Mt. Lee

This hike was particularly special to my project because griffith park is somewhat of a second home to my mom. An avid hiker, my mom had gone on trails throughout this area many times before so it was nice to have someone who was familiar to the area. That begin said, we did go off trail a little bit in search of water. What looked like a trail through the canyon was slightly overgrown suggesting that maybe it was rarely traveled, but make sure if doing this hike to wear pants and a long sleeve, there are ticks! There is also a trail that goes up the side of the canyon that doesn't actually take you through it that would be the more traveled route.

Griffith Park, named after colonel Griffith J. Griffith, is better known for having been started with an ostrich farm and being haunted. What people don't look into is how much the park has changed since becoming more developed. Griffith park is home to many plant and animal species and a wide array of ecosystems. After the death of Griffith J. Griffith the park was donated to Los Angeles county where it was declared a state park in 1896, which is why the park has remained largely undeveloped. Parts of the LA river used to flow throughout the park and thus when LA designed the flood control system griffith park and its streams were included. Channelization was completed as a way to make the park more accessible to people while still being safe as it attracted many tourists. All of the creeks and streams throughout griffith park were cemented. They also built dams throughout the park in the low lying areas to prevent flooding. The cementation of the waterways throughout griffith park majorly effected the riparian habitats. It prevented many different organisms from living in the streams and slowed the flow of water throughout the park.

The effects of channelization are more prevalent now than they probably were in the past. Never having been to brush canyon, I was hoping to do water tests and hike along the creek. But much to my demise when I arrived there, there were no signs of water being there recently. Every bed had been completely dried up. Even when I entered the canyon itself and hiked farther inward there was no sign of any water. Although the soil became softer as I hiked farther into the canyon, there was no surface water at all.

Luckily for me a park ranger was driving by and I got the chance to ask him about water but I was shocked when his reply to my question, "When was the last time there was water in Griffith Park?", was "oh man, not since before the 80s if that." He proceeded to tell me about how the water table in LA and Griffith Park had dropped drastically since the beginning of the drought and there's barely any ground water left let alone surface water. This was obvious as I hiked along the canyon, most of the trees were on lower elevation closer to the water table and many looked dried out. There were flowers as we hiked up that seemed to die as we got to higher elevations. I was very disappointed having knowledge of a Griffith Park that was once an abundant water source to find out that a place that was so loved by Los Angeles was struggling to survive.

 [dried up creek]

 [the Prado dam]

 [stormwater system]

 [brush- it seemed to dry out and die as we got to higher elevation]

 [another dried bed]

 [went to test water- guess that won't be happening]

Another human impact piece that isn't quite relevant to what I was studying is the mountain lion that lives in Griffith Park. It's referred to as P-22 and was exposed to rat poison that is believed to have caused it to develop mange. Often deadly, the mountain lion is now fighting for its life. There has been a study testing the other animals that live in the area and about 80% of them have tested positive for having been exposed to rat poison set out by people. 

[mountain lion tracker]

On another note, griffith park is home to many endemic species as well as species that are reliant on native vegetation and I will be posting a field guide to griffith park later on. The riparian habitat we visited was lined with sycamores and oaks and we saw many eucalyptus. Unfortunately I didn't get to see a California Black Walnut which is endemic to Los Angeles but there are plenty of plants to see. Also unfortunately I didn't get to see any animals roaming around because it was pretty hot but there were plenty of ticks- yuck. 

Sources of Information:
[http://www.hikespeak.com/trails/mount-lee-hollywood-sign-hike-cahuenga-peak-griffith-park/]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffith_Park#History]
[http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/history/la-as-subject/griffith-park-history.html]
[http://www.friendsofgriffithpark.org/learn-resource.php]
[http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk/wildlife/index.html]


Get Involved: volunteer at one of the many attractions within griffith park or in fire recovery at www.laparks.org

LA River- Glendale Narrows

Total Size of LA River: 52 mi
Location of Glendale Narrows:  400 Paula Avenue Glendale, CA 91201
Hours: 7am - dusk
Length of Riverwalk: .5 mi

It's hard to believe, living in LA, that we are actually living on a floodplain. The LA River once used to flow freely it's routes switching through different parts of Los Angeles county. Being on a floodplain, the river was prone to flooding (duh) and in the winters when there was a lot of rainfall, again hard to believe, the floods would get violent and dangerous for people in the area because there was no telling what part of the river would flood. The first inhabitants of the LA River were the Tongva, who had adapted to the seasonal flooding by moving to higher ground during the winters. These natives feed off of the land's resources of which included the steel headed trout. As mentioned in a post prior, the steel headed trout used to migrate through the arroyo seco and through the LA river but have since become locally extinct. In the late 1800s Los Angeles experienced a rapid growth in its population size which also increased demand for areas to live. Many settlers wanted to live on the land surrounding the river because it was ideal to grow their crops and thus decided to develop there despite a history of floods. After a series of devastating floods, the worst being the one of 1934 which claimed the lives of 49 people, destroyed 168 homes and caused 400 other homes to be non-livable, the settlers demanded means of flood control to ensure their safety. Thus began the construction of the extensive LA aqueduct. With the flood control system came channelization, which called for the cementation of all of the waterways in Los Angeles, as well as a total of 14 dams. Although interrupted by a flood in 1936, the construction of the system was finished by 1940. About 10% of the river was unable to be cemented on the bottom because of the rock bottom creating what is now referred to as the LA river's "soft bottom" areas. These areas are one of the only free growing parts of the river and allow insight as to what the river looked like prior to channelization.

The soft bottom area of the LA River that I visited is called the Glendale Narrows. Right off the 5 freeway, this river walk is product of recent restoration efforts by the city, the first part of 3. Now a community park, the river walk displays the river's free growing vegetation, hundreds of birds (mostly ducks) as well as efforts to plant native California flowers. The effects of channelization are probably the most obvious in this area. As you look at the riparian habitat you can see where the cement begins as all sign of life stops. Most likely combination of inability to support life from low dissolved oxygen levels as well as plants being unable to root themselves through the cement, the only signs of life for miles is the algae growing along the sides of the river and the birds that swim and walk along it.

Growing in the narrows are plants such as mulefat, giant reed which is invasive to the narrows and outcompetes many of the native plants, willows, sycamores, and cottonwood. You can also expect to see a variety of birds including many different duck species, common yellowthroat, and the western sandpiper.

 [riparian habitat]

I actually conducted a water temperature test to see whether or not there was a difference in temperature between the soft bottom and cemented areas. Results : there was ! The soft bottom area, at 6pm when it was cloudy and getting cool, had dropped to about 71 degrees, whereas the cement had retained heat from earlier on in the day and was still at 76 degrees. A hotter water temperature means lower levels of oxygen in the water limiting the amount of life it can support, such could be a reason for example, that the steel headed trout became locally extinct, if there is not enough oxygen to support large amounts of fish they eventually die out. 

 [testing soft bottom water temperature]

 [you can see the divide where the cement ends and soft bottom starts]

 [the walk]

 [territorial cormorant]

 [I don't think I was supposed to be doing that - oops]

 [ducks]

 [she was posing]

 [algae growing alongside the river in the cemented bottom]

 [yay]

 [hibiscus as we were leaving the park]

Sources of Information:
[http://la.curbed.com/tags/glendale-narrows-riverwalk]
[http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/public_works/BPP_GlendaleNarrowsRiverwalkPhaseII.aspx]
[http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/15/local/la-me-1216-riverwalk-20121216]
[http://folar.org]
[http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/tour_glendales_new_la_riverfreewayadjacent_linear_park.php#50dddb1ef92ea13a28004c64]

Get Involved: Volunteer with Friends of the LA River http://folar.org
Sign up for the LA River clean up 9-12 on

Saturday, April 26: Valley sites

Saturday, May 3: Glendale Narrows sites

Saturday, May 10: Lower River sites

The Arroyo Seco - The "Dry Stream"

Total Size of Arroyo Seco: 24.9 mi

Location of Arroyo Seco: trail head starting at San Pasquale Stables- 221 San Pasquale Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030

Hours: dawn to dusk

Length of Loop: 4.3 mi

The arroyo seco was once a river that flooded seasonally acting as a watershed inhabited by the native Tongva. A tributary of the Salinas river and the Los Angeles river, the arroyo seco was notorious for its dangerous floods that prohibited any permanent residency. As the Los Angeles population boomed in the late 1800s after the California gold rush, people migrating to the area began to seek settlement surrounding the water ways. This was majorly because of the abundant resources including food, water access, and nutrient rich soils good for farming making a better sustainable lifestyle. Those who established homes in the area fell victim to a series of devastating floods in the early 1900s, the first of which was in 1914. This flood destroyed 30 houses, 10 bridges and claimed the lives of 43 inhabitants. The mass destruction was what caused the demand of flood control for those who felt their lives were in danger and thus began the project design of the Devil's Gate Dam. The Devil's Gate Dam was the first dam to be build in Los Angeles and is one of the 14 dams along the Los Angeles waterways. In 1934 another devastating flood ran through Los Angeles that claimed the lives of 49 people, destroyed 168 homes and caused 400 other homes to be non-livable that caused yet another uproar from those living in the area. As the worst flood in the history of Los Angeles, the city decided to conduct a project that sought out to control all waterways in the area. This meant the channelization of all flowing water with the desire to shorten the width of the river as well as straighten it, giving it a defined path. The project, underway as of 1936, was halted by another disastrous flood in 1938 that ultimately caused the rush to finish channelization, which was finally completed in 1940.

The extensive aqueduct system that Los Angeles built, although successful in controling the floods, ultimately lead to the dramatic decline in water flow for all waterways in the surrounding areas. Many of the now stagnant streams used to be home to the Steel Headed Trout, a once abundant food source for the natives, but because of decline in amount of water passing through the area the still water limits the ability to support many organisms. The flood channel now acts as a catch system for the storm drains with little water and apparently as a food source for ducks as you walk up and down the arroyo.

 [ducks]

 [devil's gate dam]

 [testing water -- ended up being pointless because the bottom was cemented]

 [stagnant water]

 [stagnant water]

The flood channel, particularly during the winter when there is actually some water flowing through it, tends to catch many pollutants such as fertilizers and wastes that can be dangerous to animals feeding in it. There have been different restoration efforts throughout the arroyo, one of which includes improving the quality of the water because it is so low.

 [flood channel]

Another part of the restoration is reintroducing native species to the area south of the devil's gate dam. The progress of this project is evident as you walk along the trail, the flowers all in bloom and the trees and bushes growing quickly. They even installed a sprinkler system throughout the planted bushes, which could be concerning considering we're in a drought and these species are native to California and seem to require consistent watering, but none the less they were beautiful. 

 [penstemons]

 [California poppy]

 [the vines were everywhere]

[uprooted tree]

As a final portion of restoration efforts, I had always wondered what the giant casting pond's purpose was if it served one. Guess what, it does ! I learned that the pond was actually home to tadpoles of the Western Toad, an effort to restore the declining population because of loss of habitat. The tadpoles prefer still, warm and shallow water which is why the area is cemented, cement holds heat and there can't be any water movement if there's no water source.

Sources of Information:
[http://www.arroyoseco.org/History/ArroyoSecoFloodTimeline.pdf]
[http://cityofpasadena.net/PublicWorks/arroyo_culture_history_and_society/]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arroyo_Seco_(Los_Angeles_County)]
[http://metroprimaryresources.info/arroyo-seco-parkway-at-70-the-unusual-history-of-the-pasadena-freeway-california-cycleway-rare-traffic-plan-images/852/]

Get Involved: http://www.arroyoseco.org/volunteer.php

Bolsa Chica Wetlands - New Beginnings

Total Size of Wetlands: 1400+ acres
Location of Wetlands: 3842 Warner Avenue Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Hours: 7 days a week, 9-4
Length of Loop: 5.8 mi
Free Parking !

Arguably more interesting, or equally as interesting, than the current state of Bolsa Chica's wetlands is the history of how they came to be the way they are now. This area was once one where the Santa Ana River, referred to as Freeman Creek, met the ocean, forming brackish water and creating estuaries and swampland ideal for very unique organisms.
The first documented people to interact with these lands were groups of Native Americans, specifically the Tongva and the Acjachemen, who moved into the Bolsa Chica land seasonally adapting to the different native food sources. When the Spanish discovered the Americas they came into contact with the Tongva and eventually, in the 1700s, sought to colonize the California coast. Most of the natives that were living there died of disease and left little trace of their existence. Thus began a series of redistribution of the coastlands from the Spanish, to the Mexicans, to who are now referred to as the American settlers. It was these settlers, businessmen of the Los Angeles area, who bought the Bolsa Chica to use for duck hunting and formed the Bolsa Chica Gun Club. In 1895, after learning that the area wasn't as ideal as they had hoped because of the strong current from the ocean, the Club members hired a contractor to build a dam across Freeman Creek. Although there were gates build to allow freshwater to leave the dam, there was no longer any flow of water from the ocean converting the area into a freshwater ecosystem, devastating the lands' organisms. A channel was also built for flood prevention connecting the Bolsa Bay and the Anaheim Bay connecting the two waterways.
Aside from duck hunting, Bolsa Chica has also had an interesting array of uses including extraction of oil, drilled in 1940, as well as for the US Army in WWII for artillery battery.

There was a lot of debate and struggle to preserve the wetlands, a battle fought for by the Amigos de Bolsa Chica which came to join to form the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, after learning of desire to develop there. Eventually the state of California declared the wetlands as necessary to preserve on the basis of providing important habitat and breeding/nesting area to many different organisms. This jumpstarted to road to restoration as they set out to conduct a project that would re-connect the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ana, one that was completed in 2006 and cost a whopping $147 million. Since then the conservancy and its volunteers have been working to restore native vegetation and reintroduce extirpated species to Bolsa Chica.

I ventured out to the Bolsa Chica reserve with my mom, about a 40 minute drive from where I live, eager to see success of their restoration efforts as well as permanent effects that the dam has had. I purchased a field guide, entitled Bolsa Chica Pocket Field Guide- An Introduction to Familiar Species, which was definitely a smart choice. I was excited at the chance to identify the different types of birds and vegetation (something I learned to do while traveling in Mexico) although most of the animals I saw were commonly seen year round.

Venturing around the first part of the trail I encountered restoration efforts of volunteers who were planting native vegetation, some common and some that were more rare because of high sensitivity to changing environments. The more rare were probably of the first to disappear when the dam was built.

 [bladderpod]

We also saw volunteers clearing invasive vegetation common along the California coast such as ice plant that grows over native plants and competes for resources. 

 [volunteer clearing invasive plants]

 [crystalline ice plant]

[closer look at a budding crystalline ice plant]

As we made our way further along the trail we noted that the shrubs were notably larger, growing from 1 ft to heights of 8-9 ft if not taller. We hypothesized that this was because of access to water and nutrients that can support taller plants. The first .7 mi of the trail we were walking along a fence which we came to learn housed the nests for the herons that inhabited the area, which became more apparent as we got closer and heard them chattering away. We were bummed that we couldn't walk into the nesting area but then again I am doing a project that reflects people's bad decision making skills and when it comes to trusting them to respect boundaries we humans do not have the best track record, and with that we trekked on. 

[agave in the heron nesting area]

The area we came upon next was walking along what's known as the Bolsa Pocket, one of the areas impacted dramatically by the dam. The Bolsa Pocket, then a freshwater ecosystem, has been reintroduced to the ocean but sees little water flow from the tides. Because of the limited movement of water the area the marsh has high turbidity limited the amount of organisms the area can support because of access to sunlight. This marsh houses many small fish that are a food source to the many different birds of Bolsa Chica- a bird watcher's heaven ! 

 [topsmelt]

 [royal tern]

 [long-billed dowitcher]

 [great blue heron]

 [double crested cormorant]

 [canada goose]

 [california least tern] -- endangered

[black-necked stilt]

As we rounded the channel we were able to see the effects of the oil rigs as well as the basin which connects to the ocean and provides homes for different types birds and aquatic animals than what we had seen upland. Another cool part of the inner bay trail was the snowy plover nesting area, again gated off from humans but lined with beautiful pink sand verbena. This area was a popular spot for photographers because of the rare birds it tends to attract and although we didn't get a picture, we did hear rumors of newly hatched birds. 

 [brown pelican in the bolsa chica inner bay]

 [snowy plover nesting island]

 [snowy egret in the bolsa chica inner bay]

 [catch system for waste in the flood control channel]

 [striped shore crab in the bolsa chica inner bay]

 [spalding's savannah sparrow in the flood control channel]

 [ruddy duck in the flood control channel]

 [oil rigs along the sea wall]

 [marbled godwit in the waters near an oil rig]

[great egret flying over the flood control channel]

 [and probably the most exciting shot of the day was seeing a great blue heron standing only a few feet away]

Overall it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming to see the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Although it is sad to see the effects that the dam has had on Bolsa Chica, there is visible progress being made on restoring the wetlands to what they were before, or at least closer to it. For the first time in 100 years the wetlands have been reintroduced to ocean waters and hopefully we are able to save the 10% that is left of what these wetlands used to be. I'm excited to return and see how far along they come with continued efforts by the conservancy and its volunteers. 

Sources of Information:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsa_Chica_Ecological_Reserve#History]
[http://orangecounty.about.com/od/attractions/ss/Explore-The-Bolsa-Chica-Wetlands-And-Ecological-Reserve_4.htm]
[http://bolsachica.org/the-wetlands/bolsa-chica-history/]
[http://anniepham325.blogspot.com/2011/11/impact.html]

Get Involved : Volunteer through the Amigos de Bolsa Chica on the last Saturday of every month from 9-11 am for a trash clean up OR on the second Sunday of every month from 9-12 am for native plant maintenance  -- http://www.amigosdebolsachica.org/volunteers.htm