Griffith Park’s partial reopening partly a hit

Shannon Angulo had reserved the birthday party spot at Travel Town, hired a clown, ordered the food and bought the balloons, cake and Thomas the Tank Engine pinata. When she saw the fire rip through Griffith Park last week, she started biting her nails.

“The park is extremely important, but so are my sons’ birthday parties,” she said. “I had a lot of money invested.”

On Friday, she called nearly every hour to find out if the train museum would be open.

When she couldn’t get an answer, Angulo put the guests on call. Then she just waited, nervously.

Finally, at 6 p.m., she received the good news: The birthday party was on. So on Saturday, surrounded by railroad cars and eager children, Angulo sang happy birthday to her sons, Tobias, almost 3, and Lucas, 1.

After a wind-driven fire scorched more than 800 acres last week, Griffith Park reopened Saturday to small but determined crowds biking, riding miniature trains and celebrating an early Mother’s Day.

The L.A. Zoo, Griffith Observatory and Autry National Center all opened their doors to visitors Saturday.

Much of the park, however, remained closed, including the hiking trails, the merry-go-round and the Old Zoo and Crystal Springs picnic areas. Yellow tape and orange cones blocked the roads at several points as city employees cleared debris and fallen rocks.

On what would have been one of the busiest weekends of the year, the few open roads bore little traffic.

Though Griffith Park Chief Ranger Albert Torres said the crowd in the reopened areas was normal for a Saturday, few bikers, hikers, picnickers or joggers could be found. And about half the normal number of visitors went to the zoo, said Jason Jacobs, director of marketing and public relations.

Though there was little ash on the ground, a faint smell of smoke was in the air. Burned tree branches and chaparral had blown onto some of the roads. Charred hillsides could be seen from open vantage points.

Torres said a lot of disappointed visitors had to be turned away from the closed areas of the park. Nevertheless, he is optimistic that even more people will come out for Mother’s Day.

“It’s a big day,” Torres said.

Gloria Weingarten, 37, who said she loves Griffith Park, was determined to return after watching the fire on television last week.

“I was undeterred,” said Weingarten, who celebrated her son’s first birthday Saturday with a picnic and cake below a blackened hillside.

Leonardo and Dionna Villavicencio took their 3-year-old daughter, Emma, to the zoo on Friday, only to realize it wasn’t open yet. Saturday morning, they drove by the ponies.

“We wanted her to at least see some animals,” Leonardo said. “I thought we weren’t going to be able to make it to the zoo.”

But just after 11 a.m. Saturday, Dionna pushed her daughter’s stroller through the zoo entrance. And just in time -- the family’s vacation was nearly over and they had to return home to Stockton.

Gina Wilson, 28, had planned her trip to the zoo about a month ago. Then she watched the fire on television and thought her plans would be ruined.

When she found out the zoo would be open, she said, she felt relieved.

“We thought it would be all ashy and smoky, but they cleaned it up well,” said Wilson, who fed her 7-month-old daughter, Natalie, alongside the giraffe exhibit. “We were worried about the animals too.”

Carol Jaenz, 35, took her sons to ride the ponies on Saturday afternoon.

From where she stood, she could see where the flames had scorched the shrubbery. Despite the fire, Jaenz said she liked the park this way: empty. She walked right up to the booth to buy her sons’ tickets to ride the ponies.

“It’s good,” she said, “because there is no line.”

Not everybody was thrilled, however.

David Eray, along with his wife, daughters and in-laws, had planned to spend the day at the merry-go-round and Shane’s Inspiration playground, but they hit roadblocks.

They turned around and stopped at one of few open picnic spots -- between the road and the 5 Freeway. “A picnic between the highway and the street is not so interesting,” said Eray, 34, who lives in Woodland Hills.

And since they figured using the barbecue wasn’t a good idea, they brought precooked food from Ralphs.

“We were going to stay all day,” Eray said, “but after lunch, we will go home to Woodland Hills.”

anna.gorman@latimes.com