Kindra Girard has been hiking the Chaney Trail into Millard Canyon above Altadena for 15 years. There’s the reveal after conquering each switchback, the unique rock formations, the reliable, resident oaks and the icing on the cake — a waterfall.

“It was my favorite trail,” said the La Canada Flintridge resident, who had pulled up to the trail and was greeted by a closed gate on July 17, just as she had done every month since the Jan. 8 Eaton fire swept through the canyon, while destroying large swaths of Altadena homes, businesses and houses of worship.

The closing of the trail and canyon is heartbreaking news for Girard, and hundreds of thousands of other humans who’ve hiked the canyon trails to touch nature. But scientists are learning that the closure of Chaney Trail and others nearby is a good thing for the animal and plant population that have demonstrated strong signs of restoration after devastation.

It’s the lack of people stomping around that has brought a pause, a throwback to a time that stands still, enjoyed by snakes and lizards, squirrels and butterflies, owls, bats, deer, coyotes, racoons, mountain lions and bears to name a few.

Folks from The Chaney Trail Corridor Project have posted images of wildlife footage from trail cameras installed since the fires. These reveal a resurrection of healthy animal and plant life in the burned canyon.

The footage even shows new life — a deer with two fawns and a doe and a coyote female with three pups seen emerging from a den and later, on a July 9 image capture, the pups appeared larger, romping 400 yards from the den.

“We just saw a bear,” said Kristen Ochoa on July 17, who is leading the project and is an Altadena resident. “Plus, we’ve seen mountain lions — a whole family with a mother and juveniles.”

It’s no secret that California black bears are known to roam the San Gabriel Mountains and wander lower into the populated foothill communities. A bear was seen in Loma Alta Park recently, said one resident. But Ochoa said she was worried because bears had not shown up in the canyon until July 8.

“We hadn’t seen any bears in the trail cams in those first six months, not a single bear. But it showed up for the anniversary!” she exclaimed.

A bear wandering on the trail, perhaps searching for food in a canyon recovering from fire meant something greater to the researchers.

“Well, symbolically it means so much strength. Power. Fortitude. Resilience. The bear is a powerful animal,” she said.

In nearby Rubio Canyon, the conservation nonprofit, Arroyos & Foothills, reported on the fire’s impact. One trail camera survived on a north-facing slope, which may not be best for photographing wildlife, said Ruby Siehl urban wildlife research leader.

The images show deer fleeing from flying embers, then nothing for about a week, she said. “Then some deer came back. It was a slow return of some animals,” Siehl said.

Rains in February filled the streambed with debris and sediment and changed the topography, she said. “There was much less wildlife activity on that camera in March and April.” The most recent data she had was up until April 14, where she identified images of a hawk, turkey vulture and a fox.

Nature helping herself

In the six months since the fire, the trail and canyon above Altadena have become a living lesson in the tension between nature and humans, with crowded Southern California home to both.

For example, Ochoa and project volunteers studied the images of the deer and her family. She was limping on an injured leg. But later the doe was seen with her offspring, a good sign the deer is thriving, said project volunteers. Later, in June, the deer was seen on camera within a sea of new wildflowers.

Many in the community who saw the posted images of a wounded animal on social media wanted Ochoa and others with the project to rescue the deer. But the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will not do that because it usually ends up killing the wild animal. The animal can experience extreme struggles, muscle exertion and stress causing capture myopathy, a fatal condition, the department says.

“Sometimes, the best way to help nature is to let it be,” said Jason Wise, a naturalist, educator helping with the project, as part of a recorded online message for the group. “In this case, all four deer are alive and doing well.”

Likewise, Grace Burnett, who lost her home in Altadena in the fire and is now living in the southern part of Pasadena off Lake Avenue, said she believes the coyotes also came south. She said her new neighbors have never seen so many coyotes.

“The people on my street walk the area holding sticks,” she said. “I will pull into my driveway and they’re there, sitting on my lawn.”

Her friend, Sasha Anthome, whose home burned up in the fire in Altadena, said she has seen more birds than ever when she returns at least once a week to water her trees. “Also, there are a lot of butterflies on my property, including many monarchs; they are always there,” Anthome said.

Rooting for native plants

Ochoa said what makes her smile the most when she visits the canyon are the plants.

She’s seen new ones pop up from the ashes, known as fire followers. These include: chamise, blue elderberry, golden yarrow, scorpion weeds, California buckeye, laurel sumac, lupins, California wild rose, chaparral yucca, heart-leaved penstemon and milkweed, according to a report from The Chaney Trail Corridor Project.

“The plants are recovering beautifully,” said Tim Martinez, land manager of several pieces of land in Altadena, Pasadena and Glendale bought for conservation by the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy. In particular, fire followers have transformed the burned out landscape into a carpet of color in nearby Rubio Canyon, and parts of Millard Canyon.

“A few weeks ago there was an enormous bloom of Phacelia grandiflora,” said Martinez on Monday, July 21. “The ones with the really big purple flowers. They were just popping up everywhere.”

Also, Martinez noticed blooms of white sage and elderberry. Golden yarrow is making a comeback, noticeable by its yellow-orange flowers. “The recovery is beautiful,” he said. “For weeks it was just bare dirt. Now we have amazing flowers.”

Also, non-native plants, known as invasive plants, are rising up competing with native chaparral, he said. Mustard plants are crowding the slopes and volunteers with Arroyos & Foothills are helping remove them. These burn quickly. “Mustards are all just flashy fuel,” Martinez said.

Wise with The Chaney Trail Corridor Project, said in a recorded message that sometimes plants residents use for landscaping can be non-native. These have spread into the wildlands and crowd out native plant species, he said.

What about the trees?

There’s a lot of worry about the Army Corps of Engineers taking out too many trees while clearing debris. Many property owners have successfully saved trees on their property, and water them often.

Ochoa is concerned about a dozen live oak trees, the granddaddy of them all, that are marked for removal in Millard Canyon, in and around where seven cabins burned to the ground. She doesn’t want to see more trees removed unnecessarily.

But clearing out debris from cabins nestled into the canyon can be a tight squeeze for large equipment. Ochoa and others say the debris removal for these cabins could begin this week and may require helicopters to drop in equipment and remove trees.

“I want them to do this judiciously and takes as few trees as possible,” Ochoa said. Some of the cabins are located on federal land, within the boundaries of the Angeles National Forest.

Oaks are adapted to fire, she said. That’s why so many survive. Also, she’s concerned that bird nesting season run through mid August. She pointed to the sign saying entering national forest land.

“These trees up there belong to everybody. This is forest,” she said.

Fire’s silver lining

It’s hard, perhaps wrong, to speak of fire’s benefits, not when it caused so much loss of life. The Eaton fire killed 18 people. It destroyed 9,414 structures in an unincorporated community that will take years to recover.

Martinez wished some of the preserved lands could be managed with controlled burns, but that is not feasible being so close to civilization. Yet he can’t deny the fire’s benefit on the natural lands.

Though he lives in Pasadena, he has friends in Altadena and says that is where he is most familiar. “It is still unbelievable the losses. But the flip side is nothing rejuvenates like fire,” he said.

Ochoa was trying to assure hiker Kindra Girard about the trails, canyons and mountain slopes denuded by fire but sprouting green again. The oaks are strong, like old pioneers, soldiering onward. And the chaparral is in tact.

“No, it is not what it looked like before. But it has rebounded. It will take some time but it will come back. It is going to be OK,” she told her.