Thursday, April 29, 2010

Questions about Trail Work

Two comments/questions posted to the blog.  Any info?

"Does anyone know who has been working on the El Prieto trail? The mugwort and horehound is all ripped up."


"The trail work that was done butchered about 10 Humboldt lillies. I found them today either uprooted or topped. I am really sad aboput this. I hope some education can be managed. Does anyone know how to contact those volunteers?"

4 comments:

Ray said...

The work was done by a crew of obviously untrained volunteers under the auspices of the annual AC-100 endurance run from Wrightwood to Johnson Park, with the approval of the Forest Service. More info at
http://www.ac100.com/.

On the plus side, they have at least made the trail walkable.

On the other hand, they knew nothing, or at least did nothing, to make it a maintainable trail. In fact, many portions of the trail are begging for washout due to improper drainage. Grades, even where not passing through the creek, often approach 50%.

They've made a start, but much more work needs to be done, including some to correct mistakes made by this well meaning but inept bunch of volunteers.

Jane S said...

There is an organized race happening in the near future that starts up in Wrightwood and they run down through the El Prieto Canyon. I heard that the runners were clearing the trail last Saturday.....I think the Forest Service authorized their participation in trail repair. They would know who was in charge of this I believe.

Jane S said...

I knew I had read about this race...and it was right here on the Meadows Blog:

The following is quoted from the website for the AC-100 race from Wrightwood to Johnson Park
. But note that they want only volunteers who are also signed up for the race and have been trained for trailwork.

AC100 News as of 3-30-2010.

Schedule for First 2010 AC100 Trail Work Day:
El Prieto Trail Work, 7 AM April 24th Saturday.
Meet at Hahamongna Park Ball Baseball Field parking lot.
For driving directions go to the AC100 web site and use the 2009 Training Run and Trail Work Schedule. The Trail Work has been approved by the USFS as we begin the process of preparing the trails for the 2010 race.

The Forest Service plans to re-open the Station Fire burn areas when it safe, except the Arroyo above JPL. We are approved to work on the El Prieto Trail on April 24th.

claudia said...

I sent a message to ken hamada from the AC100 race and he apparently forwarded it to the trail crew boss, al whitten (sp?). i also spoke with the USFS this morning who said that they issued the permit because the crew boss was a certified trail expert. the usfs said they were checking with their botanist about the humboldt lily situation. The usfs also said these people would not be back "this year". ray- since you obviously have concerns about the trail do you want to speak with the usfa at 818 8991900. i believe the man who authorized it is named howard - he is the recreational use officer