Landscape of Personal Interest:

San Gabriel Canyon Gateway Center

I. The Physical Geological Context

The visitor center lies in the middle of a small canyon, one that connects directly to the San Gabriel Valley

at the edge of the Angeles National Forest. This visitor center also lies just north of an unusual hill,

formed to look almost like an upside-down bowl shape. Like the rest of the valley it seems to look as if the

region receives a minimum amount of rainfall. The center is strange for its unusual location, because it

was most likely built before the formation of the surrounding suburbs. These homes also strangely lie just

at the beginning of where the highway begins to increase elevation into the mountains. Their strange due

to their proximity to the foothills and their isolation from the other suburbs of Azusa, California and it’s

downtown which lies just a few miles south of the location. The San Gabriel Gateway center also lies

southeast of a water flood plain and just northeast of a dam. What is more interesting about the location

of the site is how it almost seems to hide within the rest of the area, and it almost seems invisible to the

drivers of the highway. There is not stop sign in the area nor any way to recognize the center other than

the building’s existence. What the valley reminds me of is the article by John McPhee called “Los Angeles

Against the Mountains”, in which he describes a near perfect description of the area, “The front line of

battle is where the people meet the mountains-up the steep slopes where the subdivisions stop and the

brush begins” (McPhee 182). In his book he describes Los Angeles against the mountains, but in this

case, I am making a reference to the edge of Azusa’s suburbs against the beginning of the foothills. Like

what Leopold states in his book A Sand County Almanac, “Whatever may be the equation for men and

land, it is improbable that we as yet know all it’s terms” (Leopold 17). This describes how an may have yet

to decide the meaning of land as is. What catches my eyes are the lack of views in the canyon to the rest

of the valley, as the hills begin to engulf the region into becoming a two-paved highway and a reservoir

known as the Morris Reservoir, just a mile up north of the center. The area may also be prone to

mudslides given its close proximity to the mountainsides. This area can be considered as an

Anthropogenic and Tectonic Landform, because it is seen how the area has been created over time

with the creation of a valley but has since been affected greatly by the creation of distinctive terracing of

hills for housing, roadcuts, retaining walls, and a manmade dam.

Leopold, A. (1986). A Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

McPhee, John. (1989). Los Angeles Against the Mountains. Print.

II. Ecological Context

This area may be believed to have the same precipitation patterns as the San Gabriel Valley, because

it only lies behind one hill. Thus, there is no rain shadow to begin with, as the hill does not reach an

elevation beyond a few thousand feet. The canyon itself is still connected to the San Gabriel Valley, as

well as how it not too big of a difference in elevation. All these characteristics of the canyon make it so

that the vegetation that grows is like that of the San Gabriel Valley. There are distinctive plants in the

canyon that may be native to California. What was interesting about exploring the area around the

gateway center is taking note of how various plant species can live under the lack of water in the summer.

They may thrive off the precipitation patterns of the winter months but may also receive water due to the

nightly moisture. According to Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac”, he points out how there can

always be energy circuits in an environment like this: “Plants absorb energy from the sun. This energy

flow through a circuit called the biota, which may be represented by a pyramid consisting of layers. The

bottom layer is soil” (Leopold 14). This explains one of the few natural elements of the land. Like the San

Gabriel Valley, the canyon has a Mediterranean climate. It is also debatable as to whether the location

may or may not be dessert. Not far from metropolitan Los Angeles, this region is debated to not be

dessert in the ecological context. According to Gary Reger’s research in his article “The Desserts of Los

Angeles: Two Typologies, “by the standard definition of geographers, desserts receive annual rainfall

under ten inches (c 254 mm); Los Angeles’ average yearly accumulation of about 14,77 inches (c 375.2

mm) situates the city safely out of arid fold” (Reger). In reference to Los Angeles he also points out the

surrounding regions such as the surrounding valleys. In addition to this he points out that “Of course,

interannual variation is considerable; across the 139 years for which records exist, Los Angeles has

experienced a dessert-level shortage 39 times, or about 1 year in 3.5” (Reger). Overall, the area is

debatable as a dessert. Though the area around the gateway center may also be prone to several

disturbances, including debris flows, Fire and Wildland-Urban Interface due to the vegetated slopes and

grasslands, Flooding due to its proximity to the mountains and the formation of a canyon. I have a story

about this: when I went to the area to take photos for the first time, and after about an hour of looking

around I began to see fire trucks beginning to drive up the highway and some also stop just right at the

front of the Gateway Center, because just a few miles north there was a fire. Luckily, I was able to

continue talking photographs just before they closed the highway. This is an example of how the area,

like many other places in California is vulnerable to face wildfires.

Leopold, A. (1986). A Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Reger, Gary. “The Desserts of Los Angeles: Two Typologies.” Boom California, 24 May 2017,

https://boomcalifornia.com/2017/05/24/the-deserts-of-los-angeles-two-topologies/.

III. Cultural Context

The significance of the Gateway Center is to be able to welcome people, including tourists and travelers

to the region, and give them information regarding the events, opportunities and other events going on.

As part of California’s culture, the National Forest Service and other organizations welcome people into

the mountains to go hiking, camping, and touring into the mountain communities. During the winter

months, this may include giving access to people to go enjoy the snowfall, and go snowboarding, skiing,

etc.. Thanks to the natural features of the mountains, which provide an opportunity to see the

surrounding landscape overall. This may also include encountering other valleys, ridges, Streams and

rivers, cliffs, and plateaus. These are several distinctive features that Southern California may not be

seeing or living within a daily basis that the Gateway Center explains. There is an appreciation for this

beauty and these ecological systems. According to Aldo Leopold in A Sand County Almanac, he

describes the way in which land is used on an economic scale, somewhat contrary to the experiences of

the regular public. Here he states that “We can be ethical only in relation to something we can see, feel

understand, love, or otherwise have faith in” (Leopold). In this case, the public can only relate to the

surrounding environment that exists, the matter in which they experience it, and how they make

memories of their surroundings with others. This canyon and the gateway center provide the beginning of

that experience to others. The name itself is the perfect example of what the place provides, a gateway to

the land of the mountains above. Like what Gary Reger’s Article “The Desserts of Los Angeles: Two

Typologies”, he states that “The First Typology is the dessert out there: beyond Los Angeles, the east and

north, the dessert one must cross and endure to reach the Promised Land, and to which one may escape

or be exiled, whether to find a place of purity and cleanliness opposed to the corruption that has

overtaken the Promised Land, or to serve out a punishment and (Hopefully) find redemption” (Reger).

Although he may have gone beyond the pint I wanted to make, This Center acts as a gateway to

possibilities and adventures beyond the valley. This center gives the person a number of possibilities to

the traveler, to stick around a bit longer to see the environment there in now, the small canyon that lies in

between their past, present and future, or go and explore what lies up into the mountains.

Leopold, A. (1986). A Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Reger, Gary. “The Desserts of Los Angeles: Two Typologies.” Boom California, 24 May 2017,

https://boomcalifornia.com/2017/05/24/the-deserts-of-los-angeles-two-topologies/.

IV. Evaluation and Personal Response

Overall, the experience of going to this place several times, making analysis of the surrounding area, and

just viewing the land makes me want to do it again. I felt that going directly to a location to write about it is

much more significant than as to writing about it based off an image, because looking at an image is

definitely not the same as to looking at it in person. I would take the opportunity to do it again. I also

learned a few things from the analysis of this location. I learned to appreciate everything that others would

take for granted. The reason why I chose the location in the first place was because of its distinctiveness

from other places, as it is rural, the canyon is rural and novel, but is still recognizable from its past as

Native, given it’s natural features. There was also the close encounter with the disturbance, including

the Fire/Wildland Urban Interface, because of the dry grassland brush and hot conditions. Other days it

wasn’t as hot. These few Miles of terrain allowed me to also to strengthen my photography skills, which

includes using the camera to high and low resolutions, Sensor Size/crop factor, field of view, etc. The

Tectonics that made the area suit for an isolated place. It felt comforting walking around not seeing many

people, taking photographs of my surroundings, and experiencing the breeze that few by my hair. I think

the area suits well to carry out one’s thoughts, to reflect on their life, and plays a role in mental relaxation.

I also learned about the physical aspects of land, such as that “Land, then is not merely soil; it is a

foundation of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals” (Leopold). And though the

amount of human disturbance has affected the area, it can explain the phenomena that affects many

ideas today. As a landscape architect, James Corner explains in his book (Representation and

Landscape (1992)” that Landscape Architects focus on “…not only a phenomenon of analysis, but is

more significantly something to be made, or designed. The Landscape Architect is very much interested

in physically manipulating the land to reflect and express human ideas about nature and dwelling them”

(Corner). This is probably one of the most difficult concepts for me to understand, in which we must

interpret how to manipulate the land around us based on what we see and our beliefs to make the land a

better place. I think interpreting the land in my own terms was the most difficult part.

Corner, James. (1992). Representation and Landscape. https://blackboard.cpp.edu/bbcswebdav/pid

4252882-dt-content-rid-38458858_2/xid-38458858_2.

Leopold, A. (1986). A Sand County Almanac. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Built Frame

The Physical Geological Context

Trivial

Familiar

Sequence:

Ecological

Context

Trivial

Familiar

Sequence

#2

Built Frame

Ecological Context

Temporal Sequence

Cultural Context

Temporal Sequence

Evaluation and Personal Response