Cheers to Oaks! Cheers to Trails!

The Iconic Los Padres Oak Tree
Hello Friends,

I was fortunate to spend a few weeks outside the Los Padres this summer traveling with my family.  We visited the heart of the Rockies in Colorado, explored the multi-colored canyons of Utah and backpacked the granite peaks of the Sierras.  It was great!  Hopefully many of you had similar experiences this summer.  Like all vacations, it had to come to an end and we were excited returning home on our final leg back from Colorado.  It’s always nice coming home to familiar mountains, familiar roads, a familiar bed and cursing slow California drivers who don’t move out of the fast lane?!!  But what I wasn’t expecting was how happy I’d be seeing the California oak trees.  They were different than anything we’d seen over the previous weeks, they were beautiful, they were familiar and they were home.  Oaks are everywhere across the Los Padres and I think many of us take them for granted – I’m guilty.  I sometimes wonder what outsiders think of when they think of the Los Padres?  Is it the iconic condor, our numerous hot springs or just that break in traffic between LA and the Bay?  I’d never thought of it before but perhaps it’s our familiar oak trees that best represent the Los Padres?  What do you think?

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It’s Five O’clock Somewhere – Draughtsmen Aleworks
LPFA KARMA TAP
Ready for some great news?  The LPFA has been selected as the Karma Tap at Draughtsmen Aleworks for the month of September!  Woot woot….  Draughtsmen chooses a different non-profit each month for their Karma Tap and $1 from each beer sold from the Karma Tap goes towards that non-profit.  Very cool.  The beer on tap this month is a super tasty Mexican amber lager called Mas Macho, you’ll love it, perfect for late summer!  Draughtsmen Aleworks is just a short jump off Hwy 101 in Goleta.  Be sure to come in for a Mas Macho if you live nearby or make a stop if you’re driving through (designated driver of course).  We’ve also got two events scheduled at Draughtsmen in September:

  • September 6 – 6:00pm: Karma Tap Party

    • Nothing formal, nothing organized, just come out to enjoy a Mas Macho, bring some friends, meet some friends and lets talk trails.  We’ll be upstairs.
  • September 25: LPFA Trivia Night
    • Second annual Trivia Night.  This one will be a little different than last time, more details to come….

We hope you can find some time to visit Draughtsmen Aleworks and cheers a Mas Macho over the coming weeks.  See you there……..

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Before & After, #BeforeandAfterLP – LPFA Trail Crew
THOMAS FIRE TRAIL UPDATE
One of the questions we hear most is what is the status of the trails within the Thomas Fire?  While we don’t have the space here to write about every trail impacted by Thomas, there has been some great progress made and much more on tap for the coming months:

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: Spearheaded by Montecito Trails Foundation, the LPFA Trail Crew along with SBMTV, SBCTC and the Multi-Use Trails Coalition have been working on some of the trails above Montecito including Romero, McMenemy, Girard, Cold Spring and Buena Vista.  Most of the Thomas Fire trail work in Santa Barbara is being focused on the lower portions of the mountain mainly below the Edison Roads.  People are using and enjoying most of the trails but there is still substantial damage to upper Franklin and San Ysidro trails.  Lower Cold Spring and West Fork Cold Spring remain closed.

VENTURA COUNTY: Most of the work accomplished along the Ojai trails have been thanks to a dedicated semi-volunteer crew headed up by Mike Gourley.  Pratt and Gridley Trails have been cleared and Howard Creek is on deck.  LPFA has led a few projects in the Matilija drainage but lots more work is needed across the Ventura portion of the Thomas Fire.  Good news is that the LPFA received grant funding from REI to repair Thomas Fire impacted trails in Ventura County and that work should be starting in about a month once the temperatures cool down.  We’ll share more details as work begins.

We hope that answers some of your questions.  The trails are slowly being repaired and most of them are being hiked daily.  That being said, be safe and if you reach a point where you are uncomfortable either due to exposure, a slide across the trail or anything else – STOP and go back.  The mountains aren’t done shifting after the fire and many burned dead trees are still falling.  Be safe and if you’re interested in any volunteer opportunities please let us know: INFO@LPForest.org

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The Friendly Conifer Confines, Campo Alto

FOREST 411

• This Saturday September 8 we welcome Chumash Elder Julie Tumamait to Wheeler Gorge to share her stories.  The talk starts at 11am at Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center up Hwy 33.  This is a great talk for both kids and adults.  Hope you can make it…..

• The BLM is seeking public input on the environmental impacts related to fracking across potentially 400,000 acres of BLM land and 1.2 million acres of Federal land including portions of Kern, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.  There is no shortage of information related to this topic across the internet.  A Google search should get you whatever you need.  Public comment is due September 7.  Make your voice be heard…….

The Front Fire, which burned over 1,000 acres last month, was officially contained as of Wednesday August 29.  The area around Rockfront remains closed due to the fire.  Cause of the fire remains under investigation.

• The Santa Barbara Backcountry had a fire this past weekend called the Ogilvy Fire.  It burned approximately 175 acres along Mono Creek near Ogilvy Ranch.  It has not been fully contained but is not expected to grow.  Cause of the fire has not been shared.

La Brea Restoration Update

Mountain bikers enjoying the recently restored post-Thomas Fire Romero Fire Road.
The trail restoration was part of a joint project between LPFA, SBMTV, MTF, SBCTC and the Forest Service.
Photo Ray Ford
Hello Again Friends,

In case you didn’t see the Forest Service announcements on their proposed La Brea Restoration plans we’ve included some information about the plan below.  This appears to be the final opportunity for the public to comment on the La Brea Restoration so get your thoughts down on paper or screen and send them in before August 20.

Have a great weekend and we hope you find some time in the Los Padres while you’re at it.  If so, please share photos, we’d love to see how it’s looking and what fun you’re having……..

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Junction of La Brea Road (10W06) and La Brea Canyon Road (11N04), just across La Brea Creek from the newly proposed Rattlesnake Trailhead
LA BREA RESTORATION UPDATE
The 2009 La Brea Fire chewed up nearly 90,000 acres of northwestern Santa Barbara County within the Los Padres Forest.  Included within the fire scar were numerous trails, campgrounds and forest roads.  As we’re all too familiar with, there was some significant post-fire weather events (namely January 2010 and March 2011) that caused severe flooding and damage within and downstream of the La Brea Fire scar.  The biggest casualty of the fire and rain was La Brea Road and La Brea Canyon Road, which were popular high-clearance vehicle roads used to access the campgrounds and trailheads along La Brea Creek.  The La Brea Roads crisscrossed the creek many many times and the storm waters essentially wiped the roads off the map at each of these crossings and along many of the lower benches which the road followed.  In response to the damage, vehicle access to the La Brea area has been closed since the La Brea Fire (2009) while the Forest Service determines how best to proceed.

Since that time the Forest Service has been working to develop a restoration plan for the La Brea closure area.  They’ve organized field events to show the damage along La Brea and also reached out for public comment on how we believe the FS should manage this area.  The end result of this many year process is that the FS is recommending a proposed action for the La Brea Area which would essentially close the La Brea Road to motorized access while creating improved access to the area for non-motorized recreation.  Please read the fine-print here and below is a quick outline of the proposed actions (seeing attached map might help):

  • Reopen La Brea Canyon Road coming from Miranda Pine down as far as Wagon Flat Campground.  La Brea Canyon Road would then be closed to motorized travel at Wagon Flat both downstream along La Brea and also up towards Lazy Camp.  Wagon Flat Campground would get a makeover including six campsites, a new toilet and the establishment of a trailhead used to access Lazy and the lower La Brea area.
  • Kerry Canyon Motorcycle Trail would be converted to non-motorized.  The portion of road between Wagon Flat and Lazy would be converted to non-motorized single track and become part of the Kerry Canyon Trail.
  • Colson Canyon Road will be reopened down to the first crossing of La Brea Creek where a new trailhead will be established for accessing the lower portions of La Brea Creek.  La Brea Road will be closed to motorized travel from the new trailhead at the bottom of Rattlesnake Canyon both upstream towards Wagon Flat and downstream towards Barrel Spring Campground.
  • In addition there will be quite a few changes to some of the nearby campgrounds:
    • Colson Campground, Alejandro Camp, Kerry Camp, Bear Camp and Lazy Campground will be decommissioned with their camp amenities removed where possible.
    • Barrel Spring Campground would be reclassified as a primitive campsite since it would no longer be accessible by motorized travel.

We realize this is a lot to digest, especially if you are not familiar with the area or this proposal.  The Forest Service is accepting comments on this proposal through August 20.  You can comment here at this link.  Let your voice be heard!

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It’s another Los Padres sunset, Starin’ slowly ‘cross the sky, said goodbye
Sayin’ goodbye to August 15, photo Humphrey
FOREST 411
• We wanted to reach out and congratulate long-time Los Padres volunteer Steve Benoit on being recognized nationwide with the Enduring Service Volunteer of the Year award.  Steve does most of his volunteering with the Ventana Wilderness Alliance but his contributions and dedicatrion have certainly trickled down across the rest of the Los Padres as well.  Congrats Steve, we’re all proud of you!  Now you’ve just got to figure out a way to wear that award on a necklace or perhaps a full-size tattoo is in order…..

• Quick correction from the last email, the only trails which remain technically closed in the Santa Barbara Frontcountry are West Fork Cold Spring and Cold Spring (southern side above Montecito).  Thanks to Montecito Trails Foundation for the correction.

• Unfortunately the Mendocino Complex Fire in Northern California has now surpassed the Thomas Fire as the largest wildfire in California history.  Here’s hoping that the Mendocino Complex Fire retains that title for a long long long time…..

• It seems to happen every year or two but an Oregon woman driving south along the Big Sur Coast swerved to avoid an animal and drove off the cliff and onto the beach some 200+ ft below.  She survived for a week before finally being discovered and rescued.  Amazing story for sure, check it out here.