Red Car Property: Iconic California Black Walnut Tree Crashed Down

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, December 31, 2021.

In a fitting end to 2021, a huge protected native California Black Walnut Tree, growing on the Lake View Ave side of the Red Car Property, fell victim to this week's deluge.  As the species evolved to do, it survived decades of the drought/deluge pattern of Southern California weather. It was likely too much rain, too fast, on a steep slope, combined with run-off from the built hillside environment, to keep the beloved tree upright.  

Photo: Stephanie Bartron, May 2020.  

Oddly, I have admired the tree for three decades, but have surprisingly few photos of just this large tree. The Red Car Property is not a park, it just looks like one.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2009.

The native tree was so large and  among a long row of large trees, it was often difficult to single out just one tree.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2010.  

The healthy Black Walnut thrived behind a home at one of the lowest points of elevation of Lake View Ave. It took advantage of significant hillside run-off. It was couple of houses north of Rose Scharlin Nursery School.

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, 2016. 

A previous owner of the Lake View Ave house told me, the tree was a big reason they bought the house.  Despite knowing the tree was on the Red Car Property, they took care of it. They even hired a certified arborist/tree trimmer to maintain it, because the tree brought value to not only their home, but their lives.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, December 31, 2021. Same tree, reverse angle.

Upon seeing today's photos, several neighbors had the same reaction as I did, "Noooooo!"  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 10, 2016. 

The native Black Walnut towered over the trail on the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2015.

The Red Car Property is not a park, it just looks like one.  We mourn the loss of another iconic native tree.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, Follow Us On Twitter

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17,  2017.  Not a park, it just looks like one.

We apologize to our readers.  Due to other commitments, we're slow to publish to the blog lately.  We hope to be publishing regularly soon.  For timely updates, follow us on Twitter: @RedCarProperty

Red Car Property: Not A Park

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November15, 2017.  Sometimes, you just have to wonder how desperate we are for open space near our homes, that we're willing to put up with the construction fence that took more than half the width of the Red Car Property near Adelbert.  The fence went up over a year ago for a development on Riverside Drive that is not a part of the Red Car Property.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  Red Car Property between Lake View Ave and Corralitas Drive includes the slopes up to the fences on either side of the canyon.  Many of the trees are recovering since they were toasted by the heat of the fire in 2016.

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, July 21, 2016. While shot from a different angle, the trees on the Lake View Ave side of Red Car Canyon showed the extent of the heat damage from the fire, a month earlier.  

December 1, 2011, we had a major windstorm that knocked down trees, knocked out power and started a fire on Lake View Ave.  
 

Red Car Canyon: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.

Red Car Canyon: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  A pack of more than a dozen bicyclists sped north on the Red Car Property.  Luckily, no one was on Corralitas Walk, the public sidewalk between Allesandro Way and Corralitas Drive, when they came downhill dangerously fast, taking pedestrians on the Red Car Property by surprise.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 5, 2017.  Bounce house, parents, kids, cars, and amplified music between Lake View Ave and Riverside Place north of Rose Scharlin.  No brush clearance, but the protected native Black Walnut Trees are looking good.  The non-native invasive arundo is looking overgrown.

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-23-17 and backdated to the date the photo was shot and published on Twitter. 

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Still Looks Like One In Need Of Brush Clearance

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 29, 2017.  Native trees on the north end of the Red Car Property are recovering from unprecedented drought.  The dry weeds are falling over, but still need to be cleared.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 29, 2017.  Prior to more than a dozen giant Eucalyptus trees dying suddenly, just a few years ago, The north end of the property used to have shade and more green, well into the summer.  

There are homes on the other side of the trees  on both sides of the trail in this photo.  

The north end of the property, directly above the Arco Station at Riverside and Fletcher, is the closest to the LA River.  Thus, closer to more illegal fireworks on the 4th of July.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Would Still Look Like One Without The Construction Fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 30, 2017.  North of the construction fence on the Red Car Property, some, not all, of the protected native Black Walnut Trees have recovered from the last five years of exceptional drought.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Let's hope all those trees are storing lots of water.  Due to the loss of more than a dozen huge Eucalyptus trees on the property near Adelbert, and developers clear cutting the adjacent recovering native woodland for a 14-home development on Riverside Drive, the north end of the trail has been through radical change of the urban forest.  It's hotter, sunnier and drier than just a few years ago.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 19, 2009.  The Big Parade walked through the same section of the property in JULY.  Almost all the trees on both sides of the trail (for the length of the hikers' line in this shot) were California Black Walnuts.  Now the walnuts are fighting back with other native and non-native trees.   

Red Car Property: FIESTA!

Photo: Jay Lieske, March 19, 2017.  Native Blue Fiesta Flowers (Pholistoma auritum) reclaimed the slope at the Adelbert cut-through on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Lieske, a longtime Red Car Property neighbor, reports the Blue Fiesta Flowers are thriving in the slope between the Adelbert cut-through to Fletcher.  Lieske said, "The Fiesta Flowers are even climbing up the chain-link fence around the construction."

Photo: Diane Edwardson, March 13, 2009.  In 2009, we first discovered and documented a few Blue Fiesta Flowers near the Adelbert cut-through to the Red Car Property.

2016 was a lean year for the ever festive Fiesta Flowers due to the extraordinary drought combined with the removal of more than dozen large Eucalyptus that died suddenly over the course of 2 years. This alone changed the ecosystem dramatically due to the loss of shade as well as water and carbon storage capacity of the huge trees.  The north end of the Red Car Property which had always been cooler and more damp, suddenly became an inhospitable place, hotter and drier than the previous 26 years I'd walked the property.

Further destroying habitat, in August2016, an entire forest of trees  (including scores of protected native Black Walnuts that had begun to grow back after the 2014 illegal tree removal) was clear cut for the development of the Riverside Drive lots north of Gilroy, further changing the climate and ecosystem in the neighborhood.  

Let's hope the remaining protected native trees on this section of the Red Car Property recover from the past 6 years of extreme drought and stupidity development, encouraging the entire native plant community and the diversity of wildlife it supports to return to the north end of the property.

Click here for all our Blue Fiesta Flower photos and related posts.

Red Car Canyon: Not A Park...

Photo: S. Bartron, March 20, 2017.  It just looks like one.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

LAFD deadline for brush clearance in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ) is May 1, 2017.  In the past 26 years I've only seen the Red Car Property cleared a handful of times before the 4th of July.  Let's hope this year is different.

Red Car Canyon: Not A Park, Rainfall Totals

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 9, 2017.  Red Car Canyon Lakes are filling up fast this week.  Click on photo to enlarge.)

We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas rain gauge:

January 10 - 11, 2017: 0.7" 
Rain year to date: 9.95"
 

Red Car Property Mudwatch, Rainfall Totals

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 5, 2017. Red Car Canyon's vernal pools will likely be around for a while with the current weather pattern.  

We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas Drive rain gauge:

January 5, 2017, 3 PM: 0.7"
Rain year to date: 8.3" ("Rain year" or "season" started October 1.)

Follow us on Twitter for up to the minute Mudwatch photos and news.

Red Car Canyon: New Year's Hawk Video

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017.  A Red Tailed Hawk perched atop the huge Chinese Elm Tree near the opening of Red Car Canyon.  (The tree is recovering from the Silver Lake Fire.)  

Just moments prior to this photo, the hawk was walking around, "wandering the trail" until Vlahakis and his dog approached.  The hawk moved upslope on the Lake View side (where the video below begins), then flew up to the top of the big tree moments later.

With over an inch of rain since Friday, it's not surprising to see a Red Tailed Hawk on the ground.  Gophers clearing their holes of mud are an easy target. It is amazing to catch any of it on video as Vlahakis did.  In the past, we've had one Red Tail who's preferred method of hunting seemed to be walking around on the ground.  This may be the same hawk, coincidence or an injured raptor.  



Video: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017.  Red Car Canyon.

If it is an injured hawk, take video and photos of its behavior.  If you see a hawk walking or struggling around on the ground, DO NOT approach it unless you are working with a trained wildlife rescuer.  Ojai Raptor Center guided us through several Red Tail rescues in the past.  If it is injured, it may hang around the same general area for a few days, so be alert and keep your dogs on a leash.  Email me immediately if you see the hawk on the ground in the canyon between Lake View and Corralitas: redcarproperty@gmail.com  

Red Car Property: New Year's Mudwatch, Rainfall Totals From 2 Storms In 2 Days

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017.  Red Car Canyon Lakes were more swampy, than lake-like, after more than an inch of rain over two days.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017.  Seriously, who is driving around behind Rose Scharlin Nursery School early on New Year's Day? It's muddy - were you expecting otherwise?

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, January 1, 2017.  So glad brush clearance happened a few weeks ago.  Rainfall totals on Corralitas Drive for past two days:

December 30, 2016: 0.5" 
December 31, 2016: 0.7"
Rain year to date: 7.6"
We had just over 6" of rain since December 15, 2016.

Red Car Property: Forget Your Mud Boots, Bring Your Figure Skates!*

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 24, 2016.  With overnight frost warnings, we're thinking of expanded recreational opportunities on the Red Car Property vernal pools.  This one is close to Rose Scharlin Nursery School. Those future Olympians have to start somewhere.  Lace up your skates and practice those double axles!*  Of course you might have a muddy landing.  Watch out for the dog poop.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Happy Holidays!

*In light of fake news stories causing harm, we'd like to make it perfectly clear, the skating rink proposal is a joke.  However, the photo is real and the Red Car Property is a natural catch basin for stormwater. The Red Car Property is not a park, it just looks like one.

Red Car Canyon: Mudwatch, Rainfall Totals

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor: December 24, 2016.  Not a park; it still looks like one. Be sure you step carefully around Red Car Canyon Lake and creeks that flow in both directions from it.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

On neighbor described last night's rain as if the house were "being hit by a firehose."  We're tracking rainfall totals in the Corralitas rain gauge...

December 23-24, 2016: 1.8"
Rain year to date: 6.4"
 

Red Car Property: Killing Native Habitat

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 6, 2002.  The former most beautiful California Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property, that we've followed for 16 years, is first big tree behind the encroached chain link fence, on the left side of the photo.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2012. This shot is wider and shot from further away.  The same tree is behind the fence on the left.  In 2012, the leaves of the protected native Black Walnuts were just starting to turn yellow before dropping their leaves for winter.  Yet the big healthy beautiful tree we've followed for so long, was still a deep dark green.  It was always one of the to last drop its leaves.  

The photo above shows an environment with lots of Black Walnut Trees of varying ages from saplings to mature trees.  The closest Black Walnut on the left (the young tree in the foreground) was already over 6 feet tall.  There were also Coast Live Oaks of varying ages, Coffeeberries,  Blue Elderberries as well as non native species.  It was a rich and varied ecosystem. 

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, November 6, 2016.  The now dead looking tree on the left is the former most beautiful Black Walnut on the Red Car Property.  The developer of the Riverside Drive 14-lot development below the Red Car Property butchered all the fresh growth on the tree in September. He also claimed to be watering the trees.  (However the water lines appear to be for dust control.)  

The same developer erected the fence across the Red Car Property that's become a magnet for graffiti vandals.  Thanks for making our neighborhood a better place to live.

Related: Why Trees Matter

Red Car Property: Developer Blocked Walkable Portion Of Trail, But Did Brush Clearance (After Some Arm Twisting)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  From a distance, it appears the construction fence for the 14 unit development on Riverside Drive is blocking the Red Car Property, north of India Street.  However, they left us passage on the upslope side of the fence, hidden behind a silver Mercedes.  (The Mercedes finally left last night, after being parked there more than a month.)  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  The pile of drywall dumped last January is on the downslope side of the trail, along with a reduced pile of salvage and trash on the 20 - 30' of downslope that is Red Car Property.  No word if people are still living in the sheds further downslope.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  Neighbors still aren't buying the line from the Riverside Drive developer, that he doesn't have a deal to develop this part of the Red Car Property.  They only cleared the brush from the path here once I bitched at him that it was not a functional path he claimed to have given us.  It was full of trampled down brush and castor beans.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  The heritage Coast Live Oak is still standing.  The developer blocked the highly used portion of the trail, and left us the narrow portion between the slope and the dust screened, chain link fence. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  There are a few leaves left on what was the most beautiful California Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property.  Last month, the developer's brush clearance crew cut all the new growth from the tree for no good reason.  The tree is definitely on the Red Car Property.

This site is not the site of the proposed zone change to allow 49 units.  However, you better believe if they get the zone change and subdivision for condos on the south end of the property the remaining lots will be subject to a development application.  

Red Car Property: Brush Clearance Around New Fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 24, 2016.  The first photos of the day showed workers clearing brush from slope between Adelbert and  the new fence on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It's almost October and the brush clearance is just getting done now?  Brush clearance should have been done on the Red Car Property May 1, just like the rest of the Hillside area.  Even the fire further south on the property in June did not prompt the Red Car Property owner to get the brush clearance done on the rest of the property.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1. September, 24. 2016.  Brush clearance is always miserable for neighbors because of the fugitive dust.  This "dust" carries not only bacteria, but also mold spores that can cause serious bronchial and upper respiratory infections.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 24, 2018. When the fugitive dust turns into a dust storm, it's not healthy for anyone. 

Red Car Property Neighbor #2, September 24, 2016. Friday, I spoke to the architect for the Riverside Drive lots (the property line is about 20 to 30 feet below this large Coast Live Oak Tree).  He said they fenced-in the slope above the Riverside Lots so they could plant it.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2. Since so many trees have been removed in the past 2 years, neighbors watched closely when they were cutting branches from a large protected California Black Walnut and Coast Live Oak.

Rumors swirled around the neighborhood and Next Door that they were "cutting the oak tree."  According to neighbors and their photos, it just looks like branches were trimmed.  Lets hope safe horticulture was practiced so they didn't spread the disease/fungus/pests that have been killing many species of trees throughout the neighborhood.

Once again, Red Car Property Neighbors are on top of things as they happen, even if I've not been on top of the blog lately.  However, as soon as the first brush clearance photos came in, they were posted to our Twitter feed: @RedCarProperty

When we are able to verify the Riverside Drive Lots developer's statements regarding the fence with the Red Car Property owner,  we'll bring you the info here.