Santa Cruz Trail – Page 3 – Los Padres Forest Association

LPFA Transverse – Spring Volunteer Season

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Bryan Conant

Frosty Madulce, March 2015

Madulce

Hello Everyone,

Most of the Forest is experiencing cool, cloudy and hopefully rainy conditions today. That is going to change. By this weekend we are looking at potentially record setting heat across most of the Central Coast. And next week….. who knows. That’s part of the beauty of Spring. If you don’t like the weather, wait a day and you’ll get something different. Hope you’re finding some time on the trails and if you have any nice photos and you want to share, please send our way.

We’ve had quite a few questions of late asking for volunteer opportunities. We’ve outlined a few below. If you’d like us to mention any of your upcoming events, please send our way and we’d be happy to share.

Little Pine along the Santa Cruz Trail

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

WEST CUESTA RIDGE TRASH CLEANUP
San Luis Obispo
March 14, 9am
The illegal shooting range off West Cuesta Ridge in SLO has become quite a mess. A combination of LPNF, LPFA, CCCMB and LPFW forces are meeting this Saturday (3/14) at 9am to help clean up the mess. See the attached CCCMB map and Forest Press Release for more details. Hope to see you there……….

POTHOLE TRAIL BRUSHING PROJECT
Ventura
March 14
The Ojai Ranger District is having the last in a series of trail projects along the Pothole Trail outside of Lake Piru. The project is most likely full but if you are dieing to work a remote backcountry trail this weekend, there might still be some room. Contact Ranger Heidi: handerson@fs.fed.us

SANTA CRUZ TRAIL, LITTLE PINE TRAIL MAINTENANCE
Santa Barbara
March 15, 9am
The SBMTV is hosting a trail project along the Little Pine section of the Santa Cruz Trail. The work will mostly be along the southern wall of Little Pine down towards 19 Oaks Camp. For more information contact Chris Orr: chris.orr@sbmtv.org

MISSION PINE TRAIL SAWYER WORK
Santa Barbara
March 27 – 29
The LPFA will be continuing work along the Mission Pine Trail in the SB high country. The project will be based out of Mission Pine Spring Camp and will be focused on logging the trees across the trail between Mission Pine Spring and Mission Pine Basin. The project will be stock supported, which means light packs and good food. If interested please contact Curt Cragg: Curt@LPForest.org

FOREST 411

The Los Padres Trail Riders will be presenting a free screening of Mule: Living on the Outside. This is a documentary about Mule and his adventures while roaming the western United States. If you haven’t been following this epic journey, it’s pretty cool stuff. Check it out March 19 at the Santa Barbara Human Society.For those of you interested in mud runs or obstacles races, there is a super fun race coming to the Central Coast on March 28. It’s called the Checkpoint Challenge and will be held at Santa Margarita Lake in SLO County. If you’ve ever been curious about this, check out their website and watch the promotional video. Looks like a lot of fun. Registration is open now, charge on!WILDFLOWERS! It’s wildflower season and Helen Tarbet of the Santa Lucia Ranger District has released her first Figueroa Wildflower Update of the season. See attached. If you’ve not taken the pilgrimage to Fig Mtn to see the flowers, you have to…… It’s incredible when timed right.

The 11th Annual Wheeler Gorge Open House is schedule for April 11. This year promises to be the best Open House yet as we’re focusing the event on recreation as well as education. You’ll hear much more about this in the coming weeks but be sure to put this on your calendar. April 11 – ALL DAY!

Piedra Blanca – Gene Marshall Trail, Mount Pinos Ranger District

So Many Trails, Lets Get To It!

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Bryan Conant

Greetings Trail Users,

I hope you are having a great week and enjoying the interesting spring-like weather we’ve been experiencing. Today’s message is a bit different than usual. I’m not not providing updates or announcing projects but rather asking for your help. The LPFA has a full slate of trail projects scheduled for the Spring and early Summer and WE NEED YOUR HELP! We have trail projects in the works ranging from 10-day Working Vacations along the Santa Cruz Trail to 1-day projects down the Cold Spring Trail. All these projects take time and money. The LPFA works hard to organize, schedule and complete the work that keeps our trails open. At the same time we love to provide our trail volunteers with the necessary great food, sharp tools and safety equipment that keep them coming back for more and heading home with smiles on their faces (albeit with sore backs). I’m reaching out asking for your support as we get started on the busiest and most ambitious season of trail projects and Forest support in the history of the LPFA. Become a LPFA member and donate to help our trail projects. Listed at the bottom of this email is a quick list of projects we have in the works for the next few months. I always say that every little bit of trail work helps, and similarly all the support we can get helps just as much. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Click the image below and become a LPFA supporter.

Thanks and enjoy your weekend on the trail,

Bryan

Hurricane Deck: Schoolhouse towards Potrero Canyon
Alamar Hill Trail: Indian Creek up to Loma Pelona
Santa Cruz Trail: Little Pine to Santa Cruz Station
Santa Cruz Trail: Kellogg Camp to Mission Pine Basin
Mission Pine Trail: McKinley Saddle to Mission Pine Basin
Cold Spring Trail: Mono to the Emerald Pools
Gene Marshall/Piedra Blanca: Reyes Trailhead to Haddock Camp
Ranger Peak Trail: Shooting Range towards Peak
Franklin Trail: Jameson Lake up towards East Camino Cielo
Blue Canyon Trail: Forbush to Escondido Trailhead
Upper Sisquoc: TBD (trail report coming soon)
Alamar Trail: Alamar Saddle towards Bill Faris
Madulce Trail: Buckhorn Rd down to Madulce Camp

LPFA Transverse – HOTEMBER

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Bryan Conant

Whoa, has it been hot! September is usually one of the hottest months across the Los Padres and 2014 is no different. Most of the backcountry has been baking and taking the remaining water with it. We’ve been getting reports of places drying up that we didn’t think was possible. Reports of the Carmel River drying up, Upper Indian Creek dry and everything else at all-time low levels. There was a backpacker last week in the Sespe that had to be airlifted out due to heat stroke and dehydration. If you are heading to the mountains and are unsure if there will be water, it’s best to be on the safe side and plan on there being no water – bring every drop you might need. And of course, before you head out, contact your local Forest Service and ask them for any recent reports. You can always ask us as well and we’ll see if we can dig anything up.

Now all that being said, the forecast is changing and temperatures will be going down over the next few days and into next week. And don’t look now, the northern reaches of the Los Padres even have some rain in the forecast.

NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY

September 27 is National Public Lands Day (NPLD). NPLD is the single greatest day across the United States for volunteerism and the Los Padres is no exception. There are a series of projects scattered across the forest including trail work, invasive plant removal, sign installation, trash cleanup and Visitor Center maintenance. We put together a webmap to help highlight all the projects. Check it out:

http://bit.ly/1mfyU6j

Hope to see you out there somewhere and if you have a project you’d like us to include on the map, let us know.

Devils Gateway, Agua Blanca – September 2014

W O R K I N G V A C A T I O N

Each year the LPFA hosts a larger-than-normal trail project that we call a Working Vacation. The Working Vacations usually involve a cook, stock support and an ideal location for volunteers to work the trail while at the same time feel a little more pampered than a usual trail project. This year we’ve been asked to support the Ojai Ranger District by hosting a Working Vacation on the Potholes Trail outside of Lake Piru. The Potholes Trail also happens to be a key component of the Condor Trail. We scouted the trail a few weeks ago and the project is taking shape for sometime in November with Log Cabin Camp along the Agua Blanca being the basecamp. Details to come in the next weeks. If you are interested in hearing more, please let us know and we’ll get you on the list: info@LPForest.org

S A N T A C R U Z S C R E E

For those of you who have hiked the Santa Cruz Trail from Upper Oso up towards Little Pine, no doubt you remember the scree slides along the southern face of Little Pine. These slides have been terrorizing trail users and frustrating trail builders since Hector was a pup. Last week the LPFA headed out that way to install two short lengths of rope to aid hikers and bikers as they cross the infamous slides. We’ve been hearing tales of people refusing to go through the slides out of fear. If nothing else, the rope should provide confidence and assurance that the slides are safe to pass. So far we’ve heard compliments from both the hiking and biking community. In the meantime the search for a permanent solution to the scree slides goes on…….