Author: Addison Jerlow

Potrero Trail Volunteer Project

Posted on by Addison Jerlow

Green meadows are calling…

Hello Friends, 

It’s officially green out there. Backcountry season is in full swing and LPFA is kicking off our spring trail working season with a project on the Potrero Trail. For those who joined our work on the western Hurricane Deck last fall, you may remember it to be hot, brown, breezeless and full of face flies. Well not anymore! Right now it’s just about as good as it gets up there.  

LPFA will be leading a backcountry project out of Potrero Camp on the Manzana Trail from March 8th to 10th where we will be brushing our way up the Potrero Trail to the Hurricane Deck Trail. This project is part of a group of upcoming (and past) projects to open up the western portion of the Hurricane Deck Trail. Come help us open up the Deck! 

While we’d love for you to join for the whole project, you’re welcome to come for as long as you can. Sign up via the button below and stay tuned for more info in the days leading up to the project. And if you can’t make this one, check back in for more Manzana-adjacent projects this spring…there will be PLENTY!

Take Me To Potrero!

Winter Volunteer Opportunities

Posted on by Addison Jerlow

Shades of winter in the Dick Smith…

Hello Friends, 

We hope you’re off to a Los Padres-filled start to the New Year and taking advantage of the break in the weather to enjoy the green grass and flowing creeks the year-end storms left behind. And if you need a little encouragement, LPFA is here to offer ample opportunities for you to get your winter nature fix! Join us as we enter a ~somewhat~ dry January and set off into the Forest for some trail maintenance fun while the weather allows. From the Sespe River Trail, to Agua Blanca Creek, to the Santa Ynez Rec Area and back down to Matilija Canyon, we’ve got all your southern Los Padres trail work needs covered. We hope you can make one or even better, all of the volunteer days shown below. See you out there!

VOLUNTEER  TRAIL  WORK

Jan 11-15: Sespe River Trail

Join us in the Sespe Wilderness on MLK weekend to tackle the Kerr Spring Slide on the Sespe River Trail! LPFA will be backpacking to Bear Creek Camp on Thursday, January 11th and spending the long weekend fixing a particularly nasty slide between Bear Creek and Kerr Spring. This is an overnight trip and volunteers should come prepared to spend the night in the backcountry with their own gear. Details are still taking shape, click below to sign up!

Jan 21: Wheeler Gorge VC Cleanup

After 11 months of being closed, Highway 33 has finally opened between Matilija Road and Ozena Station, and so has our beloved Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center! Join us Sunday, January 21st from 10am – 2pm for coffee and a cleanup at the Center. Family and friends encouraged. Projects will include raking, sweeping, painting, trash cleanup and more! Email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org to sign up and or to get more info!

Sespe River Trail
Wheeler Cleanup

Jan 26: Matias Connector Trail

LPFA will be beginning work on the Matias Connector Trailthis January. Come join us on Friday, January 26th as we begin brushing the trail open from River Road up toward Matias Potrero. We’ll be meeting at First Crossing at 8am. More details to come, email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org to get on the list!

Feb 11: Super Bowl Trail Day

LPFA will be continuing the tradition of a Super Bowl Trail Project in the Ozena Station area of the Los Padres this February 11th! Exact trail location TBD, but come join us for a day of trail work in Deal Canyon-land and be home in time for the Super Bowl. More details to come, but sign up at the link below!

Matias Connector
Super Bowl Bash

Ongoing: Agua Blanca/Potholes

Sign up to join ongoing efforts to restore the Agua Blanca Trail within the Sespe Wilderness. Led by Alan Coles, volunteers will be meeting at Lake Piru and heading up the Agua Blanca clearing brush and downed trees. If you are interested in helping or learning more, please sign up and we’ll keep you posted. Click below……

Ongoing: Matilija Trail

Led by another legendary local trail steward named Peter Wilder, the LPFA has continued to work the Matilija Trail on most Thursdays and Saturdays since August. However, there is still much to do! If you are interested in helping or learning more, please sign up and we’ll keep you posted. Click below……

Agua Blanca
Matilija

Winter sunsets just hit different. From up on Mt Pinos.

2024 Los Padres Calendar – Call for Photos

Posted on by Addison Jerlow

Ready or not, 2024 is right around the corner…(!) In order to help decorate your office, kitchen or gear nook, the LPFA will once again be producing a Los Padres wall calendar for the upcoming year. The 2024 Los Padres wall calendar will continue to feature photos of many of the amazing animals, vistas, plants, sunsets, mountains, trails, waterfalls, trees, canyons, and potreros we love from across the Los Padres Forest. The calendars will be 17×11″, printed on high quality stock and available to order on our website. We are expecting to print and ship calendars in early December 2023. Pre-order your 2024 Los Padres calendar here! All proceeds will go to the LPFA Trail Care Program.

PHOTOS NEEDED!

We are looking for photo submissions of your best, high-quality shots from across the Los Padres, preferably from the past 12 months. The only theme is that the photos were taken in/of the Los Padres Forest. Please, limit your submissions to 15 photos! The last day to submit a photo is Friday, November 3rd, 2023. If we use your photo(s) in the calendar, we’ll of course credit you and send you a complimentary calendar to grace your office and amaze your friends – “wait, that’s the Los Padres!?” Be ready for that astonished response.

If you’d like to send in a photo or if you have any questions please email us at INFO@LPForest.org.

Thanks everyone and we hope to see some of your incredible Los Padres photos soon…..

Thomas Fire Trail Damage

Posted on by Addison Jerlow

Thomas Fire Perimeter as of December 22, 2017

• 272,800 Acres Burned (12.22.17)

• 34 Los Padres System Trails Damaged

• 52 Recreational Trails & Roads Damaged

• 127 Miles of Trails Damaged (approximate)

• 100 Miles of FS Recreational Roads Damaged (approximate)

• 24 Forest Service Campsites Damaged

— • — • —

The Thomas Fire started December 4 near Santa Paula and spent the next three weeks raging across Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.  Thomas has been a horrible fire.  The Los Padres is no stranger to wildfires and Thomas has literally broken all the records with regards to acreage burned, damage caused, overall destruction and impact to the communities.  This fire has been a nightmare and even after the flames are extinguished and Thomas is fully contained, we will still be dealing with that nightmare due to fire-related storm damage.  Thomas will continue haunting us in one form or another for many years to come…..

In addition to the horrible lose of homes and personal property; the Thomas Fire has destroyed so much of the Los Padres Forest including 24 campsites and over 200 miles of trails and Forest Service recreational roads.  It’s overwhelming to think that all the frontcountry trails from Santa Paula to Santa Barbara were burned.  This includes all of Ojai, Nordhoff Ridge, Matilija, Rose Valley, Franklin Trail, Jameson Lake watershed and all the Montecito trails east of Gibraltar Road.  Right now it’s hard to grasp the magnitude of work needed to restore these trails but don’t worry, the chaparral will grow back and along with it the need to get boots on the ground and start pushing dirt and clearing downed trees.

From the onset of the Thomas Fire the LPFA has been involved in helping the forest however we can.  We assisted the fire fighting effort by providing crews with intel updates on road and trail conditions.  We’ve helped inform the public as best we can and now that the flames are dying down we’re getting ready to turn our focus towards restoring the damaged trails.  The first step will be surveying the 34 FS system trails to ascertain the extent of the damage and provide that information to the FS to help with their management of the land.  The process of surveying the trails will occur repeatedly throughout the winter and spring depending on our storm season.  After each survey, that information will be passed to the FS as well as the public (www.HikeLosPadres.com).  Depending on the trail damage and how the FS manages the Thomas Closure, we’ll get to work partnering with as many trail groups as we can to raise money, organize volunteers and get out onto the trail to swing Pulaskis and chain saw downed trees from the trail corridor.

It’s going to be a bit of a shock as we get back onto our familiar trails and realize that we don’t recognize them anymore.  That shock will be followed by a feeling of being overwhelmed at just how much work is needed to restore the trails.  We’ve been through this before with previous fires like Day, Zaca and Jesusita.  It may take a while but together with the Forest Service and partnering trail organizations we’ll get the trails back on the ground and feet/tires/hooves back on the trails.

If you’d like to help you can donate to the LPFA and note that you’d like your donation to go to Thomas Fire Trail Fund.  You can also donate to other trail organizations and of course get ready for lots of volunteer help needed over the coming months…..  Stay tuned and thanks for your help.

Thomas Fire tearing up Romero Canyon, photo USFS