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Romero Trail Thomas Fire Damage, Before & After, Compliments of Multi-Use Trails Coalition

Hello Friends,

We were fortunate last week to have an early season storm roll across the Los Padres bringing with it precipitation ranging from around a tenth of an inch in the inland areas to over an inch along the coastal mountains.  That’s a great start for the season and if nothing else should bring some green color to some of our hills soon.  Depending on what happens from here on out we could enjoy a nice long green season, which we haven’t had very much of over the past decade.  Fingers crossed for a nice series of slow and steady storms ahead…….

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Poplar Trail, in Need of a Shave,  photo Aaron Songer, October 2018
BLUFF – POPLAR WORKING VACATION
The LPFA will be hosting our next Working Vacation starting next week from October 19-28.  We’ll be base-camping at the Bluff Administrative Cabin and working down the Poplar Trail in the Dick Smith Wilderness along the upper Indian Creek drainage.  Due to fire related road closures and poor access, the Poplar Trail has become extremely overgrow in recent years with some people calling it the “worst trail in the Santa Barbara Backcountry”.  Our focus over the Working Vacation will be to clear downed trees, remove choked brush and attempt to push the “worst trail” moniker to someplace else.  If you have some free time between the 19th and 28th and are interested in volunteering on the trail we’d love to have your help.  We are asking that people volunteer for at least 4 days.  This is a car-camping style project since we have the luxory of driving the 90-min dirt road in to Bluff Camp.  If you don’t have a dirt road worthy vehicle, don’t worry, we should have plenty of space in other trucks for you to carpool along.  As usual, all food, tools and PPE will be provided for the volunteers.  For more information or to sign up please email project leader Mike Smith at TrailSmith@LPForest.org.  Hope to see you out there…..
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Morning Moment of Truth, How Hot is it Gonna be? photo AQuinn
FOREST 411
• The LPFA will be putting on our 4th Annual Used Gear Sale on Sunday November 4 at Tucker’s Grove in Goleta.  As usual, we’ll have literally hundreds of gently used camping gear supplies, tents and other odds and ends highlighted by dozens of Gossamer Gear backpacks.  If you have any used camping gear you’d like to donate, we’d be happy to take it off your hands in exchange for a donation receipt and a high five.  Proceeds from the sale go to the LPFA Trail Care program.  For more information or to donate your camping gear email: INFO@LPForest.org.

• General hunting season ended a few weeks ago for most of the Los Padres (A Zone South) but general deer season opens this weekend for Zone D13, which covers most of the Mt Pinos Ranger District and a large portion of the Ojai District.  Click here for a map of D13.  D13 opens October 13 and lasts through November 11.

• A coalition of local Southern Los Padres trail organizations, including the LPFA, have combined forces to raise needed funds to restore the trails impacted by the Thomas Fire.  You’ll be hearing A LOT more about the Thomas Fire Trail Fund in the coming weeks/months but we have released a PDF update on the Thomas Fire trail restoration efforts, check it out here.

• Two California Condors have been found dead in recent months as a result of gunshot wounds.  One condor was found near Porterville and the other in Kern County, just outside the Los Padres.  Currently there is a $15,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for these tragic deaths.

• The LPFA will once again be printing 2019 Los Padres calendars just in time for the holidays.  We’re looking for any great photos you might have of the Los Padres that we could include in the calendar.  Email us (INFO@LPForest.org) for more information.

• The Ogilvy Fire was declared 100% contained.  The fire chewed up 172 acres and burned from September 1-4 in the Mono drainage in the Santa Barbara Backcountry.

Sycamore Canyon Road, which is used to access Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur, is closed to the public Monday – Friday lasting through November 30.  The road is currently being repaired after sustaining major damage in the 2016-2017 atmospheric river storms.

• Don’t forget to check HikeLosPadres.com before your next adventure into the Los Padres.  Great place to read about water and trail conditions.  And don’t forget to share your findings when you get back…..

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The Wander-Full Southern Views Across the Chumash

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.