Tonight is my first post for the Carbon Canyon Chronicle blog. I've lived in the canyon for four years and find living here to be a great experience overall. Living three miles from the nearest stoplight, store, tract home and other "conveniences" of modern suburban life is a great appeal. I am intrigued by the history of the canyon from what must have been Indian trails from the coast to inland regions, to early Spanish and Mexican travel through the canyon, to American-era use and settlement. I also enjoy the great diversity of people and homes found within the canyon, as well as the rugged canyon walls, density of trees and plants, and the occasional deer, coyote, and mountain lion. At the same time, other consequences of these "conveniences" find their way in, mainly in the form of proposed residential tracts, increased traffic, more reckless driving, fire hazards, and other threats to the well-being of this special place. This blog proposes to discuss it all, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the timelessness and the signs of "progress." It will be greatly appreciated if those of you who stop by leave a comment or two about the canyon. The hope is simple: learn, appreciate, and, perhaps, take that knowledge and appreciation and take concrete action if your views and concerns, like mine, lead you to want to anything, however small it might appear, to help keep the canyon a special place for all who live in it, drive through it, and use it in whatever way they do.
Popular Posts on the Carbon Canyon Chronicle
-
3 November 2016: Terri Lenée Peake, who was Horace McKenna's live-in girlfriend at the hilltop ranch on the Brea portion of Carbon Can... -
It is probably the most unusual part of Carbon Canyon, this large compound concealed in the hills north of Carbon Canyon Road just inside t... -
Some digging around in the archives of the Los Angeles Times recently yielded some interesting material concerning the change in management...
-
There it is off Carbon Canyon Road and Canyon Hills Drive in Chino Hills, a massive gray concrete scar peppered with green (or brown, d... -
Come to think of it, St. Joseph's Hill of Hope isn't the only spiritual aspect of Carbon Canyon. A little gander (OK, where does th...
-
This is a follow-up to one of the first posts on this blog, back in summer 2008, about St. Joseph's Hill of Hope—City of God, the breakw...
-
The second of the "three brothers" who, in 1914, purchased 2,500 acres in Tonner Canyon from Walter F. Fundenberg and which became... -
A banner has appeared in recent days on eastbound Carbon Canyon Road just before Olinda Village announcing that a new restaurant, Stones Smo... -
This is not a post about the history of the British in Chino Hills (though that would probably be smashing), but, instead, a sketch of anoth... -
In the first half of the 1920s, there was a population boom and major economic expansion in the Los Angeles region and the real estate marke...
A Little Horsing Around, Part 3
The second of our friendly equine compatriots showing his/her best side (or else, casting a cynical and suspicious glare at the Circle K construction site behind the photographer?)
A Little Horsing Around, Part 2
One of our equine friends mugs for the camera at Carbon Canyon Road and Canyon Hills Drive (was it mentioned that Circle K is incongruously going in across the street?)
A Little Horsing Around, Part 1
Here are two friendly equines at the lot on the northwest corner of Carbon Canyon Road and Canyon Hills Drive in Chino Hills--a marked rural contrast to the under-construction Circle K market right across the road.
Triangle Complex Fire: Sylvan Scenes Spared
In the eastern end of Soquel Canyon, the damage in the canyon's bottomlands was much less than in the west. This beautiful view on a dirt road looking south shows a relatively unscathed area. Taken 30 November 2008.
Triangle Complex Fire: Smoke and Uncertainty
Taken from the Gordon Ranch neighborhood of Chino Hills, just north of Carbon Canyon, about 10 a.m. on Sunday, 16 November. The smoke on the right was a flareup in the Canyon, but we had no idea how bad things had gotten on the Brea side or how fortunate we were on the Chino Hills side.
Triangle Complex Fire: "It Doesn't Look Good"
After 8 p.m. on Saturday, 15 November, my family and I evacuated, not to return until Tuesday morning. As I left, I stopped to take this image with my cheap camera, but, as a neighbor said in a phone call to another neighbor a few hours later, "it doesn't look good."
Triangle Complex Fire: Headed Toward Carbon Canyon
By 4 p.m. on Saturday, 15 November, the Corona-originated fire had moved north and east and I took a series of photos that showed its movement toward the canyon. Four hours later, a mandatory evacuation order was given and early Sunday morning the fire was within 100-150 yards of our house.
Triangle Complex Fire: Corona Branch
This is about 1 p.m. on Saturday, 15 November, some four hours after the fire started near the 91 and 71 freeways. High winds pushed the fire northwest through Yorba Linda. When I went to my local fire station, the fire was not heading towards Carbon Canyon, but that all changed with the winds died down by evening. Early Sunday morning the 16th, the Canyon was in the line of fire!
Old Carbon Canyon Road (now Ginseng Lane)
The path of the old roadway looking west would meet up with the current road only a few hundred feet further, but a home and private driveway are in the old right-of-way. Taken 6 August 2008.
Old Carbon Canyon Road near Carriage Hills #2
A nice view of the old road just to the south of the current roadway on the east descent on Horseshoe Bend in Chino Hills. Taken 6 August 2008.
Old Carbon Canyon Road at Chino Hills Parkway
Before there was a Chino Hills and a Chino Hills Parkway, Carbon Canyon Road simply curved from the canyon, as viewed here, and made its way east to its conclusion at Central Avenue in Chino. Taken 6 August 2008.
Sunrise Over The Hills
On a fire road above Carbon Canyon, 6:00 a.m., 6 July 2008
South into Chino Hills State Park
Looking toward the Santa Ana Mountains from a road leading from Soquel Canyon, 6 July 2008
Cold War Artifact in Soquel Canyon
An Aerojet sign belies the pastoral landscape, 6 July 2008
A Creek in Soquel Canyon
A summer respite by a shallow stream, 6 July 2008
Residents of Soquel Canyon
Locals eye an outsider with suspicion, 6 July 2008
Soquel Canyon Road
Sunlight pours through the trees on Soquel Canyon Road, 6 July 2008
2 comments:
You have done a great job and many of us really appreciate your writing. I have reposted some of your stories in my Canyon Hills Neighbors Facebook page to help new residents understand the history of the Canyon. Thanks
Hi Michael, thanks for the comment and it is much appreciated. Little was it known what this would become and that it would still be going into its 13th year, even though activity has slowed quite a bit. We'll see if the pace picks up a bit this year!
Post a Comment