Santa Cruz Mountains

A wind-driven wildfire raged through an area of the Santa Cruz Mountains on Thursday, destroying at least a handful of homes, closing schools and prompting evacuations. The blaze, first reported about 5:30 a.m., had burned through more than 3,000 acres and was 15% contained by Thursday evening, said officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause was under investigation. A thick cloud of smoke was visible on rural roads as far as 20 miles to the east.

The cluster of earthquakes that began Friday night in La Habra appear to have struck on a fault underneath the Puente Hills thrust fault, scientists said Wednesday. Friday's earthquake has not provoked earthquakes on either the main Puente Hills fault or the nearby Whittier fault. Friday's magnitude-5.1 quake “was relatively shallow and thus did not significantly perturb the parts of the Puente Hills thrust or the Whittier fault, where we expect a major earthquake to start,” said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson.

Dry and hot weather helped spread a brush fire that grew to 1,600 acres, destroyed two outbuildings and threatened about 50 rural homes Tuesday on the east side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Several structures were ablaze as dozens of residents voluntarily evacuated their homes Monday and Tuesday. The fire was 10% contained Tuesday but still spreading quickly, authorities said.

The magnitude-5.1 earthquake that rattled Southern California on Friday was a 10-second reminder of a fault that seismologists believe can produce a catastrophic disaster. The Puente Hills thrust fault is so dangerous because of its location, running from the suburbs of northern Orange County, though the San Gabriel Valley and under the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles before ending in Hollywood. Experts say a major 7.5-magnitude earthquake on the fault could do more damage to the heart of Los Angeles than the dreaded Big One on the San Andreas fault, which is located on the outskirts of metropolitan Southern California.

More than 150 chanting anti-Trident missile protesters blocked the main gate of Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.'s facility in the Santa Cruz Mountains and 47 were arrested for refusing to move. Of that number, six youths were taken to Juvenile Hall, and 25 other demonstrators who refused to sign their citations or give their proper names were taken to the county jail, sheriff's deputies said.

An aftershock from the Oct. 17 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake rattled residents Saturday but caused no damage or injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 3.6 temblor was centered in the Santa Cruz Mountains 12 miles southwest of San Jose. It was in the north end of the fault involved in the October quake. A spokesman said there have been thousands of aftershocks, and they are continuing, but diminishing.

Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Chardonnay is consistently one of the finest from California. But this one from the winery's Saratoga line — designed to showcase the Santa Cruz Mountain terroir — is a real find at this price. The fruit is right there in the first sip. Light on the oak, the 2007 Saratoga Chardonnay carries a gentle lilt of citrus and a touch of anise. Like its big brother, it is Burgundian in style, grace in a glass. Bring it to a dinner party as a ringer: It could be mistaken for a very expensive bottle.

The cluster of earthquakes that began Friday night in La Habra appear to have struck on a fault underneath the Puente Hills thrust fault, scientists said Wednesday. Friday's earthquake has not provoked earthquakes on either the main Puente Hills fault or the nearby Whittier fault. Friday's magnitude-5.1 quake “was relatively shallow and thus did not significantly perturb the parts of the Puente Hills thrust or the Whittier fault, where we expect a major earthquake to start,” said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson.

Less than 24 hours after a massive earthquake devastated parts of the Bay Area, Marilyn File fed her chickens. Hal Polak gave his wife a shoulder rub. And Jim and Mary McKenna took their dogs for a walk. Despite living within a few miles of the quake's epicenter--about eight miles northeast of Santa Cruz--many residents of the rural Santa Cruz Mountains on Wednesday acted as if the temblor was an event as ordinary as a horse getting loose from its stall.

Led by a tip to a Santa Cruz Mountains canyon so remote that locals call it "the belly of the beast," authorities have arrested a man for his involvement in the 1981 killing of a fellow motorcycle gang member in Van Nuys, Los Angeles police said Friday. Arthur La Vern Schlosser, 42, eluded detectives for more than a decade by using two aliases, hiding in a cabin two miles from the nearest town, and living off the land, said police and Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department officials.

It's not surprising hotels are unleashing special perks and menus aimed at dog owners. Pet owners are an attractive demographic, last year spending more than $50 billion on their four-legged friends, a 73% increase in the last decade, according to Dillon Media, a marketing strategy firm. The biggest spenders were people who don't have kids at home - the kind of traveler who can stay longer and spend more. Although dog menus are still a rarity in U.S. hotels, they're a growing trend.

"A Parent's Guide to the Coast Redwoods"  singles out seven great California parks where families can see the quintessential state giants up close. When to go, where to go and what to do when you get there are covered in the free guide, which you can download online. The deal: The all-color digital guide by the Save the Redwoods League provides the kid-friendly key to touring and enjoying coastal redwood groves. You could find all of this information elsewhere, but the guide distills what you need to know and collects it in an easy format.

An Ideal Wine One Generation's Pursuit of Perfection — and Profit — in California David Darlington Harper: 356 pp., $26.99 The California wine business is full of contradictions. Little wonder. On the one hand, the industry cultivates an image of wine being an almost accidental beverage, a product of a munificent nature that takes ripe fruit from sun-dappled vineyards and somehow, magically, transforms it into a liquid symphony that can ennoble not only those who consume it but also those who make it. On the other, it is a ruthless, cutthroat business, one that accounts for more than $18 billion in sales every year — 80% of which goes through fewer than a dozen large corporations.

Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Chardonnay is consistently one of the finest from California. But this one from the winery's Saratoga line — designed to showcase the Santa Cruz Mountain terroir — is a real find at this price. The fruit is right there in the first sip. Light on the oak, the 2007 Saratoga Chardonnay carries a gentle lilt of citrus and a touch of anise. Like its big brother, it is Burgundian in style, grace in a glass. Bring it to a dinner party as a ringer: It could be mistaken for a very expensive bottle.

A wind-driven wildfire raged through an area of the Santa Cruz Mountains on Thursday, destroying at least a handful of homes, closing schools and prompting evacuations. The blaze, first reported about 5:30 a.m., had burned through more than 3,000 acres and was 15% contained by Thursday evening, said officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The cause was under investigation. A thick cloud of smoke was visible on rural roads as far as 20 miles to the east.

On the continuum of things that make no sense to me, spitting good wine into a tin bucket falls somewhere between intelligent design and every David Lynch film I have ever seen. And so, even though "spitters" would crucify me for it during my eight-hour speed-tasting tour of Santa Cruz Mountains wineries, I was determined to drink up. A rising blood alcohol level would help me deal with my friend Rod, who had yet to apologize for abruptly blowing off my East Coast wedding three years earlier.

"A Parent's Guide to the Coast Redwoods"  singles out seven great California parks where families can see the quintessential state giants up close. When to go, where to go and what to do when you get there are covered in the free guide, which you can download online. The deal: The all-color digital guide by the Save the Redwoods League provides the kid-friendly key to touring and enjoying coastal redwood groves. You could find all of this information elsewhere, but the guide distills what you need to know and collects it in an easy format.

The approach to Thomas Fogarty Winery was just this side of too bucolic. Lupine and poppies lined the driveway, trellised wisteria hung over the picnic tables and swans (swans!) glided around a pond filled with lily pads. Inside the tasting room, a wall of windows faced steep vine-covered hills. Unbelievably, my husband, Ken, and I had the place to ourselves.

Dry and hot weather helped spread a brush fire that grew to 1,600 acres, destroyed two outbuildings and threatened about 50 rural homes Tuesday on the east side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Several structures were ablaze as dozens of residents voluntarily evacuated their homes Monday and Tuesday. The fire was 10% contained Tuesday but still spreading quickly, authorities said.