Three decades ago, guru Franko Hudson and I tried out the picturesque Sunset Valley Trail (29W04) after being denied a longer hike along the Davy Brown Trail in nearby Fir Canyon. After our recent November rainfall, I tried these related hikes in the reverse sequence and intended to squeeze in a pair of shorter hikes before the likely December precipitation.
The deeper backcountry northeast of Santa Barbara centers on the idyllic San Rafael Wilderness, and even while driving in, wild Pete and I marveled at the views. We passed this magnificent ophiolite complex that locals deem “Goat Rock” on the way to Davy Brown Camp. Ranger Peak is visible in the distance.
As we drove along Sunset Valley Road and neared Davy Brown Camp where the trail into adjacent Fir Canyon begins, we delighted in the magnificent way the burned-over hillsides had rebounded from the 2024 (Zaca) Lake Fire. This conflagration had consumed about 40,000 acres of mostly chaparral. Charred and singed steep hillsides had already greened up with winter grass and presented verdant slopes when compared to my similar 2024 photos shown here.
Since these arid landscapes flourish in chaparral’s well-adapted fire ecology, wild Pete and I began to wonder how Fir Canyon had fared under the flames of the same Lake Fire…