HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2020 – The LPFA is once again producing a Los Padres wall calendar featuring all of the seasons of the Los Padres Forest. Waterfalls! Wildlife! Woods! We have some awesome new shots this year. Thank you to everyone who contributed!
Calendars are (fullsize 17″ x 11″) printed on high quality stock with full color photos and special date information. It’s great as a gift for the LP lover in your life or for yourself to help inspire your next Los Padres adventure.
Each calendar is $15.00 + tax, shipping is included. Any proceeds will go to the LPFA Trail Care Program. You can purchase the calendars here:
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that ____ mountain.” – Jack Kerouac Black Canyon of the Los Padres, November 2019, photo M. Wallace
Hello Friends,
The big forest news this past week was the Forest Service announcing that the Los Padres is going into Extreme Fire Danger restrictions until at least December 31, 2019. We’ve all seen the recent devastating wildfires across California. The raised restrictions are intended to help prevent similar wildfires here in the Los Padres. Under Extreme Fire Danger restrictions:
No camp stoves are permitted outside of the Designated Campfire Use Sites, meaning no camp stoves in the backcountry.
No smoking outside of a Designated Campfire Use Site or inside an enclosed vehicle or building.
That being said, current conditions across the Los Padres are
prime for hiking, exploring, riding, backpacking and/or
wandering. While the idea of camping without a fire or
backpacking without a stove might sound unpleasant, give it a
shot and you might end up liking the weight savings, extra
sleep or simplicity that “cold camping” provides. There’s an
old saying that challenges are opportunities for improvement
or when life gives you lemons make lemonade. With that in
mind, here are a few tips you can try in order to turn your
fire’less camping into a safe, fun and memorable camping
experience:
Much much more information online as well, have at it….
The weather has been great, there’s still good water in the usual good water places and remember that HikeLosPadres.com has lots of current camp and trail condition reports to help with your trip planning. Regardless of fire or stove, we hope you find some time over the coming weeks to visit your favorite trail, check out that hidden canyon you’ve always wanted explore or grab a friend and seek out those fall Los Padres colors.
— • — • — • —
2020 LOS PADRES CALENDAR
The LPFA will once again publish a wall calendar for 2020 featuring the vistas, mountains, waterfalls and plants/animals we love from across the Los Padres. This will be our 8th year organizing LP calendars and we are looking for photos from you to include within the calendar. The calendars should print in early December and be ready in time for the holidays. If we use one of your photos, we’ll of course credit you within the calendar and also send you a calendar to hang up in your kitchen, gear nook or office. The calendars will be available online as well as at your local LP Ranger Station or Visitor Center.
If you have a photo you’d like to submit, please email INFO@LPForest.org or you can check the link below for more information. Thanks in advance and looking forward to hearing from some of you soon…..
Grapevine Sunrise & Moonset, LPFA Working Vacation, October 2019
FOREST 411
• Over the past month sections of the following Los Padres trails have been maintained by the Forest Service or your friendly neighborhood trail group: Madulce Peak Trail, Big Pine Spring Camp Trail, Deal Connector, Rancho Nuevo Trail, Matilija Falls Trail, Pine Ridge Trail, Arroyo Burro Trail, Santa Cruz Trail, Gridley Trail, Camuesa Connector Trail, Cold Spring Trail, Hot Springs Trail, Romero Trail, San Ysidro Trail, Baron Trail, Fishbowls Trail, Jesusita Trail, Tunnel Trail, Cedar Creek Trail, Grapevine Trail, Sisquoc Trail, Big Cone Spruce Trail and Matilija Trail.
• As we approach the rainy season expect to see some of the gates across the Los Padres swing shut due to the seasonal gate closure regulations. We’ve not heard of any closures as of yet but all the Ojai area gates will close by December 15 and the other gates should shut as storms begin approach. If you’re heading out to a trailhead and you’re unsure if the gate might be open or closed, we strongly suggest contacting the local Ranger District before you head out. We’ll keep you posted as gates start to shut.
• For those of you who hike the far Southern Los Padres or plan on doing the Condor Trail, we’ve heard a rumor that the Pothole and Agua Blanca Trailhead will be moving before the end of the year from the Lake Piru Campground to right next to the start of the Pothole Trail. This will mean that the public will be able to drive all the way to the start of the Pothole Trail rather than having to walk miles along the paved Piru Lake Road. The plan to move the trailhead has been in the works for a few years now but it’s looking like it might actually happen by late 2019. We’ll keep everyone posted on this as well. This will be terrific……
• More Condor Trail, it was announced earlier this week that 800 acres of the Trout Creek properties above Arroyo Grande were transferred from the Wilderness Land Trust to the Los Padres Forest. The Trout Creek properties were purchased by the Wilderness Land Trust earlier this year from private sellers and as a result are now protected for public enjoyment. The Condor Trail passes through Trout Creek.
• Speaking of condors, the population of California condors has now surpassed 100 across the central California region.
• CalTrans announced that they will continue the preemptive closure of Hwy 1 during large storm events for the 2019-2020 winter season. The closures will be south of Big Sur, keep this in mind if you have plans to visit the area over the winter months.
• Speaking of Big Sur, the Ventana Wilderness Alliance has been working hard to reopen the Los Padres portion of the famed Pine Ridge Trail. They have trail crews scheduled to work the trail for much of the fall and again starting back up next spring. Three cheers – hip hip hooray for VWA! In the meantime we want to remind everyone that the Pine Ridge Trail remains closed to the public due to dangerous trail conditions. If all goes according to plan, the PRT should reopen sometime in the next year or two. We’ll keep you posted…..
• And speaking of awesome people doing awesome things for our trails, the 5th Annual Turkey Trot fundraiser for the Franklin Trail successfully launched earlier this month. The Franklin Turkey Trot is an excellent example of trail lovers finding creative ways to support the trails they love most. Very cool……
• For years and years people have been enjoying the famed mountain biking trails along West Cuesta Ridge in San Luis Obispo. While the trails were in good shape and frequently used, they were never officially part of the Forest Service inventory of System Trails and as such were technically illegal trails. Thanks to the local SLO trail community and the Forest Service working together, the NEPA process has begun to adopt and legalize many of these West Cuesta trails. The Forest Service is accepting comments regarding the West Cuesta Trails through November 24. Click here for more details. This is a terrific example of the FS and the trail community working together towards a mutually beneficial goal. Cheers again!
• The Forest Service issued a forest order on October 22 to close Dry Canyon and Dome Springs Campground in the Mt. Pinos Ranger District due to potential live explosives and artillery. Read more here and closure map here.
Dave Weaver Award Winners (L to R): Mickey McTigue, Jasonn Beckstrand, Otis Calef, Mike Smith. Missing from the photo are Rik Christensen and Bob Burtness Photo Dan Najera
• LPFA President Jasonn Beckstrand was recognized earlier this month as the 2019 winner of the coveted Dave Weaver Wilderness Award. The Dave Weaver Award is named in honor of the late Dave Weaver who helped start the Volunteer Wilderness Ranger Program here in the Los Padres Forest. Dave was a huge advocate for volunteers working with the Forest Service to accomplish mutual goals. Dave’s spirit lives on in so much of what we do across the Los padres and his award is given annually as a lifetime achievement for outstanding Los Padres volunteers. Jasonn is the 6th award winner joining Rik Christensen (2014), Mickey McTigue (2015), Mike Smith (2016), Bob Burtness (2017) and Otis Calef (2018).
— • — • — • —
The Infamous Devil’s Slide, Upper Sisquoc Trail Recently restored by the LPFA Trail Crew and LPFA Volunteers as part of a NFWF Trail Grant, photo J. Morris
HAPPY HOLIDAYS – Ready or not, it’s the holidays time of year again. That of course means parties and presents but it also means that 2020 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. 2020 will be our 5th year producing a Los Padres Calendar and our 8th year of calendars if you go back a few additional years to when we had waterfall only calendars. Anyway, the 2020 version will continue featuring photos of some of the spectacular animals, vistas, plants, sunsets, snow covered mountains, trail pics, waterfalls, ripping rivers, canyons, ocean views, rolling potreros and all the other stuff we love from across the Los Padres Forest. The calendars will be 17×11″, printed on high quality stock and available at Ranger Stations across the Los Padres. We are hoping they will be ready by the first week of December…..
PHOTOS NEEDED
We are looking for photo submissions in case you have a great photo or two of the Los Padres, preferably from the past 12 months. If we use your photo in the calendar we’ll of course credit you and also send you a 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…..
20 years ago today (Oct 11, 1999) the Madulce Cabin was tragically burned to the ground as a result of either an accidental burning or arson (click here for more of the history). The historic Madulce Cabin site is located in the heart of the Santa Barbara Backcountry, within the Dick Smith Wilderness and has a rich history dating back long before the Los Padres was known as the Los Padres. Before going up in flames, the much beloved Madulce Cabin was open to the public for shelter during bad weather or to briefly relive times long gone when forest rangers lived in cabins, stations and lookout towers across the Los Padres. It’s hard to imagine how different the forest must have been back then. Phone lines stretching across the mountains, connecting stations with fire lookouts and horse mounted rangers regularly patrolling the backcountry. Allow yourself to dream of how immaculate the trails must have been back then? Insert dream……. Times have changed, for better or worse, and the idea of phones across the mountains might not sound so good these days but back then it must have been a sight to behold. The Madulce Cabin site remains on the National Register of Historic Places but without the cabin it’s hard to recreate the feeling of what this site must have felt like during its heyday. There was some talk a few years back of trying to rebuild the Madulce Cabin. Local backcountry historians drafted a blueprint of the cabin and had secured private funding to rebuild an exact replica of the Madulce Cabin. Yet the story goes that due to modern Wilderness regulations the Forest Service was not able to permit the rebuilding of the Madulce Cabin. Pros and cons…..
In recent years, Madulce has been the location of quite a few LPFA trail projects and Working Vacations and remains a fantastic place to visit for backpackers or horse/mule packers. The area was mostly burned in the 2007 Zaca Fire but a few mature cedars and pines are still standing next to the cabin site. The horse corral remains along with some other remnants of the cabin era. Times change and perhaps one day a replica of the cabin can be rebuilt at Madulce to once again aid backcountry travelers. Maybe people will again seek refuge from snow storms inside the cabin and wait out the weather next to the wood burning stove. Then again, maybe not. Either way, today we look back at 20 years ago when the Madulce Cabin burned to the ground and along with it a treasured part of Los Padres history. Lets hope that even without the cabin the memory and history will live on at least another 20 years too…..
— • — • — • —
Doe a Deer D13, Summer 2019
D13 DEER SEASON
The general deer hunting season in Zone D13 starts this weekend October 12 and lasts through November 10. Within the Los Padres, D13 covers the Mt Pinos Ranger District east of Hwy 33 and the Ojai District north and east of Sespe Creek. Expect to see a lot more activity within D13 over the next month and in particular this long holiday weekend. If you aren’t planning on hunting, you may want to choose a different location for your LP adventures this weekend and over the coming few weeks. Be safe, tread lightly, remember fire restrictions and good luck……
— • — • — • —
National Public Lands Day Volunteers on Lion Canyon, photo Josephine Liu
FOREST 411
• While wildfire season is now a 12 month endeavor, we’ve got some “fire weather” headed our way over the coming days that include red flag warnings and potential preemptive power outages. Be safe.
• There have been a few smaller wildfires within the Los Padres over the past month including the October 1 Ranch Fire (55 acres) near Pozo and the September 21 Lopez Fire (220 acres) outside of Arroyo Grande. The Lopez Fire was started by an improperly extinguished campfire. Please, even if you are in a designated campfire use site, always remember to properly extinguish your campfire, it’s not worth doing it half ash. Like that? It’s an original. Royalties?
• Last month SLO based super meteorologist John Lindsey scientifically prophesied that “we could see lower than average amounts of rainfall in California this winter“. And so the prediction game begins. In the past we’ve heard weather predictions ranging from acorn droppings to ant activity but Mr. Lindsey is a living legend and a genius when it comes to weather. We’ll see what happens….. What do you predict?
• Over the past month sections of the following Los Padres trails have been maintained by your friendly neighborhood trail groups and the Forest Service: Lion Canyon Trail, Sisquoc Trail, Tunnel Trail, Jesusita Trail, West Fork Cold Spring Trail, Romero Trail, San Ysidro Trail, Franklin Trail, Pine Ridge Trail, Potrero John Trail, Reyes Peak Trail
• Big thanks to volunteers from Southern California Edison who showed up at toasty Dough Flat on a late July Saturday to help clean up the trailhead, paint the bathrooms, install signs and spend a little time clearing the trail up to the Condor Observation Point. Thanks also to United Trail Maintainers of California for providing the trailhead sign and the Forest Service for the support!
What’s the opposite of a power outage? SCE volunteers bringing it!
• Two more steel debris flow nets are being installed above Montecito on San Ysidro and Buena Vista creeks. These two new nets will bring the total nets installed to six. Note that the information on the link is out of date.
• Here’s an feel-good story about some stranded hikers along the Arroyo Seco who were unable to reach the Police and cleverly used a message in bottle in order to get help.
• The Los Padres Forest and Ventana Wilderness Alliance will be moving forward with a trail reroute along the Pine Ridge Trail. The PRT was damaged during the 2016 Soberanes Fire and subsequent 2017 storms to the extent that a reroute is needed near Barlow Camp. No date has been set as to when the trail may reopen but hopefully sometime within the next year. Stay tuned…..
• Super Volunteers, friends of the LPFA and Gossamer Gear ambassadors Rik and Paul were featured this past month in a Gossamer Gear profile series, click link above. We know Rik and Paul really well, they are the main driving force behind so much good stuff across the forest including the LPFA Used Gear Sale, but it’s always cool seeing their influence extend beyond the Los Padres. Great work guys!
• LPFA supporter and friend of the forest Kevin Cody has started a Facebook fundraiser on behalf of the LPFA. We’ve known Kevin for many years and over that time he’s become somewhat famous for his dedication to keeping the forest litter free. In particular he has a hatred of stray helium balloons. It is not uncommon to be running or hiking with Kevin and then all of a sudden see him swimming through brush or scaling hillsides to retrieve that stray helium balloon that happened to plunge down in the Los Padres. We’re willing to bet that no one has recovered more lost helium balloons than Kevin has. Setting a great example Kevin and thanks for the additional support. Happy Birthday! If you’d like to support Kevin’s fundraiser, click here.
Not safe to come out just yet, A-Zone South ends September 22, photo Humphrey
Howdy Friends,
It may not feel like it, especially right now with our recent stack of hot days but there is a subtle change occurring in the forest right now indicating that FALL IS COMING. The days are certainly shorter, the nights a little cooler and we’re even seeing some colors changing in select plants and locations. It’s a little early still but even the first hint of Fall is an exciting time here in the Los Padres. For many, Fall means the start of the Los Padres backcountry season. Time to say goodbye to the Sierras and hello to planning your next LP adventure. For the LPFA, Fall also means ramping up our volunteer trail maintenance projects. As usual, we’ve got a full forest-wide list of upcoming trail projects listed at the bottom of this email highlighted by an October Working Vacation at Bluff Cabin maintaining the Grapevine Trail. We’re also partnering with REI and the Thomas Fire Trail Fund to work the Lion Canyon Trail as part of National Public Lands Day. We’ll be kicking off another season of Ojai First Saturday projects in October and for those of you who might be free sooner we’ll be doing trail work on the upper reaches of the Sisquoc Trail this coming weekend. The end of 2019 will also see some trail projects in the SLO backcountry and we are laying the groundwork for another Working Vacation on the Piedra Blanca Trail in the Sespe. Lots of great projects lined up across the Los Padres! We’d love to have you come out this Fall and volunteer on any (or all) of the upcoming trail projects. For more details check the list at the bottom or email us directly: Volunteer@LPForest.org
LA BREA RESTORATION PROJECT DECISION
The Maps will be Changing, La Brea Decision
Ten years ago the La Brea Fire burned almost 90,000 acres in and around the northwest portion of the San Rafael Wilderness. We all know the equation: (fire scarred land) + (lots of rain) = BAD and the big winter storms of 2011 destroyed most of the La Brea Canyon Road, which was a popular dirt road used to connect Colson and Miranda Pine. As a result of the fire and flood damage, the Forest Service closed La Brea Canyon to vehicle use while undertaking a lengthy process of analyzing and determining how to best manage the La Brea area for future use. It became known as the La Brea Restoration Project. Over the past few years the FS formulated a series of four different action alternatives for how they might manage the La Brea area. These actions were repeatedly shared with the public through FS hosted open house meetings as well as multiple rounds of public comment. As expected, there were many different public opinions on how the FS should manage the future of La Brea and after taking all the different sides into consideration the FS indicated that they were going with proposed action alternative 1. Alternative 1 included converting the creek portions of La Brea Canyon Road to non-motorized trail, decommissioning 5 campgrounds, converting 1 campground, creating 2 new trailheads and converting Kerry Canyon Trail to non-motorized. On August 16 the FS released their final decision on the La Brea Restoration Project. It matched with what was listed above with one large change, the new decision is calling for the complete decommission of the Kerry Canyon Trail. Among other things, the Kerry Canyon Trail is a key 8-mile section of the Condor Trail and if Kerry was to be decommissioned that would prevent any future trail maintenance along Kerry Canyon. Please click the above links for more information. There is one final 45-day objection period which started August 16. Details and instructions for the objections can be found here on page 10.
FOREST 411
Lions are the king of the jungle. Are they also the king of the Forest?Rugged Lion Canyon, roaring before the September 28th National Public Lands Day project
• Wildfire Updates: Quick update on the larger LP wildfires – MILL FIRE (Monterey): 100% contained, 310 acres and closures remain in effect. – SNAIL FIRE (Mt Pinos): 100% contained, 279 acres
• Speaking of Snail Canyon, the famous bar and grill near Reyes Creek Campground has once again changed management and is now called Camp Scheideck Lodge Bar & Grill. They are now open for business!
• And speaking of potential wildfires, here’s a link to a story about a Big Sur man who is on a mission to stop illegal campfires along the Big Sur Coast. It’s certainly a good mission, lets hope for the best.
• And still speaking of fire potential, the National Science Foundation recently funded an extensive study of the Santa Barbara wind event known as sundowners. Sundowners combined with wildfire is a nasty mix. It will be interesting to follow this study over the coming years.
• The LPFA will once again host a Used Camping Gear Sale on November 3 at Tucker’s Grove Park in Goleta. This is a great opportunity for our members to get super good discounted deals on gently used backpacks (Gossamer Gear is hooking us up again!), tents and other car-camping and backpacking supplies. We are taking donations as well in case you have an old backpack, tent of camping accessory that hasn’t recently seen the light of day. All proceeds go towards our Trail Care Fund and back into the trails you love! For more information about the event or where to donate, email: INFO@LPForest.org
• BLACK BEAR EATING CONDOR!??! That was the headline last week when a Ventana Wildlife Society camera captured a video of a black bear in Big Sur feeding on a calf carcass that was set aside for condors to eat. It was big news since the Big Sur area doesn’t have much of a bear population but the headline claiming that a black bear was eating a condor certainly grabbed a lot of attention.
• The Federal Government filed a lawsuit against Southern California Edison for allegedly allowing the Rey Fire to ignite in August 2016. Read details here.
• According to Ventura County law enforcement officials, 2018 illegal backcountry pot grow operations were down over two-thirds in comparison to 2017. This could be a result of marijuana legalization.
• Electric Bikes (E-Bikes) have grown in popularity over the past decade. The current Forest Service regulations on E-Bikes is that they can be ridden on 1) Roads Open to All Vehicles 2) Trails Open to All Vehicles 3) Trails Open to Vehicles 50″ of Less in Width and 4) Trails Open to Motorcycles Only. So basically E-Bikes can be ridden on public OHV/Moto trails and public FS roads, places where other motorized vehicles can ride only. There are rumblings that the FS stance on E-Bikes might be changing. Last week, the Department of the Interior took a big step towards allowing pedal assist E-Bikes on traditional mountain bike trails within National Parks. This is bound to be a hot topic over the coming years as the FS figures out how to squeeze E-Bikes into an existing user-group or decides to create a new user-group altogether. Stay tuned…..
• We’re in the dog days of summer heat but there were still a few LP trails worked on over the past month or so: Pine Ridge, Sisquoc, Romero, Jesusita, Terrace, Tunnel, Arroyo Burro, Cold Spring, Franklin, Deal, Buena Vista, Reyes Peak, Mission Pine
Big thanks to Goleta based Scout Troop 26 and Logan Beckstrand who worked with the LPFA to complete his Eagle Project installing 21 interpretive markers and a trailhead sign for the Aliso Canyon Interpretive Trail. The previous trail markers and signs were destroyed in the White (2013) and Rey (2016) Fires. Go check it out!
We certainly won’t be winning any lumberjack world championship crosscut speed competitions, but we got it done! Sisquoc Trail, August 2019
HELLO FRIENDS – Tomorrow (August 10) kicks off the most popular hunting season here in the Los Padres, the Zone A South General Deer Season. Zone A South encompasses most of the Los Padres from Monterey down through Ventura County except for Zone D13 which covers the Ventura/Kern Highcountry, click to see map here. There will be a lot of hunter activity across the forest over the coming A Zone weeks, especially during the early weekends of the Season. If you’re out and about you should expect to see hunters at most of the trailheads and along many of the access roads. If you have plans to visit the forest this weekend, be aware of the extra activity and depending on your interests and where you plan on going, you may want to adjust your plans or at the very least wear bright colored clothing. Good idea to leave the antler helmet at home this time around.
Wildfire Season is Here! Mill Fire overview, photo Nic Elmquist
WILDFIRE UPDATE & CLOSURES
The Los Padres had two wildfire scares over the past couple weeks with the Mill Fire (310 acres) along the southern edge of the Ventana Wilderness and the Range Fire (100 acres) off of Happy Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley. Thankfully both fires didn’t blow up and are near 100% containment. The cause of the fires have not been shared. There is a current forest closure as a result of the Mill Fire that includes Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, Mill Creek Trail, Kirk Creek Trail, South Coast and Cone Peak Roads. Thanks to everyone involved in fighting the fires and lets hope for no more wildfire scares.
Bow wow wow! Poodle dog flooding Dry Lakes Ridge, photo Perry Van Houton
FOREST 411
• There have been quite a few trails maintained over the past month or so across the Los Padres by the FS and your local volunteer organizations. Here’s a quick list, remember you can visit HikeLosPadres.com for more information about these wonderful trails: Cold Spring, Marble Peak, Franklin, Matilija Falls, Poplar, Reyes Peak, Rattlesnake Canyon, Romero, Baron, Sisquoc, Terrace Creek, Jesusita
• Earlier this week the Los Padres made the news as a result of a car chase that ended up, then down, along the Sierra Madre Road. The footage of the LP portion of the chase was released a few days ago and is absolutely crazy. Please don’t try this!
• The LP also made the news this week thanks to a two-day search operation for a missing backpacker. The solo backpacker and his faithful dog were attempting the 50-mile Lower Sisquoc Loop in the San Rafael Wilderness when he came down with a sickness on day 1 of his 3 day trip. His family grew concerned when he didn’t make it home at the end of day 3 and contacted Santa Barbara Search and Rescue. The extensive search began at sunrise on day 4 and thankfully the backpacker turned up mid-morning on day 5. The backpacker was dehydrated but otherwise in good health. Thankfully the backpacker had left an itinerary with his family and had taken the time to enter his name into the various trail registers along the route. The combination of register entries and knowing his itinerary aided immensely in developing a search strategy for the lost backpack. Remember that. Alls well that ends well, great work by SAR and yes, the dog came back in one piece as well – probably had the time of his life!
• The trails above Montecito were hit extremely hard due to the Thomas Fire and subsequent January 2018 debris flows. Many groups and volunteers have assisted in the reconstruction of the trails but we wanted to mention one specific group effort working on the lower Cold Spring Trail, specifically building a wall that is now affectionately known as the Don Wall. The Cold Spring Trail was wiped clean after the debris flows and along with it the trailhead on the east side of Mountain Drive. This section of trail had turned into a lumpy cliff face with a 20ft drop into the creek below. It seemed impossible to repair but thanks to nearly two-months of hard work the trail has been fixed and is looking terrific! Many people assisted in this process including: Los Padres National Forest, City of Santa Barbara, SB County, Montecito Trails Foundation, Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers, Multi-Use Trails Coalition, Thomas Fire Trail Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, SLO County Trails, SB County Trails Council, Ventana Wilderness Alliance, the LPFA ans especially Donn & Don. It was really inspiring and fun working with so many people and completing our goal. Thanks everyone…….
• The gate at Cherry Creek Road along upper Highway 33 is now open. Cherry Creek provides access to the upper Matilija Trailhead as well as the upper Ortega Motorcycle Trail.
• Get your party hats on….. Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday is today. Woot woot! Wonder if he will have candles on his cake….??? Happy Birthday Smokey Bear.
I spent some time earlier today writing an entirely too long paragraph which I was hoping would open this LPFA Newsletter. It went on and on about how “alive” the Los Padres is right now and how that’s both good and bad. I got pretty deep, by my standards, looking at this years extreme seasonal plant growth, the impacts that growth is having on our trails and theories as to why we’re experiencing so much “life” this year compared to previous years. I compared this years rainfall totals with earlier years (we had more rain in 2011 & 2017), rambled on about theories as to why there are tens of thousands of oak seedlings covering the lower Sisquoc this year and prophesied about why the bear have been so active. After all that writing, all that research and all that theorizing……. I changed my mind. It’s the start of a beautiful weekend, let’s save the rambling for another time, a Tuesday or Wednesday perhaps. For now, let’s focus on pretty forest pictures and getting out and enjoying your forest. Go for a hike, go for a ride. Explore, bushwhack, swim. We can worry about overgrown trails another time, perhaps next Tuesday or Wednesday.
— • — • — • —
It’s out there…… photo JLiu
FIRE RESTRICTIONS
Effective June 29, the Los Padres Forest raised fire restrictions for the season. You can read all the details at the link below but essentially campfires are permitted only in Designated Campfire Use Sites, think official FS car-campgrounds. Backcountry campfires are prohibited at the moment but camp stoves are still legal across the forest. Again, more details at the link below, learn it:
• There have been quite a few trails maintained over the past month or so across the Los Padres by the FS and your local volunteer organizations. Here’s a quick list, remember you can visit HikeLosPadres.com for more information about these wonderful trails: Aliso Canyon, Arroyo Burro (north), Baron, Cold Spring, Deal, Devils Canyon, Franklin, Manzana, Matilija Falls, McMenemy, Poplar, Rancho Nuevo, Raspberry Spring, Rattlesnake Canyon, Romero, San Ysidro, Santa Barbara Canyon, Sisquoc, Terrace Creek
• We’ve been hearing about a lot of poodle-dog bush sightings in the Ventura County portions of the Thomas Fire. Poodle-dog is a fire-follower with beautiful head-high purple flowers this time of the year. Don’t let the beauty fool you as the plant can cause very similar reactions to that of poison oak. Learn what poodle-dog looks like and do your best to avoid it, but take lots of pictures because they sure are pretty, wouldn’t you say?
A field of poodle-dog on Howard Creek Trail, photo HLP
• The Forest Service has been busy over the past month cleaning up some backcountry pot grow sites. You can read more here and here.
• For those of us interested in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the FS is proposing some revisions to their current NEPA regulations. There are pros and there are cons to potential revisions. If you’d like to learn more or share your thoughts, click the link above. We have until August 12 to provide comments.
Is that ‘June Gloom’, or yet another wave of storms headed our way? Silver Peak Wilderness, photo Toejam
Hello Friends,
It sure seems like every time we’re ready to call an end to our 2018-19 rainy season, another storm or two pops up on the Doppler. It’s not often we get any significant rain in May. Yet this year, on top of all the rain we’ve already had, we made a serious run at the all-time record for rain in the month of May. Even this past week we had some odd early season thunderstorms which caused flash flood warnings across much of the Los Padres. As a whole, the LP is well over our seasonal average rainfall totals with most stations across the forest recording 115-140% of annual rainfall totals. It’s certainly been an exciting year for weather but we all know the heat will be coming soon so until then lets be sure to enjoy all the overcast, dreary, precipitation filled days we can.
Speaking of precipitation and rain delays, the Forest Service has done a good job over the past few weeks of getting most of the seasonal road closures open across the forest. Here’s the latest and greatest on gate closures and openings:
I know many of us have been waiting patiently (some impatiently) for the gates to swing open this year. Now is the time, most of the gates are open and the forest is yours to enjoy responsibly! Many flowers are still blooming, some of the protected hillsides remain green and water is still flowing across most of the drainages. Get out and enjoy your forest and if you come across anything interesting, dangerous, a trail impediment or have any questions please share on HikeLosPadres.com, email us (INFO@LPForest.org) or contact your local district ranger office. Have at it and as always be cautious and safe!
Trail work is ________! Fun? Rewarding? Radical? Necessary? Fill the blank in for yourself during an upcoming NTD trail project LPFA, Thomas Fire Trail photo D Najera
NATIONAL TRAILS DAY 2019
National Trails Day (NTD) is an annual day of trail celebration where thousands of hikers, bikers, riders and trail users across the country donate their time to help protect and maintain the trails they love. While NTD is technically the first Saturday of June, NTD hosted projects usually spill over a few weeks before or after the actual National Trails Day. This year is no different with a few NTD projects still scheduled on both June 8 and June 15, see list below. While it would be great for you to make it to a trail project this month, the essence of National Trails Day is much more than just a singular day each year. Dedicate every month, every week and every day you spend on the trail to the spirit of a NTD event. It can be as easy as picking up a few pieces of trash along the trail, helping clear a downed branch from the trail corridor or simply sharing what you found with your local trail organizations or agencies. And of course, you can always step up your game and try adopting your favorite trail as well. Every bit helps! Hope you can make it to an upcoming trail event near you:
– Speaking of the condor, our local 400+ mile Los Padres thru-hike, the Condor Trail has been seeing some activity this season. There are currently at least three people hiking the CT and another few who have already completed it this year. The CT made an appearance on a recent Backpacker Radio podcast and rumor has it that a guide book is in the works as well. Stay tuned, we’re certain to be hearing more about the Condor Trail in the years to come….
– And along those lines, Piper (Diane) from Santa Barbara successfully connected the Los Padres with the PCT backpacking from NIRA to Agua Dulce. This was Piper’s second time completing this epic hike. You can follow her journey through a series of YouTube videos she put together. Check it out…..
– The Partnership for Resilient Communities steel ring net project above Montecito is in full swing. There are 6 nets currently being installed across West Fork Cold Spring, East Fold Cold Spring, Buena Vista and San Ysidro canyons. If you’re in the neighborhood, go check them out, they are not hard to spot.
East Fork Cold Spring ring net, lying in wait…..
– From sediment capture to sediment flow, the San Clemente Dam was removed in 2015 along the Carmel River in large part to help restore local steelhead populations. Reports this spring are showing that steelhead numbers along the Carmel are way up from previous years. You can read about it here and here. This is potentially a good sign of things to come for other failing Los Padres area dams including the Los Padres Dam and the Matilija Dam.
– The Los Padres National Forest is seeking public comment on a recently proposed forest-wide Invasive Plant Treatment Program. Public comment can be submitted to the Forest Service before either June 19 or June 27 (conflicting reports). You can read much more on this proposal here.
– This is pretty cool, the Forest Fire Lookout Association in conjunction with the Los Padres National Forest will be training volunteers to spot smoke from the Chews Ridge Lookout tower (36.312201, -121.568204) in Monterey County. If interested, please see flier. This is a neat concept for a few different reasons. Can you think of any other lookout towers across the Los Padres that would be worthwhile to reactivate and setup similar volunteer programs? Lets do it!
– Do you shop at Amazon? If so, please shop through the AmazonSmile program and choose the LPFA as your charitable organization. Amazon will donate 0.5% of all eligible purchased back to the LPFA. It adds up quick and goes right back towards the forest and trails you love! You can start shopping right now by clicking this link or choosing the Los Padres Forest Association within the AmazonSmile program. Thanks in advance and happy shopping!
Otis, Susie, Beth, Kathleen and String Packing the May 2019 Upper Sisquoc Working Vacation, Judell Trail, photo Beckstrand
No more waiting, LP Season 2019 is on now! No White Walkers here, just Blue Canyon, photo D Haan
Hello Friends,
We hope this email finds you with a little Los Padres dirt under your fingernails, perhaps a very small splotch of poison oak on the back of your leg, sore legs from hammering up that big trail climb last weekend and a huge smile thinking about what was and what is yet to come in your Los Padres explorations. This is the prime time of the year for hiking, riding, camping and/or swimming. There are lots of opportunities near and far to enjoy the Los Padres and to give back to the forest in the process. You can explore local Meetup groups for close-by trail addicts looking for like-minded friends to share the trails with. Study your LP maps or HikeLosPadres.com for new trails or camps to visit. And for those who want to give back to the trails you love, join the LPFA on one of our upcoming volunteer projects. Have at it, get-out get-out wherever you are and take advantage of the prime season here in the Los Padres. Oh, and by the way, we’d love to see any photos you take while you’re out in the forest. Just as you probably (hopefully) like to get these updates, we also love to see what you’re up to as well. Living vicariously……
Nathan Wickstrum for the win! And he won the contest too.
WHEELER GORGE BROCHURE COVER CONTEST
A few months ago we ran a contest looking for great photos of the Hwy 33 / Ojai Backcountry region of the Los Padres Forest to be used on the cover of the 2019 Wheeler Gorge event brochure. We received over 100 incredible photo entries from across the Ojai Ranger District featuring sunsets, flowers, snow capped mountains, waterfalls, majestic trees, vistas and people enjoying the forest. It was a hard choice but we ended up choosing this fantastic layout of waterfalls taken by Nathan Wickstrum. Thank you everyone who participated and Nathan, we’ll be in touch to discuss your prize! Woot woot…..
LPFA volunteers went Dothraki clearing brush on the Tinta Trail. Yes, that was and is the trail. Up next is fixing the ruts and water damage……..
FOREST 411
– The LPFA will be co-hosting a Trivia Night TONIGHT with REI at Night Lizard Brewing in Santa Barbara. If you enjoy the outdoors, find yourself at REI regularly, dig trivia nights or enjoy beer; we expect to see you tonight at 7pm. Bring your A Game…….
– We’ve been busy restoring many of the trails you love and some that you might learn to love. Over the past month we’ve led trail projects on the Aliso Trail, Santa Barbara Canyon Trail, Alamar Trail, Tinta Trail, Mono-Alamar Trail, Poplar Trail, Alamar Hill Trail, Sisquoc Trail, Judell Trail, Cold Spring Trail, Matilija Falls Trail, Gridley Trail, Manzana Trail, Lost Valley Trail, Hurricane Deck Trail and Big Cone Spruce Trail. We’ve also partnered with Santa Barbara County Trails Council to help them on the Franklin Trail and Baron Trail, partnered with Montecito Trails Foundation to work on the Wiman Trail, Hot Springs Connector Trail, West Fork Cold Spring Trail and Old Pueblo Trail and partnered with SLOPOST to help on the Trout Creek Trail and Seller’s Potrero Trail. Tis the season for trail work, it’s been a busy month! Big thanks to all our partners, The Forest Service, our LPFA Trail Crew and especially all the volunteers who have poured their heart and souls into helping the trails we love! THANK YOU……
– The Amgen Tour of California will be passing through the Los Padres in a few weeks. Stage 4 starts at Laguna Seca on May 15 and follows Highway 1 along the Big Sur Coast before ending 137 miles later at Morro Bay. Should be spectacular! The next day on May 16, stage 5 covers 136 miles from Pismo Beach to Ventura passing the Los Padres through Hwy 154 in Santa Barbara.
– The Los Padres National Forest is proposing to reroute the Pine Ridge Trail around a damaged section of trail near Barlow Flat Camp. The Pine Ridge Trail is one of the most heavily used trails in the Los Padres and has been closed since July 2016 due to the Soberanes Fire and subsequent damage to the trail. The FS is looking for comments on the proposed reroute. Please check this link for more details and let your voice be heard.
– The Los Padres’ very own Helen Tarbet has released her latest Figueroa Mountain Wildflower update for April 18. This is a fantastic resource for knowing where and what flowers are out and about.
– Many of the roads around the forest remain damaged and closed after this winters heavy rains, see photo below. The FS is working to repair the roads and restore trailhead access. Many of the seasonal gate closures are expected to be reopened on May 1. Please be patient with the FS but at the same time give them a call and let them know you want and need the roads reopened as soon as possible.
– Even with the above average rain season we’ve enjoyed, the Los Padres is preparing for another potentially big fire season ahead. Due in part to the wet winter, the grasses around the Los Padres have grown quite high and much of that grass is starting to dry out. We’ve already seen a few smaller grass fires around the Central Coast. In anticipation of the upcoming fire season, Cal Fire has been adding staff and fire engines as well as awarding grants to areas such as Big Sur and the Santa Barbara Frontcountry to tackle local fire prevention projects.
– In response to a 2018 lawsuit, an agreement was reached last week between the Forest Service and ForestWatch to extend the temporary ban on un-managed target shooting across the Los Padres National Forest until January 2020. This does not impact the regular legal hunting seasons and target shooting remains legal at both the Ojai Valley Gun Club in Rose Valley and Winchester Gun Club on West Camino Cielo.
– With the assistance of the VWA, Arroyo Seco Gorge has been selected as a Leave No Trace Hot Spot for 2019 and will be visited by LNT staff August 19-26. As part of a LNT Hotspot program, LNT will send out a small team of LNT experts who will stay at Arroyo Seco for the week and conduct public outreach and lead community events designed to teach and preach more sustainable practices for the Arroyo Seco Gorge. Good stuff!
– Lets get back to the trails, shall we? While last month was certainly busy, we’ve got more trail restoration on tap for the coming month including work on the Tequepis Trail, Matilija Trail, Three Peaks Trail, Cold Spring Trail, Willow Spring Trail, Manzana Trail, Deal Trail, Sisquoc Trail, Alamar Trail, Poplar Trail, Grapevine Trail and Matilija Falls Trail. Busy busy busy…… If you’d like to help with any of these trail projects, we’d love the support either through volunteer help or donations. Email Volunteer@LPForest.org or make a donation to the LPFA Trail Care program today!
That’s the road, and a legit reason why Grade Valley remains closed, photo Upper Ojai SAR
Simply put, it’s about as good as it gets right now across the Los Padres. The _______ is amazing this season! We’ve not seen _______ like this for years and the _______ Trail is spectacular right now, never been better. And have you seen the _______ on _______ Peak? Wow…. Stunning.
We’ll leave it at that……. you should have no problem filling in the blanks. That’s your homework, uh, we mean forestwork! The rest of this email will focus on upcoming volunteer projects and some updates from across the Los Padres. We do hope you’re finding time to enjoy the trails and forest responsibly, be sure to check HikeLosPadres for the most recent trail and camp information and if you have any questions or need information, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We’ll try our best to get the answers you might need. Let’s get to it…..
REI Giving Back and Walking the Walk, photo LPFA
TRAIL HELP NEEDED
As usual, all the upcoming forest events and volunteer trail projects are listed at the bottom of this email but we wanted to call out a few in particular that we are looking forward to:
April 12-14: TINTA TRAIL The Tinta Trail is a seldom used trail set just off the northeastern edge of the Dick Smith Wilderness. Tinta, which is part of the Condor Trail, is designated as a motorcycle trail but is also a great option for mountain bikes as well as hikers. Tinta has become incredibly overgrown over the past few years to the point where it’s become really hard to ride. Not for long…. We’ll be working/camping for 3 days on April 12-14 working on brushing the Tinta Trail from Upper Tinta Camp down beyond Brubaker Canyon. Since this is non-wilderness we’ll have the benefit of using power tools and are hoping to get some local motorcyclists to help support the project by riding in tools, supplies and food for the volunteers. It should be a different yet really fun project. If you’d like to help out, please let us know: Volunteer@LPForest.org
April 26-28: THREE PEAKS TRAIL Do you have a favorite trail that needs maintenance? If so, this is a good model to follow. Los Padres volunteer extraordinaire Steve Cypher had a similar feeling for the Dutra area of the Silver Peak Wilderness and decided to do something about it. Partnering with the FS, VWA and LPFA, Steve has now led multiple trail projects in and around Dutra Flats focused on clearing the trails. This is the 3rd or 4th such project and together with volunteers Steve is successfully reopening this area. Talk about awesome. It would be great if others were able to follow in Steve’s footprints. If you’re interested in learning more about adopting a trail or working Three Peaks, click this link and sign up to help April 26-28.
May & June: SISQUOC WORKING VACATIONS If you don’t know about the famous LPFA Working Vacations, this might be the year for you to sign up and find out. The LPFA will be hosting two Working Vacations this year focused on restoring the Sisquoc Trail within the San Rafael Wilderness. The first is May 4-12 along the Upper Sisquoc and the second is June 1-9 on the Lower Sisquoc. Both projects will be stock supported with all food provided for volunteers. While we’ll be out there for 10 days in total, there are shorter stints available in case you can’t spend the whole time out there. This is a great year for these projects as the Sisquoc should be flowing nicely well into the summer season. Let us know if you have any questions and we’d love to see you out there with us later this spring. Volunteer@LPForest.org
Cherry Garcia, Looking Beautiful in Green
FOREST 411
– West Fork Cold Spring Trail above Montecito has reopened after being closed for a few months due to a landslide taking out a large portion of the trail.
– In nearby news, the debris-flow ring nets above Montecito have been approved and will be installed in the coming weeks. There will be certain trail closures during the installation of the nets and we’ll do our best to share that with you through social media.
– And related to that, late last month the cause of the Thomas Fire was released as fire investigators determined that “power lines slapping together in high winds” was the cause of the Thomas Fire ignition.
– There have been a few rescues across the Los Padres over the past month related to lost or injured trail users. Be sure to share your trip itineraries with friends or family before you venture into the forest and use common sense while in the forest. Be safe.
– The Monterey Ranger District continues to struggle with closures and lack of forest access. The lack of access has been leading to overcrowding within the few locations that are open. You can read more in a recent article from the Monterey County Weekly.
– The Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center will once again be hosting weekly Saturday educational programs designed for nature lovers of all ages. Wheeler will be kicking off the season with the Annual Wheeler Open House on Saturday April 27. Come on out, we hope to see you on the 27th and throughout the summer.
– Maybe you’ve heard, but the flowers aren’t bad right now either. Los Padres Forest’s own Helen Tarbet is once again providing regular flower updates for those brave enough to venture into the Figueroa Mtn area. Her most recent excellent update is attached with this email. Please tread lightly.
Charlie Robinson, in his Happy Place!
And last but certainly not least, we wanted to congratulate our good friend Charlie Robinson on his recent retirement from the Forest Service. Charlie served as the Ojai District Recreation Officer for over 27 years and was with the Forest Service for 43 years. We wish Charlie all the best as he skis into whiter pastures and thank him for all his help over the years. 27 years of institutional knowledge will be hard to lose. Fortunately, some of us have his cell number….. You can run Charlie, but you can’t hide….. ha ha. Thank you Charlie!
