Wisdom Tree

This guide to the Wisdom Tree, alone on a fire-scarred ridge above Burbank, follows the 2007 wildfire that stripped the hillside bare and left one pine standing. You'll hear the competing stories of how it got there, from a free Arbor Day sapling to a discarded Christmas tree, and meet hiker Mark Rowlands, who left a box of notepads at its base for strangers to write in. It also traces the fight to keep developers from covering the ridge in houses, and who stepped in to fund saving it.