Topanga Canyon

Residents of Topanga Canyon may want to adjust their commuting routine for the next few weeks, as Caltrans works to shore up Topanga Canyon Road after El Nino had its way with it. The construction project on the road began early Monday about eight miles south of Ventura Boulevard. Caltrans officials said it was too soon to determine how long a delay commuters will face during rush hour. "The earlier residents can get going in the morning, the better," said Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli.

The usually staid state and county bureaucracy is going absolutely batty. In May, a state agency is going to conduct a census of bats to find out just how many of Dracula's alter egos hang out in the part of Topanga Canyon where the count (the numerical kind) is to take place. And a project to replace an aged wooden bridge--under which hundreds of the bats sleep the day away--has been delayed a year so that temporary homes can be established for the creatures.

The usually staid state and county bureaucracy is going absolutely batty. In May, a state agency is going to conduct a census of bats to find out just how many of Dracula's alter egos hang out in the part of Topanga Canyon where the count (the numerical kind) is to take place. And a project to replace an aging wood bridge--under which hundreds of bats sleep the day away--has been delayed a year so temporary homes can be established for the creatures.

Tally takers participating in the first bat census in Topanga learned one thing for sure: why that catch phrase "bat out of hell" entered the language as synonymous with "sudden burst of activity." "You can hear all this chittering, like they're talking about where they are going to go and what they are going to eat, then there is a pause in the noise, then an explosion from under the bridge," said biologist Rosi Dagit, who led the survey by 22 volunteers Saturday.

Less than a year after the federal government listed the southern steelhead trout as an endangered species, one of the rare fish was spotted by a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist in a shallow pool in Topanga Canyon Creek. The July 31 sighting by Anthony Spina marks the first official sighting of the fish south of Malibu Creek--considered the southernmost run of steelhead in the United States. The discovery was announced Monday at a meeting of the Topanga Watershed Committee.

Scott King scrambled up a dirt embankment to examine a lemon tree and then disappeared into a thicket of unidentified foliage just off Horseshoe Drive. His partner, Andrea Shore, sighed. She thumbed the worn pages of her illustrated guide to 79 tree species, leafing past pictures of the Brazilian pepper and the laurel sumac as she waited for word from King. First came the faint sound of dry grass crunching beneath work boots. Then King's voice floated above the shrubbery.

The decision to extend the life of a clothing-optional resort has been postponed until May 19 while the group devises a plan to meet a series of conditions. The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission ordered Elysium Institute Inc. to submit a plan for an exit strategy for the facility in the event of fire. Also, an emergency fire evacuation plan must be posted on the site and given to all members. The plans must be approved by the county Fire Department.

Topanga Canyon is the kind of place where, due to its physical and cultural isolation, one can still bump into a levitationist or a past life regressionist at Joe's Market. True, the nature of the community is changing, having been discovered by people with big bucks who are building gleaming white estates--mansions about as out of place in the mountains as cat houses in Vatican City.

Starting today, traffic on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth and Canoga Park will be squeezed into one lane in each direction on weekdays because of road-improvement work, according to Caltrans. From 8:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. each day this week, crews will be performing electrical work and removing median islands on the stretch of the boulevard between Sherman Way and Chatsworth Street.

A Thanksgiving Eve fire raced through a Topanga Canyon home Wednesday, destroying the residence and slightly burning the owner, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokeswoman said. The fire began about 6:22 p.m. in the 2100 block of Hillside Drive, off Topanga Canyon Boulevard, spokeswoman Andrea Hawkins said. She said more than 20 firefighters fought the blaze, which was extinguished about 8:30 p.m. There were no reported injuries to firefighters.