Pictures of the post-burn Ramona Trail in 2024, Garner Valley, San Jacinto Mountains
The Forest Service conducted a "prescribed burn" of ~2,500 acres in the vicinity of the Ramona Trail in June 2023. This is the unpteenth time they have burned or conducted "fuel reductions" of this area, starting at least as far back as 2009.
The top of the Ramona Trail is now essentially 100% a non-native grassland. This may have occurred earlier than the prescribed burns due to cattle grazing and human clearance for cattle. But too-frequent burns in chaparral are known to play a large role in converting chaparral to large stands of non-native grasslands, so the "fuel reductions" may have contributed to the loss of native chaparral there.
Hence we were dismayed that they continued to burn this area in 2023, which produced an ugly landscape which probably did little to improve fire safety in the area. In fact, this might have made things worse due to replacing chaparral with non-native annual grasses. Non-native annual grasses ignite much easier, and spread fire more rapidly. When firefighters "fight fire with fire", igniting counter-burns, it is always the non-native grasses they ignite with the torches, since it is difficult to ignite chaparral.
However, burning chaparral brings beautiful fire-followers, at least until they are also extirpated by conversion to grasslands. The excellent display of flowers in May 2024 almost makes up for this misguided burn.
The purpose of this page is to show the beautiful flowers produced post-burn here on 17 May 2024. But we note that the photographs don't do justice to the displays seen in person. For some reason, the appearance is much flatter in the pix, with much less "pop" than was seen in the field.
The photographs are arranged in order of distance from the parking lot at the trailhead. The displays get better farther up the trail.
View from close to the trailhead. The burn areas look ugly from this distance, but they are actually filled with flowers; see below. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Zoom view of one burn area from close to the trailhead, showing one of the many patches that make up the burn. Pix by Don Rideout. |
Burn area at mile 0.20 from the trailhead, showing mostly a sparse field Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 0.26 from the trailhead, showing mostly a dense field of Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 0.30 from the trailhead, showing mostly a dense field of Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia. Pix by Tom Chester. |
View of some burn areas from mile 0.31 from the trailhead, showing a sparse field of Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia, in the near distance; a dense field of it in the medium distance at left-center; and a hilltop of it in the far distance, with the San Jacinto high mountains in the background. The P. brachyloba is not found on the steeper slopes, just in the flatter places. Pix by Don Rideout. |
Trail lined with a dense field of Eriophyllum confertiflorum, golden yarrow in the burn area at mile 0.40 from the trailhead. Pix by Don Rideout. |
Burn area at mile 0.47 from the trailhead, showing mostly a dense field of Cryptantha intermedia, popcorn flower. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 0.61 from the trailhead, showing the first stands of Phacelia minor, wild canterbury bells; along with Cryptantha intermedia, popcorn flower; Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia; and Eriophyllum confertiflorum, golden yarrow. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 0.89 from the trailhead, showing a dense field of Phacelia minor, wild canterbury bells. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 1.14 from the trailhead, showing a dense field of Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia. Pix by Don Rideout. |
| The trail mostly goes through unburned chaparral from mile 1.2 to mile 1.9. |
Burn area at mile 1.90 from the trailhead, showing a very dense field of Phacelia brachyloba, short-lobed phacelia. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 1.94 from the trailhead, showing mostly a large field of Gilia capitata, globe gilia. Pix by Don Rideout. |
Burn area at mile 1.97 from the trailhead, showing a stand of Mimulus brevipes (=Diplacus brevipes), wide-throated yellow monkeyflower; and Eriophyllum confertiflorum, golden yarrow. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 1.98 from the trailhead, showing mostly a large field of Gilia capitata, globe gilia. Pix by Tom Chester. |
Burn area at mile 1.98 from the trailhead, showing a large field of Gilia capitata, globe gilia; Phacelia distans, common phacelia; and Antirrhinum coulterianum (= Sairocarpus coulterianus), Coulter's snapdragon. Pix by Don Rideout. |
Burn area at mile 2.0 from the trailhead, showing a field of Sphaeralcea ambigua, orange globemallow; Gilia capitata, globe gilia; and Phacelia distans, common phacelia. Pix by Don Rideout. |