Trail News
A mixture of trail news and a log of the trail work we perform in the Santa Monica Mountain Trails.
| Date | Event |
| 2024.11.20 | Event #: [1109] La Jolla Valley Trails - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove to the parking area just past the La Jolla Valley Campground in Pt. Mugu State Park. We hiked south 1.4 miles on the Loop and Mugu Peak Trails to where we had left off 2 weeks ago. We finished clearing the last 0.1 miles of the Mugu Peak Trail working south towards Chumash Saddle and then walked north 0.5 miles back to the Loop Trail and cleared 0.2 miles working southeast towards the water tank. We weed whipped, brushed, raked, cut and sawed through fairly heavy grass, coyote brush, sumac and sage brush. We then hiked 1.2 miles back to the parked truck and drove out of the Park arriving at our personal cars at 3:00 p.m. This was the 11tth outing so far this year in La Jolla Valley with 0.6 miles remaining to be cleared on the Loop Trail. Crew size: 5 volunteers. Hours worked: 7.0. Total hours: 35. Total feet of trail maintained: 1,584 feet. Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon Read More |
| 2024.11.16 | Event #: [1108] Malibu Springs trail - A crew of 12 met at Leo Carrillo State Park and continued in 3 shuttle vehicles to the Mulholland Drive trailhead of the Malibu Springs Trail. We were joined by 4 NPS members, including Nellie Navarrete, who brought along a small chainsaw that she used very efficiently all day. Other NPS staff were Michael Harmon, Kirk Barrett and Miroslava Munguia Ramos. Dave Edwards brought all the tools needed other than Nellie’s chainsaw. Four crew members ran brush cutters or weed whackers through the dense brush, which was mostly green bark ceanothus, which meant it was thorny and hard to handle once cut. The mechanized cutters produced large stacks of tree-sized cuttings, so the remaining crew cleaned up the cuttings manually as well as clearing with rakes and McLeods, and disposed the brush piles out of sight. Several people also worked with Kebteks and hand saws to remove stumps and cut branches that posed a tripping or impalement hazard. No treadwork was done, per Kirk Barrett’s request. This trail is so lightly used that we encountered no hikers at all and consequently never had to pause work. We ended work at 1:15 p.m. and hiked back to the vehicles, loaded tools, and were back at at the Leo Carrillo lot by 2 p.m. We cleared approximately 0.6 miles, with about 1.2 miles to go, so more work is needed on this densely overgrown trail. Crew size: 12. Total Hours worked: 72 hours. Total feet of trail maintained: 1,320Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Greg Sweel, Luna Huitron, Charles Knowles, John Kross, Anne Russell, George Sherman, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.11.09 | Event #: [1107] La Jolla Valley Trails - On Saturday, November 9 we resumed work in La Jolla Valley, this is our fifth event day in La Jolla Valley since the summer break and 10 this year. This event was organized with Keira Henninger and KH Races to support the race course for Ray Miller races on December 2. Dave Edwards acted as crew leader for this outing with Roger Young assisting.
The SMMTC regular volunteers and one occasional volunteer met at Wendy/Potrero at 8 AM for the drive to La Jolla Valley and the KH Races group met at Chumash Trail on the PCH at 8 AM for the hike up Chumash and into La Jolla Valley to meet the trucks. We had 32 total volunteers (9 SMMTC volunteers and 23 KH Races or other running group volunteers). At the end of the day, the volunteers carried tools back to the trucks and walked the newly cleared trails back to Chumash Trail. Work was completed at 2:30 PM.
We cleared approximately 3000 feet of heavy brush on the La Jolla Velley Loop Trail and Mugu Peak Trail and an additional 1500 feet of weeds on the La Jolla Loop Trail for a total cleared of 4500 feet or 8/10 of a mile. No tread work was needed, all of the work was trimming and brushing.
Note that as with the previous week’s event, the occasional volunteers were within walking distance of their cars. We were able to accommodate three volunteers who could not commit to spending the entire day with us.
Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Charles Knowles, John Kross, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.11.02 | Event #: [1106] Mesa Peak Connector - Dave Edwards acted as crew leader for this outing with Roger Young assisting.
Dave Edwards, Ruth Felton, and Jon Sheldon scouted and flagged the trail for 2 hours on Thursday morning, October 31st. We group met at 8 AM on Saturday November 2nd. 22 volunteers including 7 New Basin Blues runners, & 4 Future Track runners, and 8 regulars worked from 8 AM until 2 PM. We were fortunate to be working close to the parking area so two volunteers joined us late.
We cleared approximately ½ mile of the connector but most of our efforts were on the first ¼ mile uphill section which had significant rutting from several years of erosion. We installed two new drains and cleaned out two existing drains. After creating the upper drain, we formed a dirt bucket brigade to fill a significant trench approximately 70 feet long and 3 feet deep. We also widened the trail and filled three other trenches, removed significant Poison Oak. Green Bark Ceanothus and Sage that was impinging on the trail.
Totals:
22 volunteers, 138 hours, 2700 feet of trail cleared Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.10.30 | Event #: [1104] La Jolla Valley Trails - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove to the parking area just past the La Jolla Valley Campground in Pt. Mugu State Park. We hiked 1.6 miles on the La Jolla Valley Connector Trail and Mugu Peak Trail to where we left on the last outing. We brushed, weed whipped, raked, cut and sawed through 400 feet of heavy brush to where the trail turns a corner and the growth thins out. We then hiked back to the parked truck the same way we had come in and shuttled out of the Park arriving at our personal cars at 2:30 p.m.
Crew size: 4 volunteers. Hours worked: 6.5. Total hours: 26. Total feet of trail maintained: 400 feet.
Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon Read More |
| 2024.10.26 | Event #: [1103] La Jolla Valley Trails - This was a routine trail maintenance event. A crew of 13 gathered at 8 am, signed-in, and loaded into three 4WD trucks to shuttle in to the parking area just past the walk-in campground. Upon arriving in La Jolla Valley, we discussed the goals and objectives for today, had a brief safety talk, and 9 volunteers proceeded to the La Jolla Canyon Connector trail which would take us to the Loop Trail. Note: four volunteers headed back up the road to finish the work on the Hidden Pond Trail.
We cleared the Loop Trail to the junction with the Mugu Peak trail near the water tank. We continued down to the drainage while clearing to the stream crossing. We continued trimming heavy overgrowth up the opposite side (south) of the Mugu Peak Trail to better define and widen the trail corridor to make it more distinct and passable. The other crew finished the Hidden Pond Trail from the north end of the pond back to the dirt road.
We ended work at 1:30 pm and then we hiked back to the vehicles, exited the State Park/National Park, and returned to our personal cars at 3 pm.
Crew size: 13 (10 regulars and 3 others who have worked with us before)
Total Hours worked: 91 hours total (13 volunteers x 7 hours each)
Total distance repaired/restored/cleared: 1,600 feet (0.3 mile) Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Greg Sweel, John Kross, Haley Langness, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman Read More |
| 2024.10.21 | Event #: [1101] Trail Signs Project - PHASE 3 INSTALLATION IS NOW COMPLETE!
Five SMMTC regulars were again joined by Ann Stansell, State Park Archaeologist, as we were installing signs in culturally sensitive areas.
Today we installed signage on the Sin Nombre and Two Foxes Trail. We started at the junction of Ranch Center Road and Sin Nombre Trail where we removed one sign/post that was located in the middle of the trail and installed a new sign/post in a better location. A new sign/post identifying the correct routing of Sin Nombre was installed at its junction with the illegal "Art's Trail". We then removed an old rotted wooden post with its attached signs from the Hidden Pond Trail a few hundred feet east of its junction with Ranch Center Road.
The final parking spot was at the junction of Ranch Center Fire Road, Sin Nombre Trail and Two Foxes Trail where we updated the Ranch Center Fire Road sign and installed two new signs/posts indicating the termini of the Sin Nombre and Two Foxes trails at that junction. A short distance away, we removed the bent post and damaged sign for the Sage Trail and installed a new post/sign in a more visible location.
An unneeded post/sign was removed 0.2 miles south of the junction. We then walked 0.2 miles north of the junction and removed an old post/sign and installed two new posts/signs at the intersection of the Sin Nombre Trail and Sin Nombre Connector Trail. We were back at Wendy/Potrero at about 12:30pm.
The signage in the majority of the park has now been updated. The only areas left are La Jolla Valley and Serrano Valley.
Statistics:
Signs installed: 8 this report, 97 total.
Posts pounded: 7 this report, 58 total.
Posts removed: 8 this report, 36 total
Phase 4 (La Jolla Valley): Under development
Phase 5 signs (Serrano Valley): TBD
Hours worked: 22.5 (4.5 hours x 5 ) Crew: Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.10.19 | Event #: [1105] COSCA - 12 SMMTC crew leaders and 64 volunteers met at the baseball fields adjacent to the Yarrow Family YMCA in Thousand Oaks to maintain the trail.
The volunteers were divided into 7 group, each assigned to a TC crew leader. Crew leaders enrolled volunteers as they arrive and proceeded to get their tools and continue to the beginning of the trail for a “Tool and Safety Talk”, after which they continued up the hill to their designated area.
I had flagged enough for 10 groups, for a max of 100 volunteers. Still, 64 is a good number of volunteers.
The work performed was the same for all the groups except two, groups 4 and 5 had a couple of drains that needed cleaning up. The rest of the work was grubbing, raking, lopping, and slough removal to restore the width of the trail.
Total hours: 12 x 5 = 60 hours (SMMTC only)
Feet of trail maintained: 8,500 Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Greg Sweel, Jon Van Gorder, John Kross, Anne Russell, George Sherman, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.10.17 | Event #: [1100] Guadalasca Trail - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove to the top of the Guadalasca Trail (at the top of Hell Hill) in Pt. Mugu State Park. Three crew members hiked, while one lucky crew member enjoyed a ride on a gator with our tools, on the Upper Guadalasca Trail for 1.3 miles to the work site. State Parks had used a mini-excavator and SWECO to improve the tread, remove berms and install some rough drains. Working in conjunction with State Parks, CORBA and MBU, we smoothed the tread, removed rocks, brushed sections of the trail, and improved four massive rough drains on 0.1 miles of trail. Three crew members hiked back out 1.2 miles, while the same lucky crew member hopped on the gator. We shuttled out of the park and arrived back at the cars around 4:00 p.m. Crew size: 4 volunteers. Hours worked: 8. Total hours: 32. Total feet of trail maintained: 528 feet. Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds and Jon Sheldon. Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon Read More |
| 2024.10.15 | Event #: [1099] La Jolla Valley Trails - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove in two 4WD vehicles to the La Jolla Valley Pond Trailhead in Pt. Mugu State Park. Eight crew members hiked 1.6 miles on the Pond and Loop Trail to where we had stashed the tools on the last outing. We brushed, weed whipped, raked, cut and sawed 0.3 miles, and then hiked back to the cars approximately the same distance via the Connector Trail. Two crew members cleared 480 feet on the Pond Trail starting from the La Jolla Valley Fire Road. We shuttled out of the park and arrived back at the cars around 3:00 p.m. A total of 2.0 miles of the Loop Trail and 620 feet of the Pond Trail have been cleared in the seven outings held so far. Crew size: 10 volunteers. Hours worked: 7. Total hours: 70. Total feet of trail maintained: 2,064 feet (0.39 miles).Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross Read More |
| 2024.10.14 | Event #: [1098] Trail Signs Project - Five SMMTC regulars met at 8:00am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We were joined by Ann Stansell, State Park Archaeologist, as we were installing signs in culturally sensitive areas.
We started the day by driving to the junction of Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and Wood Canyon
Fire Road where we moved a sign that we installed last spring a few feet further away from the road. We then drove up Wood Canyon Fire Road to the bottom of Hell Hill where we removed
three legacy signs/posts, replaced one sign and installed one new sign/post.
The next objective was at the Wood Canyon Fire Road/Guadalasca Trail junction where we
replaced one existing sign and installed a new sign/post.
Rather than continue driving up Wood Canyon Fire Road to the Ranch Center Road junction,
we decided to drive back around and approach the junction via Ranch Center Fire Road to
avoid deep and difficult crossings. At the junction of the old Ranch Center site we removed the
two existing signs/posts as they were hard to see in heavy brush and installed two new
signs/posts in more visible locations.
We finished the day’s work at about 12:30pm.
For statistical completeness, a replacement sign/post was installed at the Serrano Canyon
Trail/Sycamore Canyon Fire Road during a regularly scheduled trail maintenance outing on
9/14/2024. The time worked is included in the report for that outing.
Statistics (including 9/14 and 10/14/2024)
Signs installed: 7 this report, 89 total.
Posts pounded: 5 this report, 51 total.
Posts removed: 8 this report, 28 total.
Phase 3 signs remaining: 8
Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under development
Hours worked: 22.5 (4.5 hours x 5) Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.10.12 | Event #: [1097] La Jolla Valley Trails - A group of eleven volunteers met at the Sycamore Canyon Day Use Parking lot. We loaded into 3 4WD/AWD trucks and proceeded to La Jolla Canyon, where we parked by the group campground and 9 of us hiked to the work site (about 1-1/2 miles) and commenced brushing, removing roots that had grown up in the trail and week whacking until about 1:15 PM, then cached the tools and hiked back to the trucks.
Two of the group worked on the Pond Trail from where it joins the loop trail back towards the bottom of the pond .
Returned to the parking at 3:00 PM.
Length of trail cleared: 0.3 mile on loop trail, Approximately 140 feet was cleared on the pond trail so it is passible now.
Total volunteer hours 7 x 11 = 77 hours Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Don Brusselars, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Angela Batoon, Luna Huitron, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, George Sherman Read More |
| 2024.10.07 | Event #: [1102] CINP Nature Conservancy - Our work consisted entirely of cutting back brush and weeds which were growing into the road from about a mile past the main ranch to the juncture with the Diablo Peak road, a distance of about four miles. We also cleared a section of road from near the Christy Ranch on the west end of the island heading east for about a mile.
There’s still plenty of road to clear but it’ll have to wait until sometime next year. This is probably our last trip to TNC this year.
Crew: Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon, Jeff Hagar and Greg Barry
Total hours worked: 22 per person x 5 = 110 total (3 Monday, 8 Tuesday, 8
Wednesday, 3 Friday) Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2024.09.28 | Event #: [1095] Rancho Sierra Vista - A small contingent of SMMTC and Trail Corps volunteers joined with NPS staff to observe National Public Lands Day at Rancho Sierra Vista. There were three SMMTC volunteers and two Trail Corps members present.
Met with NPS staff at Rancho Sierra Vista. NPS staff conduced project briefing and safety talks. The volunteers performed lopping on the connector trail between parking lot and the visitor center.
Completed the project. NPS provided light lunch. Crew: Jon Van Gorder, Luna Huitron, Haley Langness, Jerry Mitcham, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.09.28 | Event #: [1096] Serrano Canyon Trail - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Sycamore Day Use Area Parking lot and drove into Pt. Mugu State Park. We parked at the Serrano Canyon trail head. We divided into 2 teams and provided overview of plan for the workday. We quickly hiked to the work site and got to work cutting and hiding brush. Two very motivated brush cutters and 3 manic people raking and lopping worked our way to the point where the trail enters into Serrano Valley. We returned to the parking lot around 2:00. Hours worked: 35 (7.0 hours x 5 participants) Total feet of trail maintained: 3,900 feetCrew: Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman Read More |
| 2024.09.24 | Event #: [1094] Prisoners Harbor - We continued working on the new campground. We completed 4 of the 7 campsites with two almost completed and the admin/handicap site laid out and cleared. The work will continue in the near future with a few more day trips. We had a Chumash monitor the first two days observing our work for any archeological stuff. He also pitched in and worked alongside us. There was an NPS person with us the first two days.
Total hours worked: 29 (8 Tues, 9 Wed, 6 Thurs, 6 Fri) Crew: Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.09.21 | Event #: [1093] Serrano Canyon - Our work consisted of brushing the Serrano Canyon trail starting about 1.1 miles from the trailhead at the juncture of Sycamore Canyon road. We brushed about 0.4 mile or 2100 feet leaving about 0.30 mile left to the beginning of Serrano Valley. One more outing next Saturday will get us to the valley.
Hours worked: 6 hours each for 54 total Crew: Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Greg Sweel, Haley Langness, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman Read More |
| 2024.09.14 | Event #: [1091] Serrano Canyon - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Sycamore Canyon Day Use Area and drove to the Serrano Canyon Trail Head. We used two brush cutters and a weed whip to trim back invasive grass, encroaching brush and a lot of poison oak. No tread work was done on this occasion. The skies were overcast until 12:30 – this enabled us to enjoy cooler temperatures while we worked. Jerry worked with 3 TrailCorp students to get them started leaning the basics of trail work. They trimmed and hid brush along the trail. George and Jerry installed a trail sign at the trail head.
Crew size: 12 volunteers. Individual Hours worked: 6. Total hours: 72. Total feet of trail maintained: 2,100 feet. Crew: Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2024.09.02 | Event #: [1090] CSUCI TrailCorp Orientation - This was the annual CSUCI Trail Corps Orientation sessions hosted by the CSUCI Center for Community Engagement staff.
Met with the CCE Staff and all CSUCI corps members. The staff briefed all the student interns on the relevant CSUCI policies. Some interactive exercises were also conduced.
Jerry Mitcham conducted the SMMTC Trail Corps orientation for the Trail Corps interns. Topics covered: SMMTC Background, Mission Statement and Goals. Covered the general procedures relating to the SMMTC volunteer events. Gave out the paperwork for CSPS and NPS..
Completed the Orientation Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.08.28 | Event #: [1089] Del Norte Trails - Our work consisted of weed whacking the Del Norte trail. We cleared about 0.40 mile of trail or about 2100 feet. There were a few sections of trail that had heavily matted dead grass which was very slow to clear. Clouds of fine, black dust was kicked up making it hard to breathe not to mention very dirty work. Other sections were very brushy. With only a crew of four, the work was slow. It will be some time before we get back to work on this trail. Our next outing, 23-27 September, will probably be spent working in the new campground at Prisoners.
Hours worked: 22 x 4 volunteers = 88 total hours Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.08.26 | Event #: [1088] Trail Signs Project - Four SMMTC regulars met at 7:30am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We started the day by driving to the shortcut route to the Hidden Pond Trail on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and then hiked 250' to the creek where we installed a new post with two signs at the point where the main Hidden Pond Trail exits the creek bed. We removed one obsolete legacy post just above that point and then hiked 0.1 miles east to place a new post and sign alerting trail users of the correct routing of the Hidden Pond Trail at a junction where an illegal bike trail heads north into Broome Ranch.
We then drove to the junction of Wood Canyon Fire Road and Two Foxes Trail where we
installed one replacement sign and one new post/sign and then hiked 0.5 miles to the Coyote Trail/Two Foxes Trail junction where we installed one replacement sign and one new post/sign.
We finished up by driving to the lower Ranch Center Road/Hidden Pond Trail junction where we hiked in 0.25 miles to install a new post and sign to alert trail users of the proper fork to take at a junction with an illegal bike trail that heads north into Broome Ranch.
We finished the day's work at about 12:30pm
Statistics
Signs installed: 8 today, 82 total.
Posts pounded: 5 today, 46 total.
Posts removed: 2 today, 20 total.
Phase 3 signs remaining: 15
Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under development
Phase 5 signs (Serrano Valley): TBD
Feet of trail cleared: N/A
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.08.22 | Event #: [1086] San Miguel Islands - Our work consisted of installing a staircase on the side of a sheer cliff on San Miguel Island. Without the staircase, access to the island from the beach was impossible due to heavy damage from winter storms. We worked with the guidance from an NPS project manager from Lassen Volcanic NP. The work was dangerous and difficult but we managed to complete it without any injuries. Juan Carlo was the key to this project and without him I don't think we would have been successful. John Reynolds was also In the mix assisting greatly where needed. We had a Chumash monitor working with us well and although he didn't have to do any work, he helped us a lot. We tore down a retaining wall and used the lumber for the side rails and the stairs. The landing platform in the middle of the two stairs was anchored with four very long anchors drilled into solid rock. This provided the anchor points for the bottom of the top stairs and the top of the bottom stairs. The other ends of the stairs were anchored to existing heavy timbers.
We also did some tread work, making a couple of sections much safer to hike and cleared vegetation in other areas. The full work days were long and hauling tools and supplies up and down the trail was rather exhausting. The accommodations at the ranger housing was excellent with three full units, each having two private rooms with a full kitchen, living room, satellite tv and large restroom. It was very windy every day and night which is normal for this island.
Hours worked: 33x 3 volunteers = 99 total hours Crew: Dave Edwards, John Reynolds, Juan Carlo Mendoza Read More |
| 2024.08.19 | Event #: [1085] Trail Signs Project - The latest batch of signs has been received and we are beginning the installation phase. On this first outing we installed 8 of the 31 new signs.
Five SMMTC regulars met at 7:30am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We drove to the old water tank on Ranch Center road where we installed replacement signs at the Coyote Trail,Hidden Pond Trail and Ranch Center Fire Road junctions. We then proceeded down to the
Sage Trail junction and installed one replacement sign and one new sign. The Hidden Pond Connector Trail was next where two signs were installed, one at Ranch Center Road and the other at the Hidden Pond Trail. The last effort of the day was on the Hidden Pond Trail side of the Ranch Center Road/Hidden Pond/Sin Nombre junction where we installed one new sign/post while removing three old sign/posts making the directions clearer and reducing unneeded clutter.
Statistics
Signs installed: 8 today, 74 total.
Posts pounded: 4 today, 41 total.
Posts removed: 5 today, 18 total.
Phase 3 signs remaining: 23
Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under developmentHours worked: 27.5 (5.5 hours x 5 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.08.14 | Event #: [1087] Scheduling Meeting - Scheduling meeting at Malibu Creek State Park Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Christopher Ramirez, Anne Russell, George Sherman, Peter Sullivan, Greg Sweel, Barb Thomas, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.08.13 | Event #: [1084] MCSP Trail Scouting - A group of six volunteers met at the Reagan Ranch equipment area to survey the Yearling and Deer Leg trails. We hiked with Jason Finlay of State Parks to observe the condition of the trails, noting trail erosion, water damage and downed trees. Also discussed possible solutions and correction action ideas.
Returned to parking at 10:30 a.m.
Total volunteer hours 6 x 3.5 = 21 hours
Length of trail assessed: 3.5 miles Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.08.06 | Event #: [1083] Del Norte bTrails - We worked on the Del Norte trail on Santa Cruz Island starting about 0.70 miles north of the Del Norte campground. We cleared about 0.85 miles or about 4,500 feet of trail. The work consisted of mostly of weed whacking with some brushing and raking lots of cut grass. It was very hot every day. Weed whacking stirred up large clouds of black soot like dust making it the work harder than normal. Hours worked: 20 x 6 volunteers = 120 total hoursCrew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.07.25 | Event #: [1082] Del Norte Trails - This was a multi-day trip to continue our work on the Del Norte trail on Santa Cruz Island. We began where we left off on our last trip: at the juncture of the trail and the Del Norte campground. We weed whacked and brushed the trail on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, completing about 2/3 mile or 3500 feet of trail. On Thursday we assisted NPS personnel in the installation an 11,000-pound double seater toilet vault at the new campground at Prisoners Harbor. A very large excavator was brought over to the island on the NPS’ LCM landing craft. There was an NPS crane operator borrowed from the SMMNRA, a CINP employee and a Chumash monitor to check for any native artifacts. The excavator enlarged the existing hole to allow for the concrete vault to be placed about 32 inches below ground level. The hole was only allowed to be dug about 32 inches deep because it exposed a midden site. Our crew dug in and around the hole to level it and put the finishing touches on it, adding a weed barrier and a layer of DG . The excavator then placed the vault into the hole. The completed pit toilet will be a couple of feet above ground when finished and will have a 50-foot zig zag handicap ramp.
Hours worked: 19 hours total for 4 days or 76 total crew hours
Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart and John Reynolds
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.07.15 | Event #: [1092] Prisoners Harbor - We began work in the new campground at Prisoners by digging in and installing 6 X 6 inch X 8 ft timbers on the tent pads we had previously created. These timbers outline the tent pads’ area of 9 ft x 21 ft. We drove rebar into the ground to stabilize them. A second or third course of timbers was required in two of the campsites to level the pads. These additional courses were secured with 10 inch screw nails. Two of the tent pads were completed and are ready to finish with weed barrier and decomposed granite. Two more pads were partially completed. A Chumash monitor was on site both days to observe our ground disturbances. He also helped us a lot although he wasn’t required to do so. There was an NPS person with us both days as well.
The work was completed over a period of two days, with day trips each day. On September 17 we departed on the NPS boat Ocean Ranger and returned via Island Packers that same day. On September 18 we took Island Packers both ways.
We will return next week with five of us staying at the Del Norte cabin from Tuesday through Friday. We will continue with the campground work with a Chumash monitor on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Crew: Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Kirsten Rosselot, Anne Russell, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.07.02 | Event #: [1081] Del Norte Trails - We worked on the Del Norte trail on Santa Cruz Island starting at the Navy road and finishing at the Del Norte Campground, a distance of about 1.6 miles. The work consisted of weed whacking and lots of brushing without the use of hedge trimmers. The last time we brushed this trail was in April 2016. Hours worked: 23 x 6 volunteers = 138 total hours Crew: Regulars – Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Don Brusselars, Juan Carlo, Carlyn Taggart and Craig Percy Read More |
| 2024.06.29 | Event #: [1080] La Jolla Valley Trails - This was a routine trail maintenance event. A crew of 10 gathered at 7:30 am, signed-in, and loaded into vehicles to shuttle in to the trailhead. Upon arriving at the trailhead in La Jolla Valley, we discussed the goals and objectives for today, had a safety talk, distributed the tools, and proceeded to the La Jolla Canyon trail which we have been working on for the past 4 Saturdays. At the blocked gate we turned onto the loop trail and descended into the drainage while heading north to the location where tools had been stashed from last week. Using two gas-powered hedge trimmers, a battery-powered hedge trimmer, and a gas-powered weed whacker, we cleared brush while others used McLeods, shovels, picks, loppers, and rakes to remove the cut vegetation which included a lot of poison oak near the first drainage and stream crossing. A couple of folks improved the tread and repaired a washed out section. We helped to define and widen the trail corridor to make it more distinct. We sawed many branches. We ended work at 1:30 pm and then we hiked back to the vehicles, exited the State Park/National Park, and returned to our personal cars at 3 pm. Crew size: 10 (9 regulars and 1 first-timer) Total Hours worked: 75 hours total (10 volunteers x 7.5 hours each) Total distance repaired/restored/cleared: 1,584 feet (0.3 mile)Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman Read More |
| 2024.06.22 | Event #: [1079] La Jolla Valley Trails - 11 volunteers met at the Wendy trailhead on Potrero road and shuttled down to La Jolla valley. We parked next to the group campground and hiked We hiked roughly 2 miles to where we stashed tools the week before. Then we continued brushing, lopping, raking. We were running three brush cutters and one weed whip.
We got to the barricade at the junction with the La Jolla Canyon trail and went about 50 feet past that point and called it a day. We then stashed the tools, and hiked back to the trucks. After a brief break, we got in the trucks and drove back to the Wendy trailhead where we arrived at about 3 p.m.
Casual Volunteers: Joe Tennison, Colin
Total hours: 11 x 7 = 77 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 1,580 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik, Sam Chen, Qingyian (Ann) Liu, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.06.15 | Event #: [1077] La Jolla Valley Trails - This event was organized at the request of Daniel Weissauer/SoCal Trail in support of his Tough Mugu 25K run on July 20th. It was the third consecutive weekly event in La Jolla Canyon with one more scheduled on June
22nd and a TBD on June 29th. Dave Edwards acted as crew leader for this outing with Roger Young assisting.
11 volunteers including 10 regulars and Mike Jones (who signed up through SoCal Trail) met at 7:30 AM at Wendy/Potrero. We entered Mugu Park and drove 7 miles on Sycamore to Wood Canyon Road, up Hell Hill and through the
hub to a parking area near the La Jolla Group Camp. We hiked about a mile to the work site. The trail was very overgrown needing lopping, trimming with hedgers and with string trimmers. We cleared approximately 3/10th of a mile by 1:15 and stashed the
tools. As of the end of the day we have less than a quarter mile to go before the gate and the turn toward the water tank. We arrived back at Wendy/Potrero at approximately 3:15. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Jon Van Gorder, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.06.08 | Event #: [1078] La Jolla Valley Trails - A group of nine volunteers met at Wendy/Potrero parking area and shuttled in to the parking area by the group campground. We hiked up to the La Jolla Loop trail and down the trail about ¼ mile to where the tools were cached.
We proceeded to continue the trail brushing, increasing the width to ~4 feet. We were using 2 weed whips and 3 brush cutters. Managed to clear 1/3 of a mile before quitting. Cached the tools, hiked back to the trucks and drove out of the canyon, arriving at the meetup point about 3 p.m.
P.S. Trip down was slower than usual because there was a race in progress and we kept stopping for the runners.
Total volunteer hours: 9 x 7 = 63 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,760
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Sam Chen, Qingyian (Ann) Liu, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.06.05 | Event #: [1075] Blue Canyon - This event was organized at the request of Keira Henninger in support of her Malibu Canyon Trail Races scheduled for Saturday, June 7th. Runners training on her course had reported high weeds, especially thistle, on Old Boney between Blue Canyon and Chamberlain. Barb Thomas acted as crew leader for this outing with Roger Young assisting.
4 volunteers including Barb Thomas, Jon Sheldon, Roger Young, and Amanda Pennington (Assistant Race Director for KH Races) met at 8 AM at Wendy/Potrero. We entered the Mugu Park and drove on Sycamore to Danielson Group Camp. We met Jason Finley, Park Maintenance Supervisor and his crew of Desiree (supervisor), Genesis, Luke, Oram and Jonathan. The 10 of us hiked up Blue Canyon and worked on approximately 1 mile of Old Boney between Blue Canyon and Chamberlain. Of that section, the first ¼ mile and the last ¼ mile needed light brushing but the middle approximately ½ mile was very overgrown with weeds preventing users from seeing the trail bed in some places.
Jason and his crew supplied all of the power tools while the rest of us used hand tools to rake the weeds, lop branches and make minor repairs to the trail bed. The SMMTC crew completed our work on Old Boney at approximately 2 PM and finished by clearing Poison Oak that had grown into the trail in Blue Canyon. We returned to Wendy/Potrero by approximately 3 PM. The State Parks crew continued working with a planned stop time of 4 PM. Crew: Jon Sheldon, Barb Thomas, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.06.05 | Event #: [1076] CINP Nature Conservancy - This was a multi-day trip to The Nature Conservancy on Santa Cruz Island. The first day we worked on the Chapel trail which starts near the historic Chapel at the Main Ranch in the Central valley. We used a weed whacker and a brush cutter on the first part of the trail up to where the wooden steps end (about 0.3 mile). There’re tons of fennel which we clear every year for the first 100 ft of trail. Hours worked: 3
On the second day we brushed and weed whacked the Pelican Bay trail for about 1.13 miles to marker no. 14. Hours worked: 7
On the third day we worked on the Diablo Peak trail. It consisted of lining a long section of the trail with rocks where it traverses across solid rock. The trail is hard to follow without the line of rocks guiding a hiker to the next grassy section. We also brushed several sections leading to the top of Diablo. We had lunch on top of Picacho del Diablo at some 2432 feet, the highest point on all 8 of the Channel Islands. Hours worked: 7
On the last day we watered a few hundred newly planted oak trees in the Central Valley area of the Main Ranch. Hours worked: 2
Total hours worked: 19 per volunteer for 133 total
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Cindy Kimmick, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.06.01 | Event #: [1074] La Jolla Valley Trails - We met at Wendy at 8:00 and drove into Point Mugu SP from the Satwiwa side with three pickups to the La Jolla Canyon trailhead in La Jolla Valley. The work was routine brushing. We employed two gas powered brush cutters, one battery powered brush cutter and one weed whacker. We cleared about 0.40 mile or 2,100 feet of trail. We quit work at 1:30 and arrived back at Wendy a little after 2:00.
Hours worked: 6 x 11 volunteers = 66 total hours
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.05.25 | Event #: [1073] Upper Sycamore Canyon - This was a routine trail maintenance event. A crew of 11 gathered at 8:30 am, signed-in, and loaded into vehicles to shuttle in to the trailhead. Upon arriving at the trailhead on Danielson Fire Road, we discussed the goals and objectives for today, had a safety talk, distributed the tools, and proceeded up the fire road to the trailhead.
Using McLeods, shovels, picks, loppers, and rakes we trimmed back vegetation which included a lot of poison oak. Others created drains to move water off the tread, filled-in some ruts, made ramps on either side of a couple of stream crossings. A hedge trimmer was also used to cut brush. We helped to define and widen the trail corridor to make it more distinct. We sawed many branches and moved many rocks. We created steps in one location and benched the trail at a couple of other locations.
We ended work at 1:30 pm and then we hiked back to the vehicles, exited the State Park/National Park, and returned to our personal cars at 2:30 pm.
Crew size: 11 (9 regulars and 2 close to becoming regulars)
Total Hours worked: 66 hours total (11 volunteers 6 hours each)
Total distance repaired/restored/cleared: 1,050 feet (0.2 mile) Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Christopher Ramirez Read More |
| 2024.05.18 | Event #: [1072] Serrano Canyon - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Sycamore Day Use Area Parking lot and drove into Pt. Mugu State Park. We parked at the Serrano Canyon. We divided into 4 teams and provided overview of plan for the workday. Provided safety brief. Two teams started first with one trimming branches and the other brushing the trail with power tools.
Scouts were divided into two teams to clean up cuttings and groom the trail.
We returned to the parking lot around 2:00 p.m.
Hours worked: 180.0 (6.0 hours x 30 participants)
Total feet of trail maintained: 3,900 feet
Crew: Dave Edwards, John Kross, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Barry Dydyk, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.05.11 | Event #: [1071] Old Boney Trail - We met at 8:30 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove into Pt. Mugu State Park. We parked at the southern trailhead for the Old Boney Trail (aka Toe Stubber) and hiked 0.8 miles up the trail to where the worst ruts began. Greg Sweel continued up the trail to weed whip the remaining section of trail that State Parks had not brushed and joined the group at lunch time. The rest of the crew filled in as many of the biggest and deepest ruts as time allowed until we startled a bee colony close to quitting time. We immediately left the area and decided to improve two drains on our way down to the trailhead. We returned to Wendy/Potrero a little after 2:30 p.m.
Highlights: Huge scorpion; lots of wildflowers; and 3 new participants, who all worked so hard we hope they join us again!
Participants:
Regulars: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman
Non- Regulars: Joe Tennison, Waylon Tennison, Robert Lara, Becky Sheldon
Hours: 54.0 (6.0 hours x 9 participants)
Total feet of trail maintained: 1,200 feet Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.05.08 | Event #: [1065] Malibu Creek Bridge - This year's re-installation of the temporary, seasonal, bridge spanning Malibu Creek was very different from last year as heavy machinery was used to lift the fully loaded 1600 pound bridge onto a State Park flat bed truck as well as offload and position the bridge across the gap between the concrete abutment and the bank on the MASH side of the creek. And as it turned out, very little brushing was needed to restore the trail from the MASH side of the bridge to the firm ground near the junction with the Forest Trail.
The work this year was divided into two parts. The first was assisting with the positioning of the bridge and its anchor points on the bank and then grading the bank on the MASH side to make a smooth approach to/from the bridge. Large rocks were gathered with a wheelbarrow from upstream and positioned on each side of the ramp to prevent the dirt from falling into the creek.
The second part of the day was spent digging through a wall of debris (5’ high, 4’ wide, 6’ long) that blocked the trail about 0.3 mi upstream from the bridge. State Parks used a chain saw on the larger roots and larger branches, while McLeods and rakes were used to break up the clusters of small branches, sticks, twigs and dirt. We resorted to using hand saws and physics to cut the last very hard, burnt section of trunk after the chain saw teeth had become too dull to deal with it. Reinstalling the bridge, creating the approach ramp and dealing with the blockage was a combined effort of State Park employees and volunteers from CORBA, Malibu Creek Docents and four Trail Council regulars.
Feet of trail cleared: 200
Participants: Barb Thomas, Christopher Ramirez, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon
Hours worked: 24 (6 hours x 4 participants) Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Christopher Ramirez, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.05.04 | Event #: [1064] Old Boney Trail - This was another outing on Toe Stubber to fix damage caused by storms this past winter.
Eight eager volunteers convened at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30am and carpooled to the Toe Stubber trailhead where we discussed the objectives for the day, divvied up tools and began hiking 0.8 miles up the trail.
The work for the day consisted of building two large drains to divert water off the trail, filling-in large ruts caused by slides that blocked water from flowing down the existing inside drain and brushing large mallow and sumac that were encroaching on the trail.
Before heading back down, we hiked up to the junction of the Old Boney Trail and Serrano
Valley Trail to assess the conditions for possible future outings.
We returned to Wendy/Potrero a little after 2:30pm.
Feet of trail cleared: 800
Participants:
Non-regulars: Qingyian (Ann) Liu, Sam Chen
Hours worked: 48 (6 hours x 8 participants) Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Jon Van Gorder, Christopher Ramirez Read More |
| 2024.04.29 | Event #: [1063] Hondo Canyon Scouting - Summary: We met at the trailhead along Old Topanga Canyon road at 8:00. We carried 35 each 2 x 12 x 12 inch pine boards about 0.18 mile to our work site. We then placed the boards in a very mucky, muddy section of trail to create a series of steps through this crud. We also installed two drains to take some of the watery, muddy yuck off the trail. This work is solely for the benefit of our Backbone trekkers in a few days. We will remove the boards shortly after the trek.
Hours worked: 2 x 5 volunteers = 10 total hours
Crew: Dave, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2024.04.27 | Event #: [1062] BBT Beyond Chamberlain Rock - A crew of 14 assembled at 7:00 am to caravan down to Danielson Ranch. Today's crew included 3 trail runners, a SeaBee, and 2 volunteers who had worked at Trail Days the previous weekend.
After introductions and discussing the goals and objectives for today we conducted a safety talk and then gathered the tools and proceeded up the trail.
Our group hiked close to 5 miles up the Backbone Trail – we stopped near the saddle where the trail nears NPS property. Using loppers, saws, rakes and a pick we trimmed back heavy vegetation which included a lot of 3 species of ceanothus, chamise. Several stumps and rocks that presented some terrific opportunities for ruining some persons day on the trail were removed.
We ended work at 1:15 pm and then we hiked back to Danielson Ranch arriving back at 3PM pm
Crew size: 14
Total Hours worked: 112 hours total (14 volunteers 8 hours each)
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Nolan Desanto, Denise Pomonik, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.04.25 | Event #: [1057] Lower Hondo - Report: We met at 8:30 at the trailhead along Old Topanga road. Our main objective was to scout the muddy, mucky section of trail about 2/10 mile up from the trailhead. It's still very much a problem getting through some 100 feet without getting footwear quite muddy. We placed some rocks in one part of the trail as a temporary fix but it is still hard to get through unscathed. Our plan to fix this short section is to come back in a few days with 40 each 2x12x12 inch wooden, non-pressure treated steps to place on the trail as a temporary fix. This is entirely for the benefit of our annual Backbone trekkers. Once the trek is over, we'll come back and remove the wooden steps. We also hiked up the trail to about the halfway point some 1.6 miles just past the gate and the old cabin site. Along the way, we cleared brush in several sections where it was overgrown. We arrived back at our cars at 12:30. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross Read More |
| 2024.04.21 | Event #: [1068] Trail Days Hidden Pond - SMMTC: Hidden Pond Trail (large water tank location). 1 Big Crew included 40 volunteers.
Trail Leader: Dave Edwards
The crew was shuttled in 5 vehicles to the trailhead located by the water tank. Crew worked their way up by brushing and performing some minor tread work.
Total volunteer hours: (40 volunteers x 4 hours) = 160 hours
Trail maintained: .3 miles. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, George Sherman, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Van Gorder, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.04.20 | Event #: [1067] Trail Days Blue Canyon - SMMTC: Four Crews; Blue Canyon Trail:
Four crews with a total of 62 volunteers worked the lower Blue Canyon Trail.
Crew 1 starting at the trailhead consisted of kids under 10 and other ages. They did light brushing and clean up. Barb Thomas was the trail leader.
Trail Leaders for Crews 2 thru 4 were Dave Edwards (crew 2), George Sherman (crew 3) and Greg Sweel (crew 4). Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon & Barry Dydyk acted as Rovers for crews 2 thru 4.
Crews worked further up where approximately a .3 mile of trail was washed away by this winter’s storms. The three crews worked several sections of the washed-out trail. There were ribbons marked where the new trail was to go. One section of the trail was washed out, had a 8 to 10’ drop off to the bottom of the creek. Other issues: hikers were creating their own trail and causing damage to sensitive plants. The reroute would provide a safe passage for the hikers and prevent further damage to the area. In addition, spur trails that were created by the hikers were blocked. Additional rocks were added to the creek to give the hiker a safer crossing. The other challenge for the trail crew was the huge amount of poison oak that was in the areas they were working on.
Additionally, various pruning and cleaning up the trail was completed.
The end result was night and day. An unobstructed, natural and meandering trail which provided better and safer passage for the hiker and provided safer creek crossings on both sides of the creek. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Reynolds, Barry Dydyk, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.04.20 | Event #: [1069] Trail Days Toe Stubber - SMMTC: Toe Stubber: One crew included 15 volunteers. Trail Leaders (Jon Van Gorder and Chris Morneau) Shuttled to trailhead, south end of Old Boney. Made or repaired about 6 drains and filled in ruts in the trail about ¼ mi. Worked as far as the first drain that was put in by another crew. Widen the trail slightly at a major slide in the middle of the work area. The downhill side of the trail at that slide requires major reinforcement. Total volunteer hours: (15 volunteers x 5 hours) = 75 Hours Trail maintained: .25 miles.Crew: Jon Van Gorder Read More |
| 2024.04.20 | Event #: [1070] Trail Days Sycamore Canyon - SMMTC: Three Crews; Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail
Three crews with a total of 28 volunteers worked various sections of the trail.
Anne Russell – crew leader started from the bottom of the trail. At the first crossing, two steps (south side) & three steps (north side) were put in.
Ruts were filled in and improved the tread, widening narrow spots and brushing. Installed 4 drains and 1 swale.
John Kross – crew leader went to the second crossing from the bottom and cut two steps (south side) & built two rock steps (north side). Widen roughly 50 feet and brushed another 50 feet.
Both teams joined where a spot of the trail was washed away and moved it behind a large rock. Poison oak was removed as well in that spot.
Anne and John ‘s had 16 volunteers.
Craig Carey – crew leader had 12 volunteers.
Total volunteer hours: (28 volunteers x 6 hours) = 168 Hours Trail maintained: 1.3 miles.
Crew: John Kross, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.04.19 | Event #: [1060] Trail Days Scouting - Six SMMTC regulars scouted Toe Stubber in preparation for Trail Days. We hiked up to the junction with the Serrano Valley to both assess the brushing that State Parks had completed since we were last there as well as identify areas that could be worked by Saturday's volunteers. On the way back down we flagged significant areas for attention during the weekend.
Participants: Carlyn Taggart, Dave Edwards, John Kross, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Ruth
Feldon
Hours: 18 (3.0 hours x 6 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2024.04.19 | Event #: [1061] Trail Signs Project - PHASE 2 IS COMPLETE! Four SMMTC regulars hiked up the Blue Canyon Trail from Danielson Multi-Use Area to install the final Phase 2 sign. We only need to carry the sign and a shovel as we had previously stashed the post pounder at the junction and had determined that the old 2007 post was loose and could be relocated to a new location. On arriving at the junction we attempted to remove the old loose post and found that it wasn't as easy to extract from the ground as we had thought. It took quite a bit of digging and effort but the four of us succeeded in pulling the post out of the ground without damaging it. This meant that we didn't have to hike back down to Danielson where we had a left a new post just in case. After removing the old, stubborn, sign from the newly freed post we pounded the post in a new location for a brand new sign identifying Blue Canyon Trail. Unfortunately the new post was crooked despite our using levels while pounding. So we proceed to attempt to straighten the post by digging down to loosen the dirt and then reset it. We were unable to get the post perfectly vertical, but having made some progress, declared victory and affixed the last Phase 2 sign. Statistics: Signs installed: 1 today, 66 total. Posts pounded: 1 today, 37 total. Phase 3 signs: Preparing order - 30 signs Phase 4 signs: Under development Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants: Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours: 12 (4.0 hours x 3 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.04.18 | Event #: [1066] Trail Days Prep - SMMTC volunteers met at the Hollywood Storage on Old Conejo. Event items, including tools for Trail days were taken out of storage and loaded onto the rental truck.
Then driven to Danielson Group Campground where the items were unloaded off the truck and organized accordingly. The campground was cleaned up and prep for the incoming volunteers.
Total volunteer hours: (9 volunteers 7 hours ea) = 63 hours Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Denise Pomonik, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.04.17 | Event #: [1059] Trail Days Scouting - Scouted Upper Sycamore Trail in the morning to identify problem areas and determine the
number of crews needed. Flagged work as needed. (7 volunteers)
After completing the Upper Sycamore survey, three participants left and the remaining four drove to Danielson. After lunch we headed up Blue Canyon Trail to flag crew start locations and built a large drain to channel water flowing out of a broken pipe off the trail. The post pounder was carried up to the Old Boney Trail junction in preparation for installing the last Phase 2 sign.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.04.16 | Event #: [1058] Trail Days Scouting - Scouting for Trail Days and Sign Installation Outing #12. Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy and Potrero at 8:30am to drive down to the Danielson Multi-Use Area.
After unloading a full load of firewood from Dave's truck, we began hiking up the newly rerouted Blue Canyon Trail to scout and flag sections for Trail Days. On the way up we determined and flagged the actions (drains, ramp, treadwork) needed at various points.
We also carried up one new trail sign and a battery operated drill to remove one old sign and install a new one on an existing square metal post at the Old Boney Trail junction.
Sign Statistics:
Signs installed: 1 today, 65 total.
Posts pounded: 0 today, 36 total.
Phase 2 signs remaining: 1.
Phase 3 signs: Preparing order for 30 signs.
Phase 4 signs: Under development.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A
Participants: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon
Hours: 15 (5.0 hours x 3 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards Read More |
| 2024.04.10 | Event #: [1054] Toe Stubber - We met at 8:30 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove into Pt. Mugu State Park. We parked at the southern trailhead for the Old Boney Trail, otherwise known as Toe Stubber, and hiked 0.6 miles steeply up the trail to where State Parks had previously ended their brushing. State Parks plans on brushing the remaining 0.5 miles to the top of Toe Stubber and requested that Trails Council concentrate its efforts on doing tread work. Therefore, we primarily spent our time filling in the most egregious ruts and built two MASSIVE drains (one 30 feet long and the other 15 feet long) to take the water from the inside drain and the heavily rutted trail all the way to the outside, with the fervent hope that they will last a very, very long time. We did not cache the tools since there is a good chance of rain next Saturday and aren’t sure when we will working this trail again. We hiked back down back to the trailhead and drove back to the cars, arriving at 2:30 p.m. A BIG thanks to the crew for working so hard on such a warm day. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Reynolds, Denise Pomonik, Norm Simmonds Read More |
| 2024.04.06 | Event #: [1053] Phantom/Liberty Cyn - We met at 8:30 at the south end of Liberty Canyon road and hiked about 1/2 mile to begin work. The work consisted almost entirely of brushing with some drains installed and others cleaned out. We employed three brush cutters and managed to finish clearing the entire length of the Phantom trail, starting at the trailhead along Mulholland and finishing on the Liberty Canyon side. We cleared about 2600 feet of trail. We returned to our vehicles, arriving around 2:30. Hours: 10 volunteers @ 6 hours each for 60 total hoursCrew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Van Gorder, Denise Pomonik, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.04.04 | Event #: [1056] Trail Survey - Trail Survey of Blue Canyon. Trail was heavily damaged by the last storm. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.04.03 | Event #: [1052] Phantom/Liberty Cyn - "Quality not quantity" was the motto for today"s outing to continue our quest to complete the Phantom Trail. Four SMMTC regulars met at the south end of Liberty Canyon Road at 8:30am. We discussed the work remaining on the trail and developed a plan of attack. Jerry used a weed whacker and continued working the grassy lower section of the trail from where he left off last week. The rest of us headed up to where we stashed the tools last week about 1 mi from the cars. Along the way we removed several dead branches hanging over the trail and we cut the trunk of a tree that had fallen right across the trail. Before lunch, we cleared out five silted drains and repaired a narrow section of trail by removing slough, building a new drain and armoring a failing downhill slope. The silted drains were put in when we worked this section of the trail two years to stop the rutting that frequently occurs there. The drains did their job as no ruts were present even with the heavy rains the past two winters. After lunch, we used one gas powered brush cutter, loppers, a saw and a battery operated pruning shear to reduce the amount of brushing needed on the next outing. We returned to the cars by 2:30pm. We have a little over 0.3 mi of poison oak infested brush remaining to complete the brushing of the entire trail. Feet of trail cleared: 800 feet. Hours: 24 (6.0 hours x 4 participants).Crew: John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.03.28 | Event #: [1049] Trail Signs Project - Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a. After a discussion of the plans for the day, we drove to the Old Boney TH and hiked 2 miles up via Toe Stubber to install two signs at the Chamberlain/Old Boney junction. For this outing we only needed to carry two new signs up and the two old signs out, so we carried minimal tools (socket wrenches, channel-locks and a hacksaw.)
Part of the purpose of this outing was to do advance scouting of Toe Stubber with Dave for
remedial work either on a scheduled outing or on Trail Days.
After completing the swap out of the signs at the foot of the Chamberlain Trail around 11:30a, we decided to hike out via Blue Canyon to assess the trail conditions from that junction to Danielson.
The Old Boney Trail section between Chamberlain and Blue Canyon is in fairly good shape. There is some rutting from the heavy rains last month and some drains need cleaning but all-in-all the trail is quite passable. The Blue Canyon Trail, however, suffered some moderate rutting in the top section and, worst of all, is completely gone in the middle section. We had to wander through brush and up and down the stream banks to find a passable route through the middle 0.3 mi of the trail. In a few
sections, the stream has gouged deep channels up to 10' deep. It will take a significant effort to restore the semblance of a path in the middle section. The lower section of the trail is in good shape except for the need to wade through the stream crossings.
Even after the water in the creek recedes, it may be some time before we will be able to install the two final Phase 2 signs at the Blue Canyon/Old Boney junction as carrying the post pounder
and 7' post will be difficult until a clear path is established.
Statistics:
Signs installed: 2 today, 64 total.
Posts pounded: 0 today, 36 total.
Phase 2 signs remaining: 2.
Hours worked: 18 (6.0 hours x 3 articipants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards Read More |
| 2024.03.27 | Event #: [1051] Phantom/Liberty Cyn - Met at Liberty Canyon trail head with 4 members of the Sierra Club. Jerry and Carlyn began weed whipping from the road crossing up the trail, completing ~.2 mi. The remainder of the crew hiked up ~1.2 miles to where previous work left off. Jon and Ruth hiked up further to complete some tread work on the previously cleared portion. We brush cut and cleared ~0.3 miles, including removing grass down to the dirt where possible. SMMTF attendees:Rachel Glegg Sherry Vatter Heidi Lennartz, YoussefCrew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jerry Mitcham, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.03.22 | Event #: [1048] Eagle Ridge - This was two, separate one day trips to work on the Eagle Ridge trail near Prisoners Harbor on Santa Cruz Island. The work consisted entirely of clearing brush with gas powered hedge trimmers and weed whackers. We had completely cleared the trail over a year and a half ago but the brush and grass grew back with a vengeance.
We did manage to clear about 0.40 mile but still have about 0.9 mile to go. We did'nt perform any tread work which requires a Chumash monitor to be with us on site. Tread
work will be done hopefully in the near future which will allow for completion of the trail so it becomes available to the general public for hiking.
The boat both days didn’t arrive at Prisoners Harbor until around noon so our work hours was limited. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Cindy Kimmick, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Christopher Ramirez Read More |
| 2024.03.20 | Event #: [1047] Trail Signs Project - Five SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a. After a discussion of the plans for the day, we drove to the Old Boney TH and installed two signs and one post. This completes the signing of all junctions on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road.
From there we carried the post pounder, two posts and three signs up the Toe Stubber section of the Old Boney Trail and installed two new signs and posts at the previously unsigned junction with Serrano Valley Trail. (A huge thanks to John Reynolds for carrying the post pounder in his backpack!) We noted that so much rutting occurred on the upper half of the trail during the recent rains that perhaps this section should be renamed Ankle Buster,especially in the sections where the brush on either side and the deep rut in the middle of the tread made it
difficult to find good footing.
After working at the trail junction, we proceeded down to the middle of Serrano Valley where we installed one temporary sign on an existing wooden post to direct park visitors to the exit route via Serrano Canyon. This should help reduce some confusion until a complete signage plan for
the entire valley is developed in a later phase.
On the way back, we sawed a very old 6 inch post in half and carried it and the post pounder back out returning to Wendy/Potrero at 3:00p.
This was the most difficult sign outing to date given the number of items that needed to be carried, sub-optimal trail conditions on Toe Stubber and the length/elevation gain involved. Good spirits and great company definitely helped us get through the day.
Statistics:
Signs installed: 5 today, 62 total.
Posts pounded: 3 today, 36 total.
Phase 2 signs remaining: 4.
Phase 3 signs: Under development.
Phase 4 signs: TBD.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.03.18 | Event #: [1046] Trail Signs Project - Five SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and carpooled into the park driving as far as the Wood Canyon Vista Trail where we installed two signs. We then backtracked to the Wood Canyon Fire Road installing another two new signs and removed two obsolete signs/posts. We finished the installation portion of the outing at the Blue Canyon TH by removing two signs/posts and installing one post with signs on the front and back.
We then scouted the Blue Canyon Trail to see if there were any impediments to the sign outing scheduled there for next week. We determined that it would be problematic carrying loads up to the Old Boney Trail junction due to brush, bank erosion at some crossings and having to wade across the creek multiple times. We will postpone the outing scheduled for 3/26/2024 until the water recedes.
Signs installed: 6 today, 57 total.
Posts pounded: 4 today, 33 total.
Phase 2 signs remaining: 9.
Phase 3 signs: Under development.
Phase 4 signs: TBD.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.03.16 | Event #: [1045] COSCA Spring Work Day - We met at the Santa Rosa Valley Park, and as volunteers signed in, sent them off to pick up their tool and follow the crew leader to their assigned area. At least one ranger accompanied each group to show them the way to their assigned area.
We completed all the work identified in my scoping report of March 14 plus the horse bypass trail, the farthest point, about a 2 mile hike each way.
Everybody headed back to Santa Rosa Valley Park, where we were treated to tacos and treats, followed by a raffle. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, John Kross, Jon Van Gorder, Cindy Kimmick, Denise Pomonik, John Reynolds, Kirsten Rosselot, Anne Russell, Peter Sullivan, Barb Thomas, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.03.15 | Event #: [1043] Trail Signs Project - Another day, another sign.
Four SMMTC regulars met at the Sandstone Peak TH at 8:30a and hiked over 6 miles round-trip to install one replacement sign at the junction of the Chamberlain and Tri-Peaks trails near the State Park/NPS boundary and carried out the old sign.
It was a glorious SoCal day: blue sky,clouds, cool temps, birds, butterflies, flowing water and lots of wildflowers starting to bloom.
Statistics:
Signs installed: 1 today, 51 total.
Posts pounded: 0 today, 29 total.
Phase 2 signs remaining: 15.
Phase 3 signs: Under development.
Phase 4 signs: TBD.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A
Hours worked: 24. (6 hours x 4 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.03.14 | Event #: [1044] COSCA Spring Work Day - This trail Scoping outing was to identify trails and trailwork for COSCA's Spring Trail Work event Saturday March 16.
We met at the Hill Canyon bridge and walked from there. Here is the work we flagged:
Crew #1 (10 people) : Re-route trail around the trench, getting away from the present edge of the trail. Brush, fill-in ruts. Tools: McLeods, pick mattocks
Crew #2 (10 people) : Widen trail and move it away from eroded edge, improve ramp and stream crossing. Brush, fill in ruts. Tools: Mc Leods or rogue hoes, pick mattocks
Crew #3 (5 people) : Cut trail to oak grove. Grub and flatten area under oak trees in preparation for a picnic table. Tools: Mc. Leods or rogue hoes, pick mattocks.
Crew #4 (15 people): Remove rocks, brush, fill in ruts, clear drains. Add drains where needed. McLeods or rogue hoes, pick mattocks.
Crew Invasives: 15 people. Remove castor bean, milk thistle, hemlock, and some tree tobacco. Tools: loppers, hand saws, some pick mattocks
Overflow: If we get more people, they will be sent to the Hawk Canyon trail past the flag for Crew 1 to brush and widen the trail 4 feet, with 2 feet clearance on either side, for an 8' trail corridor.
Total hours: 3 x 3 = 9 hours
Feet of trail maintained: N/A Crew: John Kross, Denise Pomonik, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.03.14 | Event #: [1055] Trail Survey - Trail survey in preparation for COSCA Spring Work Day. Crew: John Kross, Denise Pomonik, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.03.12 | Event #: [1042] Signs Project - Sycamore Canyon Road - Four SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and drove into the park. We were accompanied by a State Park archaeologist as some of today's locations are located in culturally sensitive locations. We installed five new signs, replaced three older signs and removed two obsolete signs. Most of the signs were easily accessible from Sycamore Canyon Fire Road, but the sign at the top of the Fossil Trail required carrying a new sign 1 mile up the trail and the old sign back down to the car. Statistics: Signs installed: 8 today, 50 total. Posts pounded: 5 today, 29 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 16. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Hours worked: 24. (6 hours x 4 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.03.09 | Event #: [1041] Phantom Trail - We met at 8:30 at the Phantom trailhead along Mulholland Dr. We hiked about 1.1 miles to begin work where we left off last time. We continued brushing the trail with three brush cutters. It was routine work. We did some tread work in a few sections. We managed to clear about 0.35 mile of trail and have cleared about 1.45 miles of trail from the trailhead along Mulholland. This leaves about a mile to go to Liberty Canyon where we’ll start from on our next outing.
Crew size: 7 volunteers.
Hours worked: 6
Total hours: 42
Feet of trail cleared: 1850 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2024.03.08 | Event #: [1050] Channel Islands - This was a multi-day trip to The Nature Conservancy on Santa Cruz Island. Our main work consisted of clearing and brushing the Chapel trail which begins near the historic chapel at the Main Ranch in the central valley. The first day we worked three hours using a weed whacker and a brush cutter on the first part of the trail. It rained on and off on the second day, a Wednesday, but we worked in it anyway for four hours. The third day we put in eight hours doing lots of brushing in several sections where the trail was almost invisible due to the heavy brush. On the last day we split up into two groups. One group, consisting of Juan Carlo, John and Cindy, was driven to the beginning of Matanza road which joins up with the other end of the Chapel trail. They hiked up Matanza road about a mile to begin work and cleared the trail for about 1/3 mile to meet up with the other end. The other group worked on clearing along the sides of Islay road and got about 0.40 mile up the road. Chapel trail is about 1.3 miles long up to where it joins up with Matanza road. Total hours worked: 21 per volunteer for 147 total. Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Reynolds, Cindy Kimmick, Lisa Markowitz and Vitali Sobko Read More |
| 2024.03.04 | Event #: [1040] Signs Project Phase 2 - PHASE TWO SIGN INSTALLATIONS BEGIN! Phase 2 encompasses the balance of the Boney Mountain Wilderness Area (except for Serrano Valley) and all signage directly on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road north of the Serrano Canyon Trail. The entire Backbone Trail will be signed when this phase is completed. Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and drove into the park. We installed six new signs and replaced three damaged signs along Sycamore Canyon Fire Road: at the top of the asphalt hill and at the junctions with Hidden Pond Trail, the “Spur” Trail, Ranch Center Road and the Sin Nombre Connector Trail. Statistics: Signs installed: 9 today, 42 total. Posts pounded: 6 today, 24 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 24. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants: Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours worked: 18. (6 hours x 3 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.02.24 | Event #: [1039] Phantom Trail - We met at 8:30 at the Phantom trailhead along Mulholland Dr. We hiked about 0.92 miles to begin work where we left off last Saturday. We continued brushing the trail with three brush cutters. This time out we encountered lots of green bark ceanothus which had grown in almost blocking the trail for about 200 feet. This slowed our progress considerably. Hikers haven’t used this part of the trail because of the overgrown brush and consequently have established a use trail which goes up and over a hill and down the other side. Although we did tread work in places to rejuvenate the trail, several more outings will be required just for tread work. Juan Carlo and Denise continued our work on a section of trail about 0.35 miles up from the trailhead where we had established a large drain in a somewhat rocky and steep section. It is much easier to negotiate now. We returned to our cars along Mulholland around 2:30.
Because of the dense ceanothus, we were only able to brush about two tenths of a mile.
Crew size: 11 volunteers.
Hours worked: 6 (one volunteer worked 4 hours)
Total hours: 64
Feet of trail cleared: 1060 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Jon Van Gorder, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Denise Pomonik, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2024.02.17 | Event #: [1037] Phantom Trail - This trail maintenance event was the second of several scheduled consecutive outings on MCSP’s Phantom Trail. A crew of 10 met along Mulholland Drive at the southern end of the Phantom Trail at 8:30 a.m. Tools had been cached the week before where work stopped (about .6 mile in), so we carried relatively few tools on the hike in. Two crew members stayed behind to clear and rebuild a drain midway up in a very steep section. Three other crew members ran brush cutters through the extremely dense brush, which was mostly deerweed and required multiple passes to clear. We also improved the tread on some of the steeper sections where there was erosion, but overall the tread is in good shape up the point where we stopped. Past that point, there is a section that will need a deeper bench cut into the hillside (at about .85 mile). The trimmers were producing large bales of cuttings, so the remaining crew cleaned up the cuttings using rakes and McLeods and disposed them out of sight. We only encountered 4 hikers total, so there were few interruptions to the workday. We ended work at 1:15 p.m., cached tools, and hiked back to the cars by 2 p.m. We cleared approximately 0.25 mile. Crew size: 10. Total Hours worked: 60 hours. Total feet of trail maintained: 1,320. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Jon Van Gorder, Denise Pomonik, Anne Russell, Norm Simmonds Read More |
| 2024.02.16 | Event #: [1038] Prisoners Harbor - Summary: We left for Santa Cruz Island at 9:00 a.m. on an Island Packers boat and arrived at Prisoners Harbor at around11:30. We loaded a few fence posts in the work truck and drove up the Navy road about 3/10 of a mile to the helicopter LZ. We finished attaching the wire to the posts at the LZ and continued down a fairly straight line for about 100 yards where we finished for the day. Once again the wire was very hard to deal with. We still have a long way to go with the project having finished only a little less than half of the fence line. We finished the project around 3:00 and boarded the 3:30 boat back to the mainland, this time making a straight run to Ventura Harbor bypassing the Scorpion pickup. These day trips don’t give us near enough time to get much done. Future trips may give us another hour on the island to work with.
Crew size: 9 volunteers.
Hours worked: 3.5
Total hours: 31.5 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Solomon Adams, Cindy Kimmick, Christopher Ramirez, Anne Russell, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2024.02.10 | Event #: [1036] Phantom Trail - This was a routine planned trail maintenance event and the first of several consecutive outings on this trail. A crew of 8 met along Mulholland Drive at the southern end of the Phantom Trail at 8 am. After signing-in and discussing the goals and objectives for today we conducted a safety talk and then gathered the tools and proceeded up the trail. The first portion of the trail had been brushed by State Parks last year and was in good condition. Using three brush cutters we trimmed back the heavy vegetation consisting mostly of deerweed, mustard, and mallow from the trail. Three crew members worked on a steep section of trail and improved the drainage and tread while closing a side path to make the primary route more distinct. A baby rattlesnake was encountered while cutting brush, but it with the cool temperatures, it didn't move quickly. Making very good progress, we all worked together with the 3 hedge trimmers to trim the brush encroaching into the trail corridor. While the trimmers trimmed, the supporters who followed raked and cleaned-up the cuttings using rakes, McLeods, loppers, pick mattocks, and hand clippers. Lots of deerweed was removed to restore a well-groomed trail corridor. We ended work at 1:30 p.m. and then we hiked back to our meeting place at 2 p.m. We anticipate on returning next Saturday, February 17th. We cleared approximately 0.3 mile. Crew size: 8 Total Hours worked: 48 hours total (8 volunteers 6 hours each) Total feet of trail maintained: 1584 feet (0.3 miles)Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Robert Bitner, Nolan Desanto Read More |
| 2024.02.03 | Event #: [1035] Old Boney Trail - Met at parking lot at Wendy & Potrero. Shuttled to Danielson Ranch in 3 vehicles. Gave Safety Presentation. Distributed some tools and began the one mile plus hike to the work site. Arranged volunteers into work groups. We had 3 hedge trimmers in use. The other volunteers cut and removed the larger brush and shrubs encroaching on the trail. The section of the Old Boney trail was quickly completed and we finished hedge trimming by 10:30. It was decided to clear the Blue Canyon towards Chamberlain rock. While the clippings were cleared and removed, the hedge trimmers worked their magic on the Backbone Trail. Lunch was taken on the Backbone Trail. After lunch the crew assembled into working groups of 3 or 4 and cleared nearly a third of a mile. At approximately 1:30 we stopped working, removed clippings, and cleaned up the trail. After this was completed, we hiked back to the vehicles. A job well done.Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Solomon Adams, Denise Pomonik, Roger Young, Charles Knowles, Clary Estes, Andrew Readinger Read More |
| 2024.01.27 | Event #: [1034] Old Boney Trail - This was an event with So Cal trail runners. We had 14 trail runners including a couple of late arrivals, 2 Sea Bees (Nolan Desanto and George Romero) that have come out with us several times, 1 semi-regular that has not filed paperwork yet (Suzanne Clark), and 1 special guest (Becky Sheldon). Eight SMMTC regulars, for a total of 26 volunteers. We met at the the Wendy trailhead and shuttled in 5 vehicles down to the Danielson campground. After a safety and tool talk we proceeded to where we had left off the week before, about a 1.5 mile hike. We recovered our cached tools, and after the tools were assigned went to work . The work was primarily brushing. But we had enough people that some of them filled ruts in the middle of the trail by knocking down the edges of the rut. No other ground was disturbed, unless you consider stump removal ground disruption. Only stumps on the trail were removed. We operated two gas powered and one electric brush cutters. Total hours: 26 x 6 = 156 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,000Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, John Kross, George Sherman, Suzanne Clark, Denise Pomonik, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.01.26 | Event #: [1033] Prisoneers Harbor - We left for Santa Cruz Island at 9:00 a.m. on an Island Packers boat and arrived at Prisoners Harbor at 11:00. We loaded up several fence posts and drove up the Navy road to the newly defined helicopter landing zone. Our task today was to string three strands of wire to the posts, stretch it as tight as possible using a wire stretching tool and fastening the wire to the posts with wire clips. We found the wire to be very difficult to work with. It is very stiff and springy and is not amenable to twisting in order to secure it to the post. Also, we spent valuable time unwinding wire that became tangled up when we started pulling it from the coil. We managed to affix three strands to posts covering about half of the helicopter LZ and started putting the first strand on the other half of the LZ. We drove a few posts into the ground, attached wire to the top of the end post and down to the bottom of the stabilizer post to provide stability at end runs when we stretched the wire and also a few places in between. We laid out several feet of wire to be attached on the next outing. It will probably take two more day trips to finish attaching the wire. After the fence project is finished we’ll be working in the campground and on the Eagle Ridge trail. We finished the project around 2:45 and boarded the 3:15 boat back to the mainland via a Scorpion Harbor pickup of several passengers.
Crew size: 10 volunteers.
Hours worked: 3.5
Total hours: 35 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, Solomon Adams, John Reynolds, Kirsten Rosselot Read More |
| 2024.01.25 | Event #: [1032] Scenic Trail - PHASE ONE IS DONE! This was the fifth and final outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today’s objective was to install signs near the Scenic Trail junction with the Overlook Fire Road and completely remove one unneeded sign and two unneeded posts. Four SMMTC regulars met at the Sycamore Canyon Day Use parking lot at 8:30a and drove in one vehicle up the Overlook Fire Road to its junction with the Scenic Trail. We removed one unneeded reassurance sign/post and one unneeded hollow square metal post and installed two replacement signs at the junction. We then proceeded to carry tools, a post and two signs 0.1 mi down the Scenic Trail to its junction with the Great Dune View Trail and the path to the viewpoint where we installed one new sign/post and replaced one vandalized sign. As on previous outings, we were able to discard the old signs in the State Park dumpster at the La Jolla Canyon Day Use Area (painted aluminum cannot be recycled) and completed the outing by 11:30a. Statistics: Signs installed: 4 today, 33 total. Posts pounded: 1 today, 18 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 0. Phase 2 signs ordered: 34. Expect delivery by the end of March. Phase 3 signs. Expect to place the order in early March with delivery by mid-May. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants : Barry Dydyk, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours worked : 12. (3 hoursx4 participants).Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.01.20 | Event #: [1030] Old Boney Trail - On a rainy day, we met at the trailhead (8:30) and drove two vehicles to Danielson Ranch. We gathered our tools and hiked up the Blue Canyon trail about 9/10 of a mile and then headed up the Old Boney Trail to where we left off last time. Jon, Roger and Greg operated the brush cutters. Clean up and shrub detail were handled by John, George, Ruth, Solomon, and Dave. Much of what we cut was ceanothus, black sage or mallow. Nearly a quarter mile of a mile was worked on. Cut brush was hidden off trail after being cut into smaller pieces. The next outing will have us continuing to clear Old Boney heading toward Blue Canyon trail. We expect it will take several more outings. We arrived back at Wendy at 3:00. Note: George surveyed the trail on the Sunday prior to this event. Significant amounts of greenbark ceanothus was pruned during the survey.
Crew size: 8 volunteers.
Hours worked: 58
Feet of trail cleared: 1320
Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Solomon Adams, John Reynolds, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.01.18 | Event #: [1029] Scheduling Meeting - We met at 6PM to dine on pizza, salad and non-alcoholic beverages. In the course of two hours we hashed out a work schedule for the next several months.
Representatives of CORBA, SMMTF and of course CA State Parks were on hand.
Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Anne Russell, Peter Sullivan, Barb Thomas, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.01.17 | Event #: [1031] Old Boney Trail - Met at Wendy Trailhead and drove to Danielson. Hiked ~2 miles to worksite. Performed brushing and trimming to widen trail to standard. Opened one drain. Completed ~0.2 miles. Incident: While gathering tools at the end of the workday, Don Brusselars cut his index finger on an electric lopper. First aid at the site was slowing bleeding (clot gauze) and wrapping to prevent further trauma and stabilize the finger. We hiked out and he was taken to ER and the finger was stitched. Don is to see a hand specialist and plastic surgeon for further treatment. Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, John Reynolds, Barb Thomas, Carol Gravelle Read More |
| 2024.01.16 | Event #: [1028] Prisoners Harbor Campground - We left for Santa Cruz Island at 9:00 a.m. on an Island Packers boat and arrived at Prisoners Harbor at 11:00. We loaded up several fence posts and drove up the Navy road to the newly defined helicopter landing zone. We began pounding steel fence posts 18 inches into the ground using a gas powered pounder and two regular pounders. Juan Carlo operated the gas pounder with others using the other pounders. We managed to get 101 posts set thus finishing this phase of the project. The next phase will be to affix three separate strands of smooth wire to the posts. We finished the project around 2:15 and boarded the 2:45 boat back to the mainland via a Scorpion Harbor pickup of several passengers. Crew size: 10 volunteers. Hours worked: 3.5 Total hours: 35 Feet of trail cleared: 2100 Additional Crew: Lisa Markowitz, and Greg Giloth. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Cindy Kimmick, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Christopher Ramirez, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2024.01.15 | Event #: [1027] Trail Signs Project - This was the fourth outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install signs along/near the Overlook Fire Road and completely remove some old,unneeded, signs and their posts. Five SMMTC regulars left Wendy/Potrero at 8:15a and drove into the park with the first destination being the top of Hell Hill where we replaced two signs. We then proceeded to the Wood Canyon Vista Trail where we installed one new sign, replaced an older sign and then installed a new sign 0.1 mi down the trail to alert downhill users that the trail continued to the left and not straight ahead along a use trail. On the way to the Ray Miller trail junction, we removed an obsolete sign/post and when arriving at the junction removed another obsolete sign/post, installed a new sign and replaced a heavily vandalized sign. We then installed a new sign 0.4 mi from the Overlook Fire Road on the Ray Miller Trail to provide guidance to trail users heading uphill that the official trail continues to the left and not up the steep use trail straight ahead. Just as we finished installing this sign, two hikers approached us coming down the steep use trail and commented that they would have stayed on the actual trail had the sign been in place earlier but they chose the uphill route by mistake. We finished the day's work at the Fireline Trail junction by replacing one vandalized sign and installing one new sign and arrived back at the meeting point at 2:45p. Signs installed: 10 today, 29 total. Posts pounded: 5 today, 18 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 4. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Hours worked: 32.5 (6.5 hours x 5)Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2024.01.13 | Event #: [1026] Old Boney Trail - We met at 8:00 at Wendy and Potrero and drove into the park stopping at the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead where we dropped off several volunteers. They hiked up Fossil trail and onto Old Boney to where we left off last time. Three drivers continued on to Danielson and hiked about 2.3 miles up Blue Canyon and then Old Boney north meeting up with the other volunteers. We proceeded to clear about 0.40 mile of trail on Old Boney heading south toward Blue Canyon. This leaves about one mile of brush clearing to get to the Blue Canyon juncture. It'll probably take three more outings. Crew size: 13 volunteers. Hours worked: 84.5 Feet of trail cleared: 2100 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, John Kross, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Carlyn Taggart, Suzanne Clark, Denise Pomonik, Roger Young, Nolan Desanto, George Romero Read More |
| 2024.01.11 | Event #: [1025] Trail Signs Project - This was the third outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install four signs along the Mugu Peak Trail. I had previously hiked up the Chumash Trail to scout the various trails and fire road to ensure that there was no mud after December's storm and to determine if there were any impediments due to brush. Six SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a to drive into the park. We were accompanied by Ann Stansell, a State Park archaeologist as all of the sign locations are in culturally sensitive areas. We drove in two cars down Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and up Hell Hill into La Jolla Valley. We carried four signs, four posts, a post pounder and miscellaneous tools aided by Dave’s deer-hauler. The farthest sign was a 2.4 mi walk from the vehicles. Three new signs were installed near the top of the Chumash Trail and the fourth sign was installed at the Mugu Peak Spur Trail 0.2 mi E of the summit. These were all new installations so only the post pounder needed to be carried out. We arrived back at Wendy/Potrero at 2:30p. Signs installed: 4 today, 19 total. Posts pounded: 4 today, 13 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 14. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2024.01.10 | Event #: [1024] Old Boney Trail - We met at 8:00 a.m. at Wendy/Potrero and drove into Pt. Mugu State Park. We hiked steeply up the Fossil Trail to the Old Boney Trail, a distance of 1.4 miles. We brushed, raked, cut and sawed 0.3 miles, and then trudged 1.7 miles back to the trailhead. We arrived back at the cars around 3:00 p.m. There is approximately 1.4 miles left to clear of the Old Boney Trail on the next four scheduled outings. Crew size: 8 volunteers. Hours worked: 7. Total hours: 56. Total feet of trail maintained: 1,584 feet (0.30 miles). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Suzanne Clark, Dave Edwards, Lucinda Mittleman, Don Brusselars, John Kross, Chris LaVallee. Read More |
| 2024.01.06 | Event #: [1023] Old Boney Trail - This was the fifth outing of perhaps ten to clear three miles of trail (all of Fossil and the section of Old Boney between the Fossil and Blue Canyon trails).
Eleven volunteers met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30am and drove into the park. We hiked 1.1 mile up the Fossil Trail and a short distance on the Old Boney Trail to where we stashed the tools at the end of last week’s outing. Using a variety of tools we pruned, cut, sawed, lopped and raked one of the most overgrown sections of the Old Boney Trail ending at the divide between the Fossil
and Blue Canyon drainages. We walked 1.4 mi back to where we started and arrived back at the meeting point a little after 2:30pm.
We have five more outings scheduled to clear the remaining 1.7 mi of the Old Boney Trail.
Feet of trail cleared: 1,584 (0.3 mi)
Hours worked: 66.0 (6 hours x11 participants) Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Roger Young Read More |
| 2024.01.03 | Event #: [1022] Trail Signs Install - This was the second outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install signs along the Old Cabin Trail (aka Danielson Road). Ruth and I had recently scouted the trail to evaluate the effort to remove the fasteners from the old signs and to check on the trail conditions and creek crossing due to recent storms. Nine SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero to drive into the park. We were accompanied by Ann Stansell, a State Park archaeologist as one of the new sign locations is in a culturally sensitive area. Because of the rain that occurred overnight, we parked the cars by the water tank at the top of the asphalt hill to avoid driving on the dirt road to the usual parking spot 0.3 mi to the east. This meant that the farthest location was a 2 mile walk each way. We carried six signs, three posts, a post pounder and miscellaneous tools aided by Dave's deer-hauler. We carried out three old signs, one removed post from an old two-poster sign, the post pounder and tools. New signs were installed where the Old Cabin Trail heads downhill towards the creek (1), at the Old Cabin Trail/Upper Sycamore Trail junction (2), at the Waterfall Trail/Old Cabin Trail junction (2) and at the Old Cabin Trail/Old Boney Trail junction (1). Signs installed: 6 today, 15 total. Posts pounded: 3 today, 9 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 18. Feet of trail cleared: N/ACrew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds, Anne Russell, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.12.30 | Event #: [1021] Old Boney Trail - We met at 9:00 at Wendy and Potrero and drove down and parked at the Upper Sycamore trailhead just past the bridge. We gathered our tools and hiked up the Fossil trail about 8/10 of a mile to where we left off last time. Jon and Greg operated the brush cutters, they trimmed about .15 of a mile. Jon and Greg then cleared the cut pieces from the trail before moving onto the section that had been pruned. Dave, Barb, John Reynolds and George went up to the intersection with Old Boney Trail and began pruning the shrubs along the trails edge. Much of what we cut was greenbark ceanothus or mallow. Nearly 2 tenths of a mile was worked on. Cut brush was hidden off trail after being cut into smaller pieces. Along the way we cleaned out a few drains. We cleared about 3/10 of a mile or 1600 feet of trail. We're now about 0.2 mile from the saddle where Old Boney winds its way down to Blue Canyon. The next outing will have us continuing to clear Old Boney as we head toward Blue Canyon trail. We expect it will take several more outings. We arrived back at Wendy at 3:15. Note: George surveyed the trail on the Sunday prior to the event. Crew size: 6 volunteers. Hours worked: 6. Total hours: 38. Feet of trail cleared: 1600. Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Reynolds, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.12.23 | Event #: [1020] Fossil Trail - We met at 8:30 at Wendy and Potrero and drove down and parked at the Upper Sycamore trailhead just past the bridge. We gathered our tools and hiked up the Fossil trail about 6/10 of a mile to where we left off last time. George, Jon and Greg operated the brush cutters. Dave, Ruth and daughter Becky and Kirsten followed behind raking and clearing the trail. Along the way we cleaned out a few drains. We cleared about 3/10 of a mile or 1600 feet of trail. We're about 0.15 mile from the intersection of Old Boney. The next outing will complete Fossil Trail. We will continue clearing Old Boney heading toward Blue Canyon trail. Of course this will take several more outings. We arrived back at Wendy at 2:30.
Crew size: 8 volunteers.
Hours worked: 6
Total hours: 48
Feet of trail cleared: 1600 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Kirsten Rosselot Read More |
| 2023.12.16 | Event #: [1019] Serrano Valley Trails - We had 7 volunteers, all regulars.
We met at the Sycamore campground day parking lot and shuttled in two trucks to the trailhead.
We split into 2 crews. George Sherman, Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon went to take out the fallen tree that Jon had reported to CSP last month (photos by Jon Sheldon attached).
Dave Edwards and Greg Sweel ran power brush cutters and the rest of us raked and hid the clippings.
Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon also dressed the trail at a couple of creek crossings, which are now much improved.
We have two more outings on this trail, dates TBD. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2023.12.13 | Event #: [1018] BBT - Kanan to Latigo - We met at the BBT trailhead on Kanan Rd. Dave Edwards brought an extra hedger. We had a total of 9 SMMTC crew leaders, 2 MBU, and 1 from Santa Monica Mountains Task Force
Juan Carlo carried some tools up on a E-bike and his trailer. The group began work immediately at the trailhead on the west side of Latigo Canyon Rd. John Kross, Jon Sheldon and Carlyn ran brush cutters.
Because we didn't do any treadwork, per NPS direction, we moved quickly, removing overgrown brush and any dead trees that were impeding head clearance. We carefully gathered and removed cut brush and disposed of it off the trail. We covered .8 mile.
We stopped work at 2:30 p.m. and hiked back to our vehicles and enjoyed sodas, courtesy of Dave.
We all departed the lot by about 2:50pm.
Total volunteer hours: 12 x 6.5 = 78
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Barb Thomas, Don Brusselars, John Kross, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2023.12.09 | Event #: [1017] Scheduling & Reporting - Hours for scheduling events and reports (January thru December). Crew: George Sherman Read More |
| 2023.12.06 | Event #: [1016] BBT - Latigo to Kanan - Met at Latigo trail head and hiked to where the Saturday crew left off. Continued with brushing the trail, hiding brush off trail and removing stumps in the trail bed that were trip hazards. Total distance 0.4 miles.
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Barb Thomas, Don Brusselars, John Kross, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2023.12.02 | Event #: [1014] BBT - Latigo to Kanan - We met at the dirt lot for the BBT trailhead on Latigo Canyon Rd.. Dave Edwards brought all the tools. We had a total of 16 SMMTC crew leaders and volunteers, 2 of whom were first-timers.
The group began work immediately at the trailhead on the west side of Latigo Canyon Rd. Greg Sweel, Steve Clark and Jon Sheldon ran brush cutters.
Because we didn't do any treadwork, per NPS direction, we moved quickly, removing overgrown brush and any dead trees that were impeding head clearance. We carefully gathered and removed cut brush and disposed of it off the trail. We covered .7 mile.
Total volunteer hours: 7 x 6 = 96
Feet maintained: 3,696
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Jerry Mitcham, Don Brusselars, Steve Clark, John Kross, Anne Russell, Norm Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.11.29 | Event #: [1015] Prisoners Harbor Campground - Summary: We met at Island Packers at 8:00 and filled out paperwork for NPS. We departed on the Island Packers boat at 9:00, arriving at Prisoners Harbor at 11:00. We then walked from the pier, with all of the tools, a quarter mile to the site of the new campground and had lunch. We previously cleared and leveled six sites over a year ago and are just now getting back to it. Three weed whackers were deployed to clear vegetation around the tent pads and the trails leading to them and through the campground. We also cleared weeds and brush around the site of the pit toilet and a stack of 6x8x8 timbers. After finishing work in the campground three of our crew were dropped off a short distance up the Navy Road to clear a helicopter landing site. I drove the remaining crew of 5 in a pickup truck to the Del Norte cabin site with Sterling Holdorf, our NPS coordinator, following behind in another pickup. We loaded 36 or so 6x8x8 timbers into the pickup and drove them to the campground where they were unloaded. Sterling picked up our crew of 3 at the helicopter LZ along with the weed whackers and met us at the campground. The timbers will be used to border the tent pads with decomposed granite filling in to level the sites.
We still have lots of work to do to complete this project. It will require a Chumash monitor to observe our work in digging in and leveling the timbers bordering the tent pads. This will most likely be a few months from now. We hope to get back to finishing the Eagle Ridge trail sometime next year (also requiring a Chumash monitor).
We departed Prisoners Harbor at 2:45 and arrived back at Ventura Harbor at 4:15. Crew size: 8 Total hours: 28 Crew: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Cindy Kimmick, Greg Giloth Read More |
| 2023.11.25 | Event #: [1013] Serrano Canyon - We had 12 volunteers, 11 regulars plus 1 student from CSUCI (environmental studies, not from the Trail Corps).
We split into 3 crews. Three of us went to the raised culvert to finish the ramp we had to leave unfinished two weeks ago because of the ground wasps. Two ran brush cutters. The rest of the group raked and hid clippings, cleared slough off the trail, improved sections of the bench, and did a lot of lopping.
The highlights of the day were:
1) a hiker that happened to go by, stopped to thank the volunteers for the work we do, and donated $100 to SMMTC (on the spot, with a one-hundred dollar bill).
2) After we finished our day, we began to hike back and got to the two large tree trunks across the trail. Then, the inevitable happened. A handsaw flashed in someone’s hand. Then another, and another. Before you could bat an eye, three or four people were sawing away, with others at the ready to relief them. The trunks didn’t stand a chance. We were able to remove large portion of the logs so they are no longer an obstacle.
Total hours: 12 x 6 = 72 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 2,112 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Don Brusselars, Cindy Kimmick, John Kross, Peter Sullivan, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.11.12 | Event #: [1012] Two Foxes - Four volunteers along with two weed whips, two rakes and two Kebtec electric snips cleared 3/4ths of a mile along the two Foxes trail.
Steve Messer organized the event and CORBA provided the necessary tools.
Total hours: 4 x 6 = 24 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 3960 Crew: George Sherman, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2023.11.11 | Event #: [1011] Serrano Canyon - We had 10 volunteers, 9 regulars plus 1 from the Trail Corps.
We met at the Sycamore campground day parking lot and shuttled in three trucks to the trailhead.
We split into 3 crews. Three of us focused on clearing the 2 branches and 1 treetop blocking the trail. We also cut branches that were hanging low on the trail. Another crew ran a power brush cutter and raked the cuttings. A third crew cleared slough off the trail.
Peter Sullivan was working on improving the ramp going into the creek 1.2 miles from the trailhead when he got stung by ground wasps, so we had to leave that project for next Saturday.
With work for the day completed, we headed back to the cars.
Total hours: 11 x 6 = 66 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 1,590
Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Jerry Mitcham, George Sherman, John Kross, Kirsten Rosselot, Peter Sullivan Read More |
| 2023.11.04 | Event #: [1010] Old Boney to Chamberlain - Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero and proceeded to drive down to the Danielson Multi-use area at 8:00 a.m. After conducting a safety talk we hiked up Blue Canyon to the Old Boney trail and began clearing brush and weeds about a half mile from the Chamberlain juncture. We split up into several groups since we had a group of 16 trail runners and 9 of our regulars. We employed two gas powered and one battery powered brush cutters and managed to clear the upper part of Old Boney and the Chamberlain Rock trail to the Rock. Not all of the trail needed clearing but large sections were severally overgrown. We also cleared 5 or so drains.
There's lots of clearing needed on the Blue Canyon trail all the way to the Old Boney juncture.
We arrived back at Danielson at 2:00 p.m. and to Wendy at 2:30.
Crew size: 9 regulars and 16 non-regulars for 25 total volunteers.
Hours worked: 6.5 times 25 volunteers = 162.5 total hours
Feet of trail cleared: 8000 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, Cindy Kimmick, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman, Roger Young Read More |
| 2023.11.01 | Event #: [1009] Musch Trail - This was a special project to repair trail damage resulting from last winter's heavy rains. This area was worked in the spring, but this one spot could not be repaired at that time due to standing water and heavy mud. The area was now completely dried out and ready for remedial work. There were nine SMMTC volunteers present. One member of the Sierra Club Task force was also present. State Parks staff provided invaluable support, in preparation for and execution of the project.
Met at the parking lot at Trippet Ranch. Conducted project, and safety briefings. Hiked approximately .25 miles to the work site on the Musch Trail. The project involved replacing one old water bar and construction of two new timber steps filled with crush (gravel). The State Park employees had already prepositioned materials at the work site. This saved the volunteer crew probably several hours of additional work.
The remains of an old water bar timber was removed and replaced by a new timber and the drain was reshaped and groomed to provide effective drainage.
Two new eight inch steps, with seven foot landings and side rails were installed. The landing areas were filled with crush and topped with soil.
One new rock step was installed at a nearby location. Minor other trail grooming was performed in the immediate area.
Completed work and hiked back to the meeting place.
Project complete.
Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 4.0 hours = 36.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 100 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2023.10.31 | Event #: [1008] Musch Trail Event Prep - This report covers activities over the span of a few days to prepare for the Special Trail Maintenance event scheduled for November 1, on the Musch Trail in Topanga State Park. All these actiies were carried out by one volunteer, Jerry Mitcham..
Monday, October 23, 2023
Traveled to Roadside Lumber in Agoura Hills to pick up lumber required for the Musch Trail steps. Loaded lumber, returned home.
Tasks complete
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Cut lumber to proper length, and notched the ends to construct the steps. Drilled holes in all timbers to facilitate securing the steps in place.
Tasks complete
Monday, October 30, 2023.
Loaded project lumber onto truck and drove to Topanga State Park.
Met with State Park employees. Unloaded lumber. Surveyed work project with SP employees. Drove home.
Completed the day’s activities.
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Drove to Sylmar, CA to meet with State Parks staff and purchase and pick-up the crush (gravel) for the Musch Trail project.
Picked-up the crush. Drove to Newbury Park to pick-up tools for the event.
Loaded tools. Drove home
The days activities complete.
Total volunteer hours: 1 Volunteers x 10 hours = 10.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: NA Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2023.10.28 | Event #: [1007] Upper Sycamore - The SMMTC trail crew and a CSUCI Trail Corp volunteer met at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead. Project briefings and safety talk were presented. We discussed ways to clear the trail and maintain existing widths. There was a substantial amount of non-native grass to be dealt with.
Shuttled into the park in 3 vehicles. Handed out tools and placed crew into 3 groups.
Norm , Sharon, Greg, George and Dave worked the first quarter mile of trail. Brush was trimmed and removed. Other crew members walked up to the point we left off in April. Greg, George & Dave worked their way up the trail to where the rest of the crew was working. Greg, Christopher and Jon van Gorder leapfrogged up the trail. Kirsten, Ruth, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn tackled many sections of the trail where the grass was encroaching.
Lunch was taken alongside the trail – taking advantage of the shade.
Resumed work. We did our best to trim encroaching grasses and brush but refrained from removing too much brush. We kept the trail narrow in many spots and where the trail spread out a bit on the older roadbed did our best to not widen excessively. One existing drain was cleared of silt.
Returned to vehicles.
Total volunteer hours: 12 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 72.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 3,500 Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, Jon Van Gorder, Jerry Mitcham, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.10.21 | Event #: [1006] COSCA Fall Work Day - Thirteen SMMTC volunteers showed up to support the COSCA Fall Trails Work Day at Wildwood Park, six of whom acted in a crew leader capacity. The event attracted about 100 participants and was separated into six groups covering three trails and the Meadows picnic area.
Three groups were assigned to the Santa Rosa Trail. Group 1, led by Dave Edwards, hiked to the top and used wheelbarrows, water packs, tampers and hand tools to fill in heavily rutted sections, cleaned drains and brushed the switchbacks on the uppermost 0.2 mi of the trail. (All tools and water were driven to the top by COSCA rangers using an access road. A pile of dirt at the top leftover from the Spring 2022 event held in the same area was used for fill.) Group 2, led by Greg Sweel, cleared brush and cactus(!) from a 0.25 mi section in the middle section and fixed many tread issues. Group 3, led by Steve Clark, worked 0.3 mi of the lower section, brushing, lopping thick Lemonade berry and clearing drains.
Barb Thomas led a group clearing brush and filling in ruts on the Stagecoach Bluff Trail. Jon Van Gorder shepherded a group on the Moonridge Trail clearing brush, removing slough and widening narrow sections. Jerry Mitcham supervised volunteers in the Meadows Picnic area by removing weeds, and brush in the amphitheater. Jerry’s group was assisted by 11 members of the CYCC (Conejo Youth Conservation Corps).
Feet of trail cleared: 1.3 mi Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Steve Clark, Jon Van Gorder, Cindy Kimmick, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds, Kirsten Rosselot, Barb Thomas, Roger Young Read More |
| 2023.10.19 | Event #: [1005] COSCA Fall Trail Survey - Met COSCA Rangers (Bruce, Joe, Mike Z., and Tim) at the Wildwood Park main entrance at
8:30am. Ranger Ryan joined us later.
We walked the various trails scheduled to be worked on Saturday's event evaluating the
specific tasks on each segment and (COSCA provided) tools needed. We discussed how best
to allocate volunteers and SMMTC crewleaders given the estimated number of attendees as
well as how best to communicate the offerings to the participants when they sign-in at the
beginning of the day.
The plan is to have three crews on the Santa Rosa Trail, and one each on the Stagecoach
Trail, Moonridge Trail and at the Meadows Picnic Area. Each crew will be comprised of up to 15 individuals. There will be seven COSCA Rangers and seven SMMTC crew leaders providing supervision to the volunteers. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon Read More |
| 2023.10.14 | Event #: [1004] Round Mountain - CSUCI - This was the fourth annual Satwiwa Round Mountain Restoration Project. The object of this ongoing project is to restore and maintain the Round Mountain Tail on the CSUCI Campus. There were approximately 50 CSUCI student volunteers, thirteen SMMTC volunteers and three Trail Corps members.
The SMMTC trail crew and the CSUCI Trail Corps met at the trail head on Round Mountain Road. Held project briefings and safety talk. Four of the SMMTC crew deployed with gas power tools, followed by a few others to begin work on the trails. The Trail Corps and remaining SMMTC crew remained at the trail head to meet with the student volunteers..
Student/facility volunteers arrived at the trail head. Opening ceremonies, introductions and Chumash blessing were conducted. The volunteers were divided into two equal sized groups. Group one was further divided into three crews for work assignments. One small crew of 6, was assigned to invasive plant removal. The other two crews of approximately 12 volunteers each were assigned to perform trail clean-up. The small crew cut and bagged Russian Thistle which was going to seed and seed pods from Fennel near the trail. The two larger crews raked up and removing cutting from the trail left behind by the earlier SMMTC work crew.
The three crew returned to the trail head and were replaced by three similar crews from group 2. These crews continued the work started by the earlier three crews.
All crews completed work and returned to the trail head. Closing ceremonies and lunch were conducted. All tools were loaded back into the trucks.
Sat’wiwa project complete.
Four volunteers transported tools back to the storage unit in Newbury Park and stored the tools. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Greg Sweel, Barry Dydyk, Jon Van Gorder, Cindy Kimmick, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman Read More |
| 2023.10.11 | Event #: [1003] Fossil Trail - We met at the dirt lot at Wendy and Potrero. Dave Edwards brought all the tools. We had a total of 7 SMMTC crew leaders/volunteers. We took 2 vehicles into the park and parked at the Upper Sycamore junction.
The group hiked to the point on the Fossil Trail where Barry Dydyk's crew had ended work on 10/7/23. The group split into 2 teams, with Dave leading Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon and Jon Sheldon in assessing and cleaning out existing drains; Denise Pomonick and Anne
Russell followed Greg Sweel, who ran the brush cutter.
In total, team 1 opened up 19 existing drains.
We stopped work and hiked back to the 2 vehicles at the trailhead and enjoyed a soda at the picnic table, courtesy of Dave. We returned to the cars in the Wendy lot by 2:00 pm.
NOTE: We worked to about .75 miles up Fossil; that means that about .25 remains to be brushed and there a few drains remaining to be opened. Crew: Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik, Anne Russell Read More |
| 2023.10.07 | Event #: [1002] Fossil Trail - Gathered at Wendy and Potrero and drove to trail head. Distributed tools and made work assignments. Part of team brushed the trail starting at trail head. Another team cleaned the 16 (existing) drains. Completed work and returned to trail head. Loaded vehicles and drove out. Arrived at Wendy parking area - DONE!
Crew size: 11 volunteers
Hours worked: 6
Total hours worked: 66
Feet of trail cleared: 2,000
Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Barry Dydyk, Jon Van Gorder, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, George Sherman, Peter Sullivan, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.10.04 | Event #: [997] Camp 13 Trail - Met at Leo Carrillo parking lot and hiked to where the Saturday crew left off. With help of State Parks crew, completed all brushing and widening of trail. Did minor removal of duff from hillside. Total distance 0.3 miles
Crew size: 7
Hours worked: 4.5
Total hours worked: 31.5
Feet of trail cleared: 1400 Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Barb Thomas, Don Brusselars, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.09.30 | Event #: [994] Nicholas Flats Trail - This was a routine planned trail maintenance event. A crew of 11 met at the Day Use Parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Park at 8 a.m. After signing-in and discussing the goals and objectives for today we conducted a safety talk and split into 2 groups with one group returning to a short section of the Nicholas Flat Trail which was not completed on our recent event, while the other group began work on the Camp 13 Trail.
The first group encountered another nest of ground dwelling yellow jackets near the same location they were previously found. Several volunteers were stung and/or bitten. This first group made a hasty retreat and joined up with the other group.
Now all of us worked together with 3 hedge trimmers to trim the brush encroaching into the trail corridor. While the trimmers trimmed, the supporters who followed raked and cleaned-up the cuttings using rakes, McLeods, loppers and folding hand saws. Lots of mustard, deerweed, and laurel sumac was removed to restore a well-groomed trail corridor. We made very good progress. We ended work at 1:30 p.m. and then we hiked back to our meeting place at 2 p.m. We anticipate on returning this Wednesday, October 4th.
We cleared approximately 0.4 mile.
Crew size: 11
Total Hours worked: 66 hours total (11 volunteers 6 hours each)
Total feet of trail maintained: 2112 feet (0.4 miles) Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, Denise Pomonik, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.09.30 | Event #: [995] Round Mountain - This was a special project to provide trail maintenance skills training to the CSUCI Tail Corps members and to perform some preparatory work on the Round Mountain Trail in preparation for the October 14 Sat’wiwa trail restoration event. There were two CSUCI Trail Corps members and one SMMTC volunteers present.
Met at the dirt pull out on Old Lewis Road near the Camrosa Water Treatment Facility entrance. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Conducted instruction in the use of, and safely considerations of gas powered weed whackers and brush trimmers. After instruction, Corps members were supervised in the use of the tools. Cleared high weeds and thick brush from the trail. Cuttings were left on the trail for the CSUCI students to clear on the October 14 event (Note: Currently, this trail is not open to the public, so leaving the cutting on the trail did not create a safety issue.) Tread is in good condition so no tread work was performed. .
One Corps member departed.
Remaining crew members stopped work and returned to the trail head. The cuttings around the trail head were cleaned up in order to present a more pleasant meeting area for the October 14 event.
Completed work.
Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 5.5 hours = 11.0 hours 1 volunteer x 4.0 hours = 4.0 hours
Total = 15.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 800. Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2023.09.23 | Event #: [996] National Public Lands Day - 8AM: Meet to register, assemble teams, assign work, safety talk and out to trails.
Completed all brushing of the RSV horse trail and started connector trail up to the parking lot. Total of 0.4 miles brushed and cleared. A total of 28 volunteers helped, including 12 trails council crew.
12PM: Crew returned to picnic area for lunch and thank-you give aways
Crew size: 12 volunteers = 29
Hours worked: 4
Total hours worked: 49
Feet of trail cleared: 2400
Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Barb Thomas, Jon Van Gorder, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.09.18 | Event #: [992] Pelican BAY CINP - Summary: Monday, 18 Sep: We drove to the Pelican Bay trailhead near the beach and spent three hours cutting back brush and weeds. We cleared several feet around the Watchman’s shack and removed a small oak tree growing up next to the shack. Workers needed access to the shack's exterior in order to paint and perform other restoration work.
Tuesday, 19 Sep: We split up into two groups. Juan Carlo, Steve and John took a weed whacker and other tools and hiked 2 ¼ miles to the far end of the trail and weed whacked back toward the trailhead. The other group (Dave, Carlyn, Ruth, Barb and Cindy) began brushing at the trailhead.
Wednesday, 20 Sep: Once again we split up into two groups with Juan Carlo, Steve and John (plus Jessica from TNC) continuing to weed whack. Once they finished weed whacking, they spent the next few hours installing rock steps and improving the tread in very hiker challenging section of trail. The other group continued brushing. By day's end we completed our work on the trail for this year.
Thursday, 21 Sep: Work consisted of brushing along the main road heading west toward Christy's Ranch.
Friday, 22 Sep: We worked a couple of hours brushing the Islay Canyon road from the bottom for about a third of a mile. Our work was completed by mid-morning.
Crew consisted of: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo, Barb Thomas, Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon, Cindy Kimmick, John Reynolds and Steve Messer.
Hours worked: All except for Cindy worked 22 total hours each; Cindy worked 16 total hours
Total crew hours: 170 Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Cindy Kimmick, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.09.16 | Event #: [990] Nicholas Flat - Several of us met at 7:30 a.m. to do prep work (heavy brush removal & layout of tools). The remainder of the crew was ready to go at 8AM. The crew broke into two groups, with one group hiking to a section of heavily overgrown Ceanothus and crawling into and under the brush with saws and electric shears, followed by several supporters who raked up the cuttings and a used McLeod things up. The second group worked down the trail with three hedge trimmers and five supporters who raked up the cuttings. The plan was for Juan and George and eventually Ruth and Richard to lead the charge into the heavy brush making it possible for the brush cutters to clear the remaining brush encroaching on the trail.
We cleared about .35 of a mile and finished working on the Nicholas Flats Trail.
Crew size: 10. Total hours worked: 62.50 (5 volunteers x 6.50 hours, 5 volunteer x 6.00 hours). Total feet of trail maintained: 1,850 feet ( 0.35 miles).
Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Kross, Ruth Feldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2023.09.16 | Event #: [991] Phantom Trail -CSUCI - This was a special project to provide trail maintenance skills training to the CSUCI Tail Corps members. This is the follow-up to the previously held training. We met at the tail head on Mulholland Hwy. There were three CSUCI Trail Corps members and two SMMTC volunteers present.
Met at trailhead: Primary objective of this event was to develop skills in the tasks of brush clearance, slough removal and drainage repairs. Corps members were instructed in proper lopping techniques, hiding of cuttings, slough removal and restoring of outslope. There was only one (inside) drain needing work. .
Completed work hiked back to the trail head.
Completed event
Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 30.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 453. Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2023.09.09 | Event #: [988] Nicholas Flat - Location: Nicholas Flat Trail at Leo Carrillo State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel
Summary: This was a routine planned trail maintenance event, and was the second of three consecutive events scheduled on this section of trail. A crew of 11 met at the trailhead at the end of Decker School Road at 8 a.m. After signing-in and discussing the goals and objectives for today we conducted a safety talk and proceeded down the trail to where we left off the previous Saturday where we had stashed the tools. Upon retrieving the tools the crew broke into three groups, with each lead by a hedge trimmer and two supporters who followed to rake/clean cuttings using rakes, McLeods, loppers and folding hand saws. Lots of mallow and ceanothus filling in the trail from the abundant winter rains made for slow going; however, we managed to restore a well-groomed trail corridor. We made very good progress and soon passed an area where a slide had occurred. We left this area alone until State Parks can clear the area and give us the okay to conduct tread work. We stashed the tools again for next week. We ended work at 12:30 p.m. and then we hiked back to our meeting place at 1 p.m.
We cleared approximately 0.4 mile.
Crew size: 11
Total Hours worked: 53 hours total (10 volunteers 5 hours each, 1 volunteer 3 hours) hours)
Total feet of trail maintained: 2112 feet 0.4 miles)
2 New volunters O.Achorn and J.Maldonado
Crew: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Ruth Feldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2023.09.09 | Event #: [989] CSUCI Trail Corps Training - This was a special project to provide SMMTC Orientation and initial trail maintenance training to the CSUCI Tail Corps members. We met in the day use parking lot at La Jolla Canyon day use area for a lecture session. There were two Trail Corps members present.
Met at the day use parking lot at La Jolla Canyon day use area. I delivered two presentations; SMMTC Trail Corps Orientation, describing the SMMTC Mission, organization and activities, the second was a basic lecture on Trail Maintenance covering why we do trail maintenance, definition’s, basic concepts of trail maintenance tasks, safety precautions and tool talks.
Concluded the lectures and discussions. This training will be followed next week with some activities to reinforce the knowledge factors covered in the lecture.
Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 3 hours = 9.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 100 Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2023.09.06 | Event #: [986] Signs Project - This was the first outing to install newly purchased signs in Pt. Mugu State Park. This was a pilot event so we chose easy-to-access signs to better gauge efforts needed on subsequent, harder to reach areas of the park. Up to five more outings will be needed to complete the Phase 1 effort.
We met at the Sycamore Canyon Day Use parking lot at 8:30am. After discussing the goals for the day we drove into the park in one vehicle and dealt with signage issues at the Serrano Canyon Trail, Fireline Trail, Overlook Fire Road, and Scenic Trail junctions of Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and at the yellow gate at the campground. We then drove to the La Jolla Canyon Day Use area for one installation (Ray Miller TH) and one removal (La Jolla Canyon Trail) and finished the day installing a sign at the Chumash TH finishing at 12:30pm. One participant left at 11:30a for a prior engagement.
Feet of trail cleared: N/A
Signs Installed: 9; Posts pounded: 6
Crew: Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Ruth Feldon, Barry Dydyk, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2023.09.02 | Event #: [987] Nicholas Flat - A group of eight volunteers assembled at end of Decker School Road and hiked into Nicholas Flat area across the bridge where we turned left onto the Pond Trail and proceeded to brush and clear the trail to it’s full width plus some. At the pond we turned right and bushed this leg of the Pond trail up to where it meets up with the Nicholas Flat trail and turned left onto the Nicholas Flat trail and brushed up the hill. Approximately 3160 feet of trail were brushed and widened (to allow future growth).
Hiked back to parking about 2:00 p.m.
Weather was cloudy and cool, with mist and fog at times, such that the crew working vanished into the fog. Tools were stashed where we stopped working.
8 volunteers @ 6 hours for a total of 48 hours Crew: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Don Brusselars, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, George Sherman, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.08.26 | Event #: [993] Wishbone Trail - This was the first of COSCA's planned, monthly, ranger-led trailwork days. And it was very fortunate that the TC crew leaders were able to attend, because attendance was thin (19 people volunteered) so our presence made a difference (10 TC crewleaders were in attendance). By 7:30 a.m. we were all signed in and heading up the trail.
There was some confusion over the tools, it turned out that the COSCA rangers hadn’t brought any power tools with them, so we used the TC’s power tools that Dave Edward fortunately carried in his truck. TC crewleaders ran the power tools on both legs of the Wishbone trail.
Work for all crews consisted of brushing, raking and hiding cuttings, removing slough to widen trail, improving bench.
We were able to complete both, the east and west legs of the trail for a total of 2.1 miles. Everyone met back at the trailhead at 11:30 a.m. There were snacks and water available.
Crew size: 19 volunteers + 10 TC = 29
Hours worked: 4
Total hours worked: 116
Feet of trail cleared: 11,000 Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, John Kross, Jon Van Gorder, Anne Russell, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.08.19 | Event #: [981] Nicholas Flat Trail - We met at 7:30 a.m. at the day use parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Beach. The crew broke into three groups, with one group hiking to the top of the loop trail and working downwards with one hedge trimmer followed by two supporters who raked up the cuttings and used an electric shears and a McLeod to clear the trail. The second group hiked in approximately 1/2 mile and worked up the trail with two hedge trimmers and five supporters who raked up the cuttings and used loppers and saws to clear the trail. The last group consisted of one crew member who improved existing drains. The plan was for the two groups that were clearing brush and raking to meet, but we were not able to finish in the time allotted. There is approximately 0.15 miles left to clear We cleared approximately 0.45 miles.
Crew size: 11. Total hours worked: 43.00 (10 volunteers x 4.00 hours, 1 volunteer x 3.00 hours). Total feet of trail maintained: 2,376 feet ( 0.45 miles). Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Denise Pomonik, Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon, George Sherman, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.08.19 | Event #: [982] Malibu Lagoon - This was a planned trail maintenance event the California State Parks Foundation at Malibu Lagoon. We met at the lagoon parking lot at 8am and received a safety briefing and tool talk. The focus was on pruning and lopping overgrown vegetation from the trail corridor to provide clear and safe access for park visitors, including along an ADA-compliant trail. We used loppers, hand pruners, hand saws, McLeods, and rakes. Care was taken in pruning native plants and removing invasive weeds and grasses. This project helped promote the health of the native plant restoration throughout the lagoon. We worked on the ADA trail doing some brushing and removing vegetation encroaching onto the path. After that was done, we continued more brushing and vegetation removal around some information signs and down along a path next to the lagoon. We managed to restore a well-groomed trail corridor. We ended at Noon.
We cleared approximately 0.25 mile.
SMMTC Crew size: 1 (does not include approx. 7 public, 2 Foundation volunteers, and 3 State Park staff).
Total Hours worked: 4 hours total
Total feet of trail maintained: 1320 feet (0.25 miles)
Crew: Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.08.18 | Event #: [985] New Millenium Trail - Routine Trail Work. Crew: Denise Pomonik, Steve Clark, Jon Van Gorder, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.08.16 | Event #: [980] Nicholas Flats - 9 of us, all regulars, met at the Leo Carillo asphalt parking area. We signed in and Denise Pomonik (co-leader) discussed safety protocols and the goals of the day. Then proceeded to work the first ½ mile of lower part of the Nicolas Flats trail.
Our goal was to widen the trail enough to allow the hiker enough room on each side to avoid rubbing against the brush to avoid getting any ticks, and to have better visual of the ground for any snakes. There were three brush cutters (two gas and one electric). There were several rakes used to clean up the trail. In addition, one electric shear, one saw and a looper were used to trim back the aggressive Sumac. Jerry (the drain master) did some drain work on existing drains. We made our way up the hill to the ½ mile point and turned around.
The team was back at the parking lot around 11:30am and had some drinks and snacks. We discussed another date to come back to finish up that section of the Nicolas Flats trail. Next date was set for August 19th, same parking lot at 730 am to work til 11am and back at the lot by 1130am.
Impressions: Trail was overgrown and needed a good dose of trail maintenance and love - which the team provided. Great job everyone! Crew: Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Denise Pomonik, Ruth Feldon, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.08.07 | Event #: [983] Nicholas Flat Trail - Met at parking lot at Leo Carrillo with brush cutting crew. Others came at 7:30 and 8:00
Hiked 1.0 miles up Willow Creek trail to NF junction.
Brushed and cleared heavy overgrowth on trail. With the help of The Ranch Malibu landscape crew, State Parks trails crew and fire crew, cleared 1.2 miles of trail from the junction up the ridge and into the switchbacks near the top. Juan Carlo and Denise hiked the remainder of the trail with Jason.
Dedication! Ruth and Jon came to help despite having returned from a trip after midnight that morning. Cindy got stuck in traffic but toughed it out and came anyway. Juan Carlo spent his work time with the Ranch staff, training them on trail work techniques. Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Denise Pomonik, Ruth Feldon, Cindy Kimmick, John Reynolds, Carlyn Taggart, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.07.31 | Event #: [984] Nicholas Flats trail Assessment - Assessment of trail prior to several planned outings Crew: Don Brusselars, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.07.29 | Event #: [979] Fireline Trail - Summary: We met at 0730 at Sycamore Canyon and drove to the Fireline trailhead. We weed whacked and cleared brush utilizing 2 weed whackers and 2 hedge trimmers. We cleared about 0.40 miles or 2100 ft of trail. We didn’t do any tread work since the trail held up very well during the winter rains. We arrived back at the parking area at 11:30.
Crew size: 9
Hours worked: 9 crew members @ 4 hours each for 36 hours
Feet of trail worked: 2100 Crew: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Ruth Feldon, Kirsten Rosselot, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.07.19 | Event #: [978] Scenic Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event, for routine trail maintenance on the heavily overgrown Scenic Trail. There were nine SMMTC volunteers present.
Met at the Sycamore Canyon Campground Day Use area, Signed in and drove to the trail head at the upper end of the trail.
Held safety and project briefings and began work. Used three power tools to cut back the heavy growth of weeds and brush. We cleared the brush and weed from the beginning of the trail at the Overlook Fire Road to the Scenic Trail junction. Then, the remaining distance to the sand dune overlook. We also cleared approx. 100 feet of the Great Sand Dune View Trail. .
Completed work. Drove back to meeting place (the long way, due to the poor road conditions).
Arrived at meeting place. Project complete.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 5.0 hours = 45 Hrs
Feet of trail maintained: 1,050 Crew: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Denise Pomonik, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, John Reynolds, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.07.11 | Event #: [977] Garapito Trail Assessment - Summary: Trail work assessment. In preparation of several work events, Barb, Dave, Denise and Juan Carlo met with Jason Finlay od State Parks to walk the trail. Along the way several downed trees were removed. Several outings will be required to rehabilitate this trail.
Crew size: 4 regulars
Hours worked: 5.5
Total hours worked: 22
Feet of trail cleared: 500
Crew members: Dave Edwards, Denise Pomonik, Juan Carlos Mendoza
Crew: Juan Carlo Mendoza, Dave Edwards, Denise Pomonik, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.07.08 | Event #: [976] Scenic Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event, for routine trail maintenance on the heavily overgrown Scenic Trail. There were ten SMMTC volunteers present.
Met at the Sycamore Canyon Campground Day Use area, Signed in and drove to the trail head.
Held safety and project briefings and began work. Used four power tools to cut back the heavy growth of weeds and brush. .
Since it had been anticipated to be a very hot day, the work was planned to finish at 1:00 PM. Completed work Hiked back to the trail head
Arrived at meeting place. Project complete.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 5.0 hours = 50 Hrs
Feet of trail maintained: 3,168 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.07.01 | Event #: [975] Cistern Trail - Summary: We met at 0800 at the lower parking lot of Malibu Creek SP. From there we drove into the park to the Cistern trailhead. We started at the bottom along Crags road and worked up to where we left off last Saturday. We employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and two gas powered weed whackers and cleared about 1/4th mile of trail. The trail in most places was very overgrown so the brushing was slow. The Cistern trail is now clear from Mulholland down to Crags. It was a very warm day so we quit at about 11:15 and walked down to Century Lake where we had lunch. We arrived back at parking at about 12:15. Juan Carlo and Steve Messer worked an extra 5 hours from 12:00 to 5:00 and brushed 0.7 miles (3700 ft) trail from just past the bridge across Malibu Creek to within about a 1/4th mile of the Mash site. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 11 crew members @ 4 hours each for 44 hours; 1 crew member for 9 hours. Total hours: 53 Feet of trail worked: 1320 (Cistern) + 3700 (Logan's Run) = 5020 Read More |
| 2023.06.28 | Event #: [974] La Jolla Eagle Scout Project - This was a special project to add to and improve the Eagle Scout project last month to install steps crossing a deep stream bed. These improvements will make the steps fully compliant with equestrian requirements. There were eight SMMTC volunteers and one State Parks employee present.
Met at the Wendy/Potrero trailhead. Held project briefing, safety and tool talks. Drove into the park to the La Jolla Valley.
Met the State Park employee, with the Gator and materials for the project.
Began work. Hiked approximately 1.1 miles to the work site. The State park employee used the gator to haul the materials and tools to the work site. At the work site, the crew installed one timber step and one rock step. Filled the landing between steps with locally harvested rocks and crush we hauled in. These two additional steps provided two 8’ steps with 45“ landing areas to accommodate houses. This completed set of steps (on both sides of the stream bed) are now fully equestrian compliant.
Completed work Hiked back to the parking area.
Arrived at meeting place. Project complete.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 8 Volunteers x 7.0 hours = 56 hours
Feet of trail maintained: NA Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Barry Dydyk, Jon Van Gorder, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2023.06.24 | Event #: [973] Cistern Trail - Summary: We met at 0830 at the Cistern trailhead parking along Mulholland Hwy. The work today consisted almost entirely of brushing and weed clearing. We employed two battery powered hedge trimmers, one gas powered hedge trimmer and two gas powered weed whackers. At the juncture of Cistern and Lookout trails we split up into two groups, with one group clearing the Cistern trail and the other group clearing the Lookout trail. We only cleared about 0.18 mile or 950 ft of the Cistern trail (almost halfway down to Crags Rd.) which was very overgrown. The other group cleared all of the Lookout trail (0.43 miles or 2270 ft). Juan Carlo and Steve Messer worked an extra 3 hours on Lookout after the regular group finished. We hiked back to our cars arriving at about 2:00. We plan to come back next Saturday and finish clearing the Cistern trail, starting at the bottom off of Crags Rd. If we finish the remaining ¼ mile or so, we’ll go to the Cage trail and work there until quitting time. Crew size: 12 regulars, 2 non-regulars Hours worked: 5.5 Feet of trail worked: 3220 Regular crew: 5 ½ hours each for Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Anne Russell, Greg Sweel, Kirsten Rosselot, Jerry Mitcham, Carlyn Taggart, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds and George Sherman for a total of 60.5 hours. 8 ½ hours for Juan Carlo. Total hours: 69 Non-regulars: 2 volunteers worked 3 hours each for 6 total hours. Grand total hours: 72 Read More |
| 2023.06.21 | Event #: [972] Los Liones Trail - Summary: We met at 0830 at the trailhead parking of the Los Leones trail. There were 4 volunteers from the Sierra Club Task Force, 5 from the SMMTC and Jason Finlay from State Parks. The SMMTC crew operated 5 power tools: 1 gas powered hedge trimmer, 2 weed whackers and 2 battery operated hedge trimmers. We cleared brush and weeds from about 0.9 mile of trail. The Sierra Club volunteers cleaned the trail as we cleared it. We hiked back to the parking area arriving at about 1:30.
Crew size: 5
Hours worked: 5.5
Total hours: 27.5
Feet of trail worked: 4750 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, John Kross, John Reynolds Read More |
| 2023.06.17 | Event #: [971] BBT - Near Piuma - We met at 0830 at the trailhead of the BBT at Piuma Rd. just below the California Wildlife Center. We couldn't park at the CWC or anywhere near the trailhead so after unloading the tools we all parked at the BBT parking lot along Malibu Canyon Rd. and walked back to the trailhead. We cleared the short section of trail up to the CWC and continued past the CWC working on the Piuma Ridge trail. We cleared about a half mile of trail using hedge trimmers and weed whackers. We hiked back to the parking area arriving at about 1:30.
Crew size: 13
Hours worked: 5
Total hours: 65 Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Don Brusselars, Barry Dydyk, Jon Van Gorder, John Kross, Kirsten Rosselot, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.06.15 | Event #: [969] Storage Unit - Maintenance - Five crew members met at Hollywood Storage and organized the tools in the storage unit. Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2023.06.14 | Event #: [968] Tapia Spur Trail - We met at 0830 at the parking area near the trailhead of the Tapia Spur trail close to Malibu Canyon Rd. Today's work consisted mostly of weed whacking and brush cutting. We installed one rolling grade dip water drain. We cleared about 4200 ft of trail. This leaves about 0.30 of trail left to clear to the Malibu Creek group camp parking area. We hiked back to our cars arriving at 1330. Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Don Brusselars, Steve Clark, John Kross, Anne Russell, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.06.11 | Event #: [970] Drain Building Workshop - Steve Messer, Jason Finlay & Juan Carlo led a drain building workshop. Several members of CORBA and the SMMTF were in attendance. 16 people were in attendance.
Training began with trailside instruction.
Training concluded at 1PM.
Work on the Tapia Spur Trail followed the training event.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 12 Volunteers and 72.5 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 100 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, John Kross, Anne Russell, Greg Sweel, Roger Young Read More |
| 2023.06.10 | Event #: [966] Malibu Springs Trail - Met at trailhead off Decker School Road. Unloaded tools, cleared a bit of mustard where the road meets trailhead. Three brush cutters and 3 string trimmers began clearing brush from trail corridor towards the NPS boundary (where the trail heads down to Mulholland). Nine crew members raked and removed the cut brush. An additional segment of trail was cleared towards Nicholas Flat Trail.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 15 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 90.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 4000 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Carlyn Taggart, Don Brusselars, John Kross, Kirsten Rosselot, George Sherman, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds, Greg Sweel, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.06.09 | Event #: [967] Storage Unit Move - To better organize tools and items used during the BBTREK, we opted to rent a larger space. Today’s job was to move items from the old storage unit to a new storage unit.
Moved tools to new storage unit.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 2.50 hours = 25.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 0 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlo Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, Don Brusselars, Anne Russell, Norm Simmonds, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.06.03 | Event #: [965] National Trails Day - John K, Jon S, Ruth F, Greg S, Juan C, Dave E Arrived early to brush the trail. Remainder of TC crew assembled to wait for guest volunteers. Crew leaders briefed on work to do. Assembled with guest volunteers for tool distribution, work and safety talk. Headed out on trails. Completed entire loop and about 0.3 miles of the connectior. Brush was quite heavy. Total: @0.9 mile. Note: 15 SMMTC crew, 1 Sierra Club crew, about 15 guests Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 5.5 hours = 33 hours AND 9 @ 4 hours = 69 Hours Feet of trail maintained: 4500 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Juan Carlos Mendoza, Ruth Feldon, Denise Pomonik, Don Brusselars, Robert Bittner, Cindy Kimmick, John Kross, Kirsten Rosselot, Anne Russell, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.05.28 | Event #: [964] La Jolla Eagle Scout Project - Day #2 started much earlier and proceeded smoothly. The four steps on the Mugu side were completed before lunch and the effort on the La Jolla side sped up considerably. Effort on the seven steps on the La Jolla side completed by 3:00 PM. However the step on the creek end was too high so a small crew gathered several large rocks and constructed two stone steps in the creek bed while the remainder of T111 gathered equipment and returned to the road end. All participants were at road end by 4:30. Crew: Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk Read More |
| 2023.05.27 | Event #: [961] BBT Topanga School - This was a routine planned trail maintenance event. A crew of 9 met at the trailhead on Topanga School Road at 8:15 am. After signing-in and discussing the goals and objectives for today we distributed tools and proceeded up the trail. The crews broke into two groups with one group lead by two hedge trimmers and two supporters who followed to rake/clean cuttings and cut overhead branches using McLeods, loppers and folding hand saws. This first group headed east towards Greenleaf Canyon Road. The second group was lead by two weed whackers and three supporters who also followed to rake/clean cuttings and cut overhead branches using McLeods, loppers and folding hand saws. This second group headed west towards Old Topanga Canyon Road. Lots of thistle and mustard from the abundant winter rains made for slow going; however, we managed to restore a well-groomed trail corridor. We made very good progress with the first group finishing their section and joining with the second group. Together we finished this entire section of the Backbone Trail. We ended work at 1:45 pm and then we hiked back to our meeting place at 2:15 pm.
We cleared approximately 0.51 mile.
Crew size: 9
Total Hours worked: 52 hours total (7 volunteers 6 hours each, 1 volunteer 3 hours, 1 volunteer 7 hours)
Total feet of trail maintained: 2693 feet (0.51 miles)
Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, Denise Pomonik, Don Brusselars, John Kross, George Sherman, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2023.05.27 | Event #: [963] La Jolla Eagle Scout Project - We logged a total of 427 hours of effort to complete 11 steps and three drains.
On day #1 we met T111 at the park Gate and drove to La Jolla Valley road end where we unloaded tools and held a safety brief. We loaded the heavy tools into the State Park Gator and transported them to the work site. The Troop started the hike to the work site.
At the work site the effort was divided into three tasks. One task was working the steps on the Mugu side of the creek and another was steps on the La Jolla side of the creek. The third task was building three drains above the steps: two on the Mugu side and one on the La Jolla side. Work proceeded on all three tasks while State Park transported crush rock from the road end to the work site in five gallon buckets. A total of 1.5 cubic yards of crush was moved.
Day #1 ended with only four steps being completed but much digging for other steps was well in progress.
Crew: Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk Read More |
| 2023.05.25 | Event #: [962] Santa Cruz Island Trails - We left Ventura Harbor at 9:30 on Monday, May 22, on an Island Packer boat and arrived at Prisoner’s Harbor on Santa Cruz Island at 11:15. After a 3 mile or so drive we arrived at the Main Ranch of The Nature Conservancy, had lunch and settled in. After lunch we spent some 3 hours clearing brush and weeds along side the main road leading to the ranch.
Tuesday May 23 – Thursday May 25: We worked exclusively on the Pelican Bay trail. We left the Main Ranch each morning at 8:00 and arrived at the trailhead around 8:20 to begin our 2.25 mile hike to the end of the Pelican Bay trail. Our main objective was to install wooden steps at the end of the very steep trail. A few days prior to our arrival, Island Packers skiffed 25 wooden steps (6x6 inch x 3 ft) plus rebar from Prisoner’s Harbor to near the work site at the end of the trail. Juan Carlo, with the help of all of us, built a rock wall of sorts to bolster the trail’s end. One large rock in particular probably weighed in excess of 500 lbs.
We managed to install 22 steps. The terrain was somewhat rocky so the steps weren’t arranged in a neat alignment. We had to locate the steps where we could drive rebar without hitting rock barriers. Three of the steps were used as a border to help prevent erosion at a sharp switchback.
We cleared a short section of trail which leads up out of the creek bed to the Pelican Bay overlook. As a result, it’s much easier for hikers to see where its trailhead is.
On Thursday two of the crew lopped brush starting near the trail’s end and worked back about a half mile.
We usually arrived back at the Main Ranch around 5:00 each day.
On Friday we spent about two hours clearing a trail to La Cascada or Canada de la Siesta where there’s a big swimming hole and a nice waterfall. Of course, some of the crew enjoyed the water after our work was completed.
On Friday we boarded the Island Packer boat at 4:30 and arrived back at Ventura Harbor at 6:15. Crew: Dave Edwards, Juan Carlos Mendoza, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart Read More |
| 2023.05.24 | Event #: [959] Roads And Trails in La Jolla Valley - This was a special project to make trail improvements in preparation for a large Eagle Scout project to be held on May 26-28, 2023. Nine SMMTC volunteers were present and two State Park employees.
Met at the Wendy/Potrero trailhead. Held project briefing, safety and tool talks. Drove into the park to the La Jolla Valley.
Began work. Hiked approximately 1 mile to the La Jolla Loop, Cross Connector trail. Weed whacked and brush cleared approximately 0.5 mile of trail to a width to accommodate the gator service vehicle (5 feet).
The two state park employees, used the Gator to move all the project timbers and rebar to the work site. Moved a portion of the crush (gravel) to the work site. State park employees also use the flail mower to mow the parking area adjacent to the Group camp, to prepare for the scouts to camp over the week end.
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6.5 hours = 58.5 hours
Feet of trail maintained: 2,640 Jon Sheldon Ruth Feldon Jerry Mitcham Denise Pomonik Don Brusselars Barry Dydyk Jon Van Gorder John Kross Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.05.23 | Event #: [960] La Jolla Valley Trails Prep - This was a special project to pick up and pay and pay for materials needed for the Eagle Scout project scheduled May 27. Only one SMMTC volunteer (Jerry Mitcham) was present and two State Park employees.
Met at the Angeles District Admin Offices in Malibu Creek State Park. Caravanned in three vehicles to C&M Top Soils Co. in Sylmar.
Loaded 1.5 yards of gravel into the two state park trucks. The two state park trucks drove to Point Mugu State Park. Jerry Mitcham gathered several buckets from various sources a met state park employee at Point Mugu. State Park employees transported the gravel to La Jolla Valley in Point Mugu State Park.
Jerry Mitcham gathered tools for the week end event(s).
Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 1 Volunteers x 4.0 hours = 4.0 hours
Feet of trail maintained: NA Crew: Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2023.05.20 | Event #: [957] Willow Creek - This was our second event on the Willow Creek Trail. We began where we had left off the previous week. With a brush cutter and a string trimmer we managed to clear the trail to the ridge where it joins the Nicholas Flat Trail. Met at Leo Carrillo State Park. George picked up the power tools from Dave Edwards. Began work. Hiked approximately .3 mile to the end of the section we had previously worked. Weed whacked and brush cleared approximately 0.6 mile of trail. Six volunteers raked up the trimmings. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 30 hours And 3 @7 hours = 21. – Total of 51.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,1686 images, scroll down to see susbsequent images. Read More |
| 2023.05.20 | Event #: [958] Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu SP - This was the 40th anniversary of this trail saver activity. We had 7 SMMTC members, 5 Scout leaders and 18 Scouts. We brushed approximately 3000 feet of trail starting at the Serrano Canyon TH and ending at the bottom of the steps in the quarry. We had four teams performing the following tasks: We had a team of four crew leaders running two brush cutters and two weed whackers. We had a small team of one crew leader and four scouts creating hidey holes for the brush and cutting limbs too large for the brush cutters. We had a large team of scouts, scouters and SMMTC crew members gathering cuttings and hiding them. These three teams worked their way down the trail to the bottom of the steps in the quarry. A fourth team consisting of a SMMTC crew leader, and two scouts repaired two areas of tread. Total volunteer hours: 30 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 180 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3000 Read More |
| 2023.05.16 | Event #: [956] Trails in La Jolla Valley - This was a special project to make trail improvements in preparation for a large Eagle Scout project to be held on May 26-28, 2023. Five SMMTC volunteers were present and one State Park employee. Met at the Wendy/Potrero trailhead. Held project briefing, safety and tool talks. Drove into the park to the La Jolla Valley. Began work. Hiked approximately .5 mile to the La Jolla Loop, Cross Connector trail. Weed whacked and brush cleared approximately 0.6 mile of trail to a width to accommodate the gator service vehicle (5 feet). Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,168 Note: There is still approximately 0.3 mile of the trail to be cleared. In addition there is a section of the Valley Loop Trail, near the vehicle parking area, to the trail head which must be brushed cleared. Read More |
| 2023.05.13 | Event #: [954] Willow Creek Trail - A group of six volunteers met at Leo Carrillo State Park to clear what we could of the Willow Creek Trail. From the beginning of the trail and for 1/3 of a mile we used a string trimmer and hedge cutter to make the trail a more pleasant experience to hike. At some points along the trail, you could not see anything but mustard. We may return at some point to continue up to the ridge line. Total volunteer hours: 43.5 5 x 6.5 = 32.5 and 2 x 5.5 =11 Feet maintained: 1800 George, Jon, Juan, Denise, Norm, Sharon Read More |
| 2023.05.10 | Event #: [955] Ray Miller Trail - A small portion of the Ray Miller Trail remained unfinished after the marathon session on 5/6/2023. To “check the box” and complete the entire trail, two crew leaders returned to clear the remaining section which turned out to be 0.2 miles. This was much more than expected. One person started at the lower end and cleared copious amounts of mustard with a battery-operated hedge trimmer. The other started at the far end with hand tools removing not only mustard but also woody/brushy plants that choked both sides of the trail at the gully about ½ mi from the TH. The trail was very overgrown for 75’ before and 75’ after this spot causing uphill hikers to continue straight ahead as the turn to the right was not obvious. The actual trail is now easily seen, especially with the clippings and branches that were placed across the incorrect path. Participants: Jon Sheldon 8 hours, George Sherman 3 hours Total volunteer hours: 13 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,000 Read More |
| 2023.05.06 | Event #: [946] Ray Miller Trail - Four crew members were driven to the top of the Ray Miller Trail and then dropped off with a weed whip, brush trimmer, fuel, and Mcleods. Removing mustard that had encroached upon the trail was the primary activity of the day. Juan Carlo’s energy drove the crew to work far beyond the normal 2PM cutoff. There are 2. 7 miles from the top to the bottom of the trail - we cleared 99.9% of it. There is a 40-yard section that remained – only because Juan ran out of fuel for the trimmer. Greg worked until 5PM, John and I worked until close to 6PM but Juan remained until 7:30. All in all, one of the more successful work outings by a group of this size ever! Crew size: 5 – Juan 11.5, Greg 9, Jon 10, Kirsten 8, George 9.5 Hours worked: 48 Total hours worked: 54 Feet of trail cleared: 14,000+ Crew members: Juan Carlo, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Kirsten Rossleot Read More |
| 2023.05.06 | Event #: [947] Invasive Plant Removal - We had 1 student volunteer who was not a Trail Corps member. The scheduled Trail Corps group was unable to make it. We met on Old Lewis Rd at the Camrosa entrance and parked there. Jerry Mitcham stopped by to drop off tools. George Sherman was also present because we thought we were going to need help with supervision, but it was clear that was not the case and he left for the other SMMTC event. Cindy, Alejandro (the student), and I gradually worked our way to Round Mountain’s summit (about 1.5 miles) to where Jerry had said the worst of the Russian thistle infestion was. Along the way, we removed some very large fennel plants. We did not bag any of the cut plants because they were too early in the season to be in danger of seeding. We stopped work early because Alejandro, our volunteer, was getting overheated and we didn’t want to overwork him. We removed a lot of small and very small Russian thistle plants at the summit—at least several hundred. The area of the summit that was previously weeded is in pretty good shape. We returned to the cars by 12:45 pm. NOTE: The Round Mtn trail is heavily overgrown in sections and in need of brushing. Otherwise, pretty good condition. Read More |
| 2023.05.02 | Event #: [945] Malibu Creek Bridge - We met at 7:30 at the Blandings house at Malibu Creek State Park. We had a good turnout with nine of our Trails Council volunteers, four or so from the Malibu Creek SP docents and Jason plus two of his people. The main objective today was to install a 20 foot aluminum bridge across Malibu Creek where the portion of the creek eroded away from one end of the concrete bridge leaving a gap of about 17 ft. We loaded the bridge onto a truck a drove it to the installation site. With help of several people on each side of the creek, the bridge was placed in position and anchored on both sides. We then installed some 28 or so wooden planks on the bridge thus completing the project. We also improved the trail from the end of the installed bridge for about 100 ft clearing dense brush and performing tread work. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 54 Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Denise Pomonik, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Juan Carlo, Barb Thomas and Cindy Kimmick Read More |
| 2023.04.29 | Event #: [944] Lower Hondo Canyon - This was a routine planned trail maintenance event. A crew of 12 met at the trailhead on Old Topanga Canyon Blvd. at 8:30 am. After signing-in and discussing the goals and objectives for today we distributed tools and proceeded up the trail. The crews broke into groups with the weed whackers and hedge trimmers leap frogging each other as they proceeded up through the meadows and oak woodlands. A couple of other groups followed to rake/clean cuttings, remove rocks, improve tread, and cut overhead branches using McLeods, loppers, pick-mattocks, and folding hand saws. Lots of plant growth from the abundant winter rains made for slow going; however, we continued further up restoring a well-groomed trail corridor. A large collapsed/eroded section of trail was filled in to level the tread. We made good progress, but didn’t quite make it to the ridge leading into Hondo Canyon. We ended work at 1:30 pm and then we hiked down the trail and arrived back at our meeting place at 2:00 pm. We cleared approximately 0.75 miles. There are some muddy areas which should continue to dry, but currently make for a challenge especially in a low spot just before the Arizona crossing. Crew size: 12 Total Hours worked: 61.5 hours total (11 volunteers 5.5 hours each, 1 volunteer 1 hour) Total feet of trail maintained: 3960 feet (0.65 miles) Crew Members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitchham, George Sherman, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, Kirsten Rosselot, Denise Pomonik, Jon Van Gorder, Juan Carlo Medoza, and 1 other volunteer. Read More |
| 2023.04.26 | Event #: [943] Downed Tree Hondo Cyn - Ruth and Jon F/Sheldon and I met at the TOTC at 7:30 a.m., and shuttled down to the Fossil Ridge trail We hiked the ~1.6 miles down to the fallen tree. When we got to the tree we realized that it was much too big for our saw, especially considering that in order to be able to move the trunk between the three of us we would have needed at least 3 cuts. Since the uphill side is very steep, going around the base of the tree would have been a challenge.We opted instead for digging under the tree in order to make it easier to crawl under the tree. With the dirt we removed from under the tree, we built up the edge of the trail next to either side of the tree so people can pretty easily go over the tree. After the work we did, in my view, if you are carrying a backpack this is the easier way to get around the tree. We started back, cutting falling branches and falling small trees as we went. Time became of essence when we got close to 2 p.m. so we became selective and chose to leave some small trees for another time. None of us had packed lunch, we made do with snacks. We got back to the truck at 2:30 p.m. Total volunteer hours: 3 x 6 ½ = 19 ½ hours Feet maintained: N/A Read More |
| 2023.04.23 | Event #: [953] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - Multiple groups/organizations with leaders lead crews on different trails: Volunteers were organized into several crews. Crews were shuttled to various trail heads, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows: SMMTC One Crew: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. 27 volunteers. The crew used two gas powered weed whackers and one brush trimmer to clear overgrowth on trail. Crew followed to pick up cuttings and cut back the heavier growth. Minor tread work to clean out drains and improve stream crossings. A small detachment hiked further up the trail to address a badly eroded stream crossing and perform other tread work. Total volunteer hours: (27 volunteers x 4 hours) = 108 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,110 CORBA Sin Nombre Trail. 13 Volunteers. The crew continued work from Saturday, filling ruts in the tread and constructing a retaining wall to protect the trail from further erosion damage. Total volunteer hours: (13 volunteers x 4 hours) = 52 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,320 Sierra Club; Hidden Pond Connector Trail. 8 Volunteers. Crew performed primarily brush clearance; lopping and weed removal. Minor tread work at the stream crossing. Total volunteer Hours: (8 volunteers x 4 hours) = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500 SMMTC; Sin Nombre Connector Trail. 21 Volunteers (21 kids plus adults). The work was to chop weeds and light brush. Minor tread work to smooth the tread, Total volunteer Hours: (21 volunteers x 4 hours) = 84 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500 Total volunteer hours for Sunday: 292 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4,430 (.84 mi) Stat Total for Trail Days Total Volunteers: 133 Total Volunteer hours: 536 Total Feet of Trail maintained: 17,882 (3.9 Mi.) Read More |
| 2023.04.22 | Event #: [952] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - Volunteers began to arrive and sign in Multiple groups/organizations with leaders led crews on different trails: Volunteers were organized into several crews. Crews were shuttled to various trail heads, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows: SMMTC: Four Crews; Blue Canyon Trail.: Three crews with a total of 42 volunteers and 3 NPS crew worked the upper portion of the Blue Canyon Trail. Three volunteers worked ahead of the other volunteers with a gas powered weed whacker and two followers. The remaining crewmembers performed routine brushing and tread work. A temporary stream crossing was widened and improved. Removed soil was used to fill a 150 stretch of trench in the trail. A four hundred foot section of the old Boney Trail was also weed whacked/brushed. The forth crew consisting of 26 kids and 13 adults worked on the lower section of the Blue Canyon Trail performing light brushing and general clean-up. Total volunteer hours: (81 volunteers x 6 hours) = 486 hours Feet of trail maintained: 6,860 CORBA: Sin Nombre Trail: 25 volunteers. The crew installed 7 new drains and built a retaining wall to repair severe erosion issues. Closed off an unauthorized “shortcut trail”. Total volunteer hours: (25 volunteers x 6 hours) = 150 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,640 Sierra Club Task Force: Lower Coyote Trail; 21 volunteers: Performed general trail maintenance. Primarily brushing and slough removal... Total volunteer hours: (21 volunteers x 6 hours) = 126 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,056 SMMTC One crew: Upper Coyote Trail: 22 Volunteers. General trail maintenance, primarily brushing and light tread work Total volunteer hours: (22 volunteers x 6 hours) = 132 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,160 Scout Troop 111: La Jolla Valley Loop Trail; 16 Volunteers. Supervised by Jason Finely. Weed whacked and cleared brush on 3,000 feet of trail... Total volunteer hours: (16 volunteers x 6 hours) = 96 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,000 Total volunteer hours for Saturday = 1,031 hours Feet of trail maintained:= 14,716 (2.8 mi) Read More |
| 2023.04.21 | Event #: [951] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - This was the 40th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Friday, April 21 One Volunteer began work on the Sin Nombre Trail, weed whacking the trail in preparation for Saturday’s work. Total volunteer hours: (2 volunteers 8 hours) = 16 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1500 Read More |
| 2023.04.20 | Event #: [948] Trail Days Prep - This was the 40th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Seven SMMTC Crewleaders met at Danielson Campground to begin planning and preparations for Trail Days. Began work. Hauled tools and all Trail Days event equipment and materials from the storage unit in Newbury Park. Four volunteers hiked the Blue Canyon trail. The volunteers constructed rock stream crossing at several crossings and created a large, temporary crossing at another. The crew also performed assessments in preparation for Saturday. Completed work. Total volunteer hours: (5 volunteers x 6 hours) (1 Volunteer x 7 hours) (1 Volunteer X 2 hours) 39 hours Read More |
| 2023.04.19 | Event #: [950] Trail Days Prep - This was the 40th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. One SMMTC crewleader traveled to Danielson campground. Hauled in tools and began to set up camp. Three Crewmembers performed other work activities. Completed work. Total volunteer hours: (4 volunteers x 4 hours) = 16 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2023.04.18 | Event #: [949] Trail Days Prep - This was the 40th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Tuesday April 18 3 crewmembers at 4 hours Read More |
| 2023.04.15 | Event #: [942] Dead Horse Trail - A group of twelve volunteers assembled at Dead Horse Parking lot, and one small group weed-whipped the trail from the parking lot down to Topanga Canyon Blvd, approximately 350 feet. After they finished they joined us further up the trail. The remainder hiked up the trail about 0.2 mile and commenced work, which consisted of cutting and clearing the brush on the edges of the trail, doing tread work where the water had damaged the trail, installed barriers and drains to prevent further erosion, filled in the area between steps that were eroded, and cleaned out an existing drainage that ran along side the trail (maybe 3 ft wide and 3 ft deep_ that had apparently got clogged and overflowed on to the trail and contributed to substantial erosion. Approximately 750 feet of trail were cleared, groomed and repaired in this section. Hiked back to parking about 2:30 p.m. 12 volunteers @ 6 hours for a total of 72 hours Approximately 1/4 mile of trail was weed-whipped, cleared and repaired. Read More |
| 2023.04.08 | Event #: [941] Dead Horse Trail, Topanga SP - This was one of several special projects by the SMMTC trail crew to repair winter storm damage on the Backbone Trail. The priority task today was to repair a large washout on the Dead Horse Trail, which was presenting a safety hazard. Twelve SMMTC volunteers were present. Met at the Trippet Ranch parking lot. Held project briefing, safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately 0.6 miles on the Dead horse Trail to the work site. Began work. At the washout, we built a 2’ by 4.5’ retaining wall. Backfilled with rocks and soil to fill the 4.5’ hole in the trail. Installed four timber steps atop the new tread to prevent future erosion and provide better footing on the steep trail. Uphill from the washout, we cleared a 24” culvert. This clogged culvert was the main problem resulting in the large washout in the trial. Also installed additional drainage features up hill to divert water off the trail. .. Completed work at the major problem area, began hike back to the meeting place. As we hiked back we performed light brushing and filled many feet of trenches in the tread. Arrived at meeting place. Project complete. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 12 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 72 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500 Note: Generally, this trail is in very poor condition, especially the lower portion above the Dead Horse Parking lot. There are numerous sets of steps which have been damaged by erosion and need to be rebuilt or replaced. There are also numerous stretches of trail with very poor drainage, resulting in standing water and deep mud on the trail. Regular maintenance events for this trail should be included in next fall’s schedule. Jerry, Don, Jon, Ruth, Dave, Barb, Carlyn, Denise, Kirsten, Greg, Christian, John R Read More |
| 2023.04.06 | Event #: [940] Dead Horse Trail - This was an unscheduled event to perform activities to prepare for the trail maintenance project scheduled for the Dead Horse Trail April 8, 2023. Three SMMTC volunteers (Jerry Mitcham, Ruth Feldon and Jon Sheldon) participated. Met at the Dead Horse Trail head. Carpooled to the 92 Trail Head. Unloaded trail maintenance materials and mounted on a two wheeled cart. The materials consisted of 4, 4 foot timbers and several pieces of rebar. Used the cart to haul the materials 0.6 miles to the Saturday work site. Hauling the materials over the poorly maintained trail proved to be difficult and time consuming. Delivered the materials to the work site and hiked back to the trail head.. Completed the event. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 2.5 hours = 7.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2023.04.04 | Event #: [939] Saddle Creek - This was a specially scheduled trail maintenance event to address storm damage to the BBT-Saddle Creek Trail in Malibu Creek State Park. A trail assessment was conducted previously to assess the scope of the problem area and determine the most effective solution. Today’s work addressed a section of trail with one very large washout and other poor drainage problems. The very large washout was 20.5’ long, varying 3’ to 7’ wide and varying 3’ to 6’ deep. This made the trail impassable and trail users have been diverting upslope to get around the hole, creating a very dangerous situation. Today we had nine SMMTC volunteers and the State Parks Trail crew consisting of Trail Coordinator Jason Finley and three others, for a total crew of 13. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately 1.5 miles toward Piuma Road to the work site. The work was totally tread work. The repair work consisted of constructing a retaining wall approximately 6’ high, backfilling with rock and a very large amount of soil. The wall and fill materials were mostly extracted from a trailside berm above the washout. The portion of trail where the berm was removed was carefully groomed to provide an out sloop, thereby improving the drainage. In the process many feet of trenches were filled to improve the tread. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Completed the day’s event. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6 hours = 54 hours Feet of trail maintained: 300 Read More |
| 2023.04.01 | Event #: [938] Coyote Trail - We met at 8:30 at Wendy and Protrero and drove into the park to the Coyote trailhead on Ranch Center road by the water tank. We employed 2 gas powered brush cutters and tw0 weed whackers. The work consisted mainly of clearing brush and weeds and installing several water drains. We also filled in and leveled out some rutted sections of trail. We cleared about 2400 feet or 0.45 miles, leaving some 1.1 miles left to clear. We may continue working on the trail during Trail Days in a few weeks. We had a good turnout of 15 total volunteers which included 3 ultra trail runners and one juvenile accompanied by a parent. Crew size: 15 (11 regulars) Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 90 Feet of trail cleared: 2400 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Roger Young, Jerry Micham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Denise Pomonik, Carlyn Taggart, Greg Sweel, Don Brusselars, Kirsten Rosselot, John Kross Mallory Ham, David Filger, Carrie Robertson, Garret Robertson Read More |
| 2023.03.29 | Event #: [1001] Trails Days Prep - Preparation work for Trails Days Read More |
| 2023.03.27 | Event #: [936] Dead Horse Trail Assessment - This was an unscheduled trail assessment to survey reported storm damage on the Dead Horse Trail. Only one SMMTC volunteer (Jerry Mitcham) participated. Arrived at the Dead Horse Parking lot. Hiked approximately 0.65mile to the reported damage site. The damage consists of a washout leaving a large hole in the trail approximately 6.5’ x 3.5 and an average of 2.5’ deep. Trail users must use remaining sides of the trail with very precarious footing. This results in a safety issue as a hiker can easily slip and fall into the hole suffering injuries. See enclosed photo.. Proposed corrective action: Use the existing large rocks in the hole to construct a retaining wall in the large erosion drain. Fill the hole with available materials. Use as many nearby rocks as possible, Cut into the bank on the upper side of the trail for fill. The hole is large, it may be necessary to use a borrow pit to find enough fill material. After fill, install four new timber steps. Improve drainage above the washout. Clear the culvert above the washout. Priority: This washout presents a safety issue. Trail users can easily fall into the hole and sustain injuries. Notes: There is a large amount of other work that needs to be done on this trail. There are many steps that are badly eroded and need repair. Drainage needs improvement, There are several spots with standing water, creating mud puddles on the trail. The area needing most work is that section between this washout and the Dead Horse parking lot.. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 1 Volunteers x 2.5 hours = 2.5 hours Read More |
| 2023.03.25 | Event #: [935] Coyote Trail - We met at 8:30 at Wendy and Protrero and drove into the park to the Coyote trailhead on Ranch Center road by the water tank. The upper part of the Coyote trail starting at the water tank hasn’t been worked for many years and was very overgrown with brush and weeds. We employed 3 gas powered brush cutters, one battery powered brush cutter and one weed whacker. The work consisted mainly of clearing brush and weeds with very little tread work. We cleared about 3700 feet of trail or 0.70 miles, leaving some 1.5 mile left to clear. The Sierra Club Task Force usually works the lower part of the trail during our annual Trail Days. So, we actually have about a mile or so left to clear. There’s lots of tread work left for the next couple of outings. We had a good turnout with 5 ultra trail runners which included Roger Young and Keira Henninger who organizes ultra runs all over Southern California. Crew size: 18 (13 regulars and 5 non-regulars) Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 108 Feet of trail cleared: 3700 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Roger Young, Jerry Micham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Denise Pomonik, Barry Dydyk, Steve Clark, Carlyn Taggart, Juan Carlo, Greg Sweel, Peter Sullivan, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2023.03.24 | Event #: [937] Saddle Creek Trail Damage Assessment - This was an unscheduled trail assessment to survey reported storm damage on the BBT – Saddle Creek Trail. Two SMMTC volunteers (Jerry Mitcham and Don Brusselars) participated. Arrived at the BBT connector trail head on Stunt Road. Hiked approximately 1.5 miles (downhill toward Piuma Road) to the reported damage site. The damage consists of a washout leaving a very large hole in the trail approximately 20.5’ long x 3.5-7.5’ wide and ranging 3’ to 7.5’ deep. Trail users must leave the trail and climb upslope (very steep and slippery) to get around the washout. This is a very precarious alternative. This results in a safety issue as a hiker can easily slip and fall into the hole suffering injuries. See enclosed photo. Proposed corrective action: Use available nearby rocks to construct a retaining wall in the large erosion drain (7.5’ wide at the top and 3.5’ wide at the bottom). Fill the hole with available materials. Use as many nearby rocks as possible. On the up-hill side of the hole, remove the trail’s outer berm and use the material as fill. May also need to cut into the bank on the upper side of trail. Priority: This washout presents a urgent safety issue. Trail users can easily fall into the hole and sustain injuries. Completed the assessment. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 3 hours = 6.0 hours Read More |
| 2023.03.22 | Event #: [1000] Trails Days Prep - Preparation work for Trails Days Read More |
| 2023.03.18 | Event #: [934] Musch Trail - This was a regularly scheduled trail maintenance event to address storm damage to the Musch Trail in Topanga State Park. This was not a planned joint project with the Sierra Club. They had planned a separate project on a different trail but were blocked by a road closure. They joined us on the Musch trail. A couple of their volunteers worked with us, but they mainly worked on their own, further down the trail. A trail assessment was conducted with Jason Finley recently to identify the most pressing problems. Today’s work addressed the lower section of trail with much erosion and several damaged steps. Today we had eleven regular SMMTC volunteers. Met at Trippet Ranch parking lot. Drove to Musch Camp. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately .3 miles to the work site. The work was totally tread work. We installed several new drains and improved out slope. We also repaired/improved two major drains near the top of the steps. We added one major additional drain to divert water from the steps. Although we performed some repair work on the major set of steps, most of this effort had to be deferred due to the amount of standing water and deep mud. On the many feet of trenches were filled and tread improved. There is still a large amount of work to be done on this trail to restore the major section of steps. This work will have to be deferred until the area has thoroughly dried out to support the required work. Although we resolved the hazardous issues, the steps still have other difficult sections needing attention. Resolution of these issues requires close coordination with State Parks management. There are also some existing, poorly designed drains which need improvement. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,300 Read More |
| 2023.03.08 | Event #: [933] Musch Trail - This was a regularly scheduled trail maintenance event to address storm damage to the Musch Trail in Topanga State Park. A trail assessment was conducted with Jason Finley recently to identify the most pressing problems. Today's work addressed a section of trail with two washouts and other erosion problems. Today we had eleven regular SMMTC volunteers and two Sierra Club members for a total of 13 volunteers. We were also assisted by Jason Finley and one other State Park employee, A total crew size of 15, Met at Musch Camp. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately .4 miles toward Trippet Ranch Parking lot to the work site. The work was totally tread work. The largest and most serious of the washouts was corrected by installing a 15 long by 3 high retaining wall, using steel posts and multiple lavers of hardware cloth. This involved digging a 15x3 trench, driving in 8 steel posts, and backfilling with rocks and soil. The second washout was of different nature and was corrected by widening the trail, filling trenches and installing new drainage, On the remaining section of trail many feet of trenches were filled and several new drainage features installed.. There is still a large amount of work to be done on this trail. Although we resolved several hazardous issues, the trail has other difficult and hazardous sections needing attention. The crew is scheduled to address several of these additional issues in the coming weeks. Total SMMTC volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 480 Read More |
| 2023.03.08 | Event #: [999] Trails Days Prep - Preparation work for Trails Days Read More |
| 2023.03.04 | Event #: [932] Musch Trail, Topanga State Park - This was a regularly scheduled trail maintenance event to address storm damage to the Musch Trail in Topanga State Park. A trail assessment was conducted with Jason Finley recently to identify the most pressing problems. Today's work addresses what was identified as the most urgent of the problems. This section of trail was damaged because of the recent heavy rains and a clogged inside drain. The damage consisted of: A badly clogged inside drain; Approximately fifty feet of badly trenched trail; A set of steps which had been completed destroyed, leaving a large hole (20" x 8" x 4"); And a deep trench (approximately: 4" deep cutting across the trail; Today we had nine regular SMMTC volunteers and three Trail Corps members. A small group of volunteers drove directly to Musch Camp and began work. The remaining volunteers met at Trippet Ranch parking lot, then caravanned to Musch Camp. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. The work was totally tread work. A long stretch of clogged, inside drain (source of most of the water creating the other damage) was cleared of debris (most of the rocks mixed in with the debris were used in the repair of other areas, The deep trench cutting across the trail (this was the primary drain carrying the water from the eroded trail and inside drain) was improved by using rock to elevate the level of the drain by about two feet and establishing a more sustainable water crossing these improvements establishes a more functional and safe stream crossing. The badly damaged steps were repaired by resetting the timbers and filling the large empty spaces with rocks and topped with soil. Two new steps were added to reduce the overall grade and help stabilize the fill materials. The long trenched length of trail was repaired by installing two new steps, bringing in fill from other areas and using soil from the side of the trail. It should be noted that these efforts required moving several large rocks (by two or more volunteers), carrying many smaller rocks and The work was totally tread work. A long stretch of clogged, inside drain (source of most of the water creating the other damage) was cleared of debris (most of the rocks mixed in with the debris were used in the repair of other areas, The deep trench cutting across the trail (this was the primary drain carrying the water from the eroded trail and inside drain) was improved by using rock to elevate the level of the drain by about two feet and establishing a more sustainable water crossing these improvements establishes a more functional and safe stream crossing. The badly damaged steps were repaired by resetting the timbers and filling the large empty spaces with rocks and topped with soil. Two new steps were added to reduce the overall grade and help stabilize the fill materials. The long trenched length of trail was repaired by installing two new steps, bringing in fill from other areas and using soil from the side of the trail. It should be noted that these efforts required moving several large rocks (by two or more volunteers), carrying many smaller rocks and bringing in many, many buckets of crush and soil for fill material. There is still a large amount of work to be done on this trail. Although we resolved several hazardous issues, the trail has many more difficult and hazardous sections needing attention. The crew is scheduled to address several of these additional issues in the coming weeks. Total volunteer hours: 12 Volunteers x 6 hours = 72 hours Feet of trail maintained: 100. Read More |
| 2023.03.01 | Event #: [931] Musch Trail Assessment - A small group of Trails Council members (et al) met with Jason Finley, the Angles District Trails Coordinator, to assess damage to the Musch Trail, resulting from recent storms. Met Jason Finley at the main parking lot at Trippet Ranch. We hiked the Musch Trail from Trippet Ranch Parking lot to a point near Musch Camp, a distance of about one mile. We observed storm damage and discussed possible remedies. At the conclusion, we established informal work priorities to address the most pressing problems (mainly those presenting safety problems). As a result we now have a work plan for the next three or four trail maintenance events. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 3 hours = 15 hours Read More |
| 2023.03.01 | Event #: [998] Trails Days Prep - Preparation work for Trails Days Read More |
| 2023.02.22 | Event #: [930] Serrano Valley Trails - We met at 8:30 at Serrano and Cotharin roads and drove to the end of Serrano Road. We hiked about 1 mile to begin work where we left off last time. After Jason Finlay flagged the route, we weed whacked the last section of trail from the water pipe at the creek crossing up to the main trail, covering some 200 feet. We also performed tread work and some minor brushing on each side of the creek. We have now re-established all of the trails in Serrano Valley and our work there is done for now. A minor project involved installing a new sign post and attaching the old signage from a rotted post which had probably been in place for 30 years or more. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 5 Total hours worked: 25 Feet of trail cleared: 200 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Micham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Sheldon, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2023.02.18 | Event #: [929] Saddle Creek, Malibu Creek SP - Met at parking started hike to work area Arrived at work area and broke int three teams. Team 1 was two brush cutters and four cleaners.Team 2 was four stair builders. Team 3 was five trail movers. 15 Volunteers, 800ft cleared John K,Jon S, Don B, Ruth F, Dave E, Barry D, Solomn A, Viviana C, Greg Sweel, Juan Carlos, Carlyn T, George S, Christian S, Cayla S Read More |
| 2023.02.11 | Event #: [926] Eagle Scout Project - At 8:00 AM trail crew leaders and Jason Finlay met the Scouts from Troop 229, Encino CA at the TH. We briefed the Eagle candidate, Fernando Olvera, on the final layout. The scouts broke into three teams. The largest team started preparing the area for step installation. Two other teams cleared the area of brush and started gathering crush for the steps. The teams worked well together and the project was completed by 3:00 PM. 2 SMMTC Crew, Six Adults, 12 Scouts Read More |
| 2023.02.11 | Event #: [928] Saddle Creek, Malibu Creek SP - We had 2 occasional volunteers and 12 regulars (including 2 from the Trail Corps) for a total of 14. We met at 22575 Piuma Rd and parked there and then hiked about 1.5 miles to where we had cached tools the previous week. We split into 3 crews: 2 crews focused on fixing the hazardous washouts that were in line with each other. That meant cutting the trail more deeply into the hillside and stabilizing the slide areas. Two crew leaders ran brush cutters, while a 3rd crew cleaned up debris after them. That group also cleared slough, removed rocks, and repaired ruts in some areas. They also added a drain, although a lot more drain work is needed. After lunch, both repair crews moved up to repair a washout higher up, so in total 3 areas were fixed. We covered approximately .3 miles, because so much time was devoted to repairing the 3 washouts. Ultimately, those areas should be stabilized with timber buttresses, as has been done elsewhere on this trail, because erosion is going to continue due to the steepness of the area. We returned to the cars by 2:00 pm. Total volunteer hours: 14 x 6 = 84 Feet maintained: 1584 Read More |
| 2023.02.07 | Event #: [927] Pelican Bay - Location: Pelican Bay trail, Santa Cruz Island Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We performed trail maintenance on The Nature Conservancy’s Pelican Bay trail. Most of the work was installing rock steps in several locations and several wooden steps in one location. We also worked on the Chapel trail at the Main Ranch in the central valley. Summary of crew members work hours: Dave Edwards 29 hours Ruth Feldon 29 hours Carlyn Taggart 29 hours Cindy Kimmick 29 hours Juan Carlo 29 hours Anne Russel 19 hours Dennis Houghton 19 hours Greg Giloth 19 hours Read More |
| 2023.02.04 | Event #: [925] Saddle Creek, Malibu Creek SP - Location: Lower Saddle Creek Trail (BBT) Malibu Creek State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: This was a routine planned trail maintenance event and the first of three consecutive projects on this trail. A crew of 22 met near the trailhead where the Piuma Ridge Trail (BBT) crosses Piuma Road at 8:30 am. After signing-in and having a safety talk we distributed tools and proceeded up the trail. The crews broke into groups with one group of six working on the initial 100 yards to fill in an erosional rut and brush the edges to restore the 4-foot trail width. Another group followed one of the two hedge trimmers down and across Dark Canyon to clean cuttings, widen the trail, remove rocks, and cut overhead branches. Another hedge trimmer worked down to the creek crossing and continued further up restoring a well-groomed trail corridor. Others cleared brush/vegetation, removed slough, widened the trail, and cleaned up the cuttings using McLeods, loppers, pick-mattocks, and folding hand saws. We made good progress and ended work at 1:15 pm and then cached the tools for next Saturday’s return. We all hiked down the trail to Piuma Road and arrived back at our meeting place at 2:30 pm. We cleared approximately 0.65 miles. There are some recent rain-related erosional problems just beyond where we left off and will try to address them in the upcoming 2 work events as we continue to clear this trail of brush and improve the badly worn and eroded tread. Crew size: 22 Total Hours worked: 132 hours total (22 volunteers 6 hours each) Total feet of trail maintained: 3432 feet (0.65 miles) Crew Members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk, George Sherman, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Greg Sweel, Bridgette Bagheri, Lauren Schneider Solomon Adams, Kirsten Rosselot, Anne Russell, Denise Pomonik, Viviana Celaya, Robert Bittner, Desirae Renta, John Kross, and 5 other volunteers. Read More |
| 2023.02.01 | Event #: [924] Serrano Valley Trails - We met at 8:30 at Serrano and Cotharin roads and drove to the end of Serrano Road. We hiked about 0.8 miles to begin work where we left off last time. We cleared about 100 ft of brush down to the creek crossing. So, this section of trail is cleared from near the old ranch site to the creek. Just across the creek we did tread work for some 150 ft of trail. Backtracking about 200 ft from the creek crossing, we used one weed whacker to re-establish the old trail from the intersection of the Serrano Valley loop trail (near the lower creek crossing) to the water pipe which crosses the same creek about 700 ft. upstream. One more outing will be required to finish re-establishing all of these trails. It will be mostly weed whacking about 300 ft of grass to join up with the main valley trail. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 54 Feet of trail cleared: 950 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Micham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Sheldon, Denise Pomonik, George Sherman, Carlyn Taggart, Norm and Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2023.01.28 | Event #: [922] Serrano Valley, Point Mugu SP - A group of thirteen volunteers assembled at the juncture of Serrano Canyon Rd. and Cotharin Rd. and truck pooled into the canyon, led by Jason Finlay of State Parks. We then parked and hiked in approximately 3/4 mile to the start of the work site. Jason and a few leaders did a minor reroute to the trail so it takes a more gentle path down. Work consisted of two parts - weed whipping the grass where the trail went down the hill and all the way to Serrano Canyon Trail (2 weed whips) The second part was brushing, removing a large dead oak across the trail (using our chainsaw), and tread work to avoid a large patch of poison oak. Hiked back to the trucks and left the canyon at about 2:30 p.m. 13 volunteers @ 6 hours = 78 hours Approximately 0.5 mile of trail was cleared and groomed by the second group and probably at least 0.5 mile of weed whipping to get to the Serrano Canyon trail end. Don, Carlyn, Dave, Greg, Denise, George, Juan Carlo, Ruth, Jon, Norm, Sharon, John & Jerry Read More |
| 2023.01.25 | Event #: [920] Serrano Valley - Summary: We met at 8:30 at Serrano and Cotharin roads and drove to the end of Serrano Road. We hiked about 1/3 mile to the trailhead just below the burned-out ranch. We employed two weed whackers to clear the first 200 feet of trail. After that the trail turns into a very rutted and brushy mess. By utilizing two brush cutters, we moved the trail over to the left and out of the old, rutted trail. We chopped out small stumps and roots and finished smoothing the trail. We were able to clear about 800 feet of trail, leaving about 500 feet left for this section down to the creek crossing. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 54 Feet of trail cleared: 800 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Micham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Sheldon, Denise Pomonik, John Kross, George Sherman, Cindy Kimmick, Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2023.01.21 | Event #: [921] Serrano Valley, Point Mugu SP - : Twelve regular volunteers met at 8:30 a.m., at the juncture of Serrano and Cotharin roads. Jason Finlay joined us. We proceeded to shuttle into Serrano Valley in 3 pickups. The road was still muddy in some spots. From the turnaround point, we walked about a mile to the trailhead, and from there we continued on for about another mile to where we had stashed the tools the week before. We used two gas powered weed whips and one pole trimmer to clear the brush and grasses, and to reestablish the trail. Two people raked, and the remaining 3 built water drains, improved the trail, pulled out roots, and pruned as needed. At 1:30 we hiked back to the trucks and drove out of Serrano Valley. We arrived at the parking area, at the top of Serrano Road, at approximately 2:30 p.m. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 6 Total hours worked: 72 Feet of trail cleared: 1050 John Kross, Ruth Feldon, John Sheldon,Juan Carlo, Anne Russell, Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Jerry Mitcham, George Sherman, Barry Dydyk, Cindy Kimmick, Denise Pomonik Read More |
| 2023.01.18 | Event #: [923] Serrano Valley Trails Survey - Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon and I met at 9 a.m., at the junction of Serrano and Cotharen roads. From there we shuttled in Dave's truck down to the creek, and continued on foot to inspect the trail and plan our work for Saturday. Once done, we hiked back to the truck and proceeded to drive back to the top. Crew size: 4 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 16 Feet of trail: N/A, this was a survey of the trail Read More |
| 2023.01.14 | Event #: [919] Ray Miller Trail, Point Mugu SP - We met at 8:30 in the parking lot of La Jolla Canyon. The weather was a little misty at first, but light rain kept getting worse. When we first started working the trail at the bottom the tread was just slightly damp and easy to work. But with the rain coming down it became impossible, turning the trail into a slippery mess. We did manage to get a little tread work in and some lopping on the lower section. Greg and a Solomon Adams (CSCI Trail Corps student) hiked to the top of Ray Miller to assess the trail condition. They reported that some sections needed lopping and tread work, mostly near the top but, overall, the trail is in good condition. With the over abundance of rain so far this season, there is sure to be lots of growth needing our attention later. Although we quit working on the trail around 10:45, Greg and Solomon didn’t get back down to the parking lot until around 11:30. Crew size: 8 regulars and 1 non-regular Hours worked: 3 Total hours worked: 27 Feet of trail cleared: 100 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Denise Pomonik, John Kross, Solomon Adams, Juan Carlos Mendoza plus one non-regular Read More |
| 2022.12.24 | Event #: [915] Record keeping and Scheduling - Placeholder for the hours of labor updating, schedule creation, recordkeeping and so much more. Read More |
| 2022.12.21 | Event #: [918] Pelican Bay Trail - We completely brushed the trail all the way to the #11 sign post and cleaned the rock steps of rocks just below that. That is a distance of about a mile. We carved in a couple of new steps and improved some of the existing steps through that gnarly section. We did lots of tread work in several sections by widening and leveling the trail. There's still a few minor sections which can be improved but most of the bad spots were fixed. The crew took out some big chunks of rock to make a nice path through the worst rocky section. After going down the rock steps beyond #11 and crossing the creek, we could install 5 wooden steps and some rock steps to improve this short, steep uphill section. We surveyed the trail where several steps need to be installed on the uphill portion after going down the wooden steps and crossing the creek. We figure we need about 26 steps in that location where there's still some old steps. In summary we could use about 31 wooden, 3-foot x 6x6 inch steps plus 6 more if needed elsewhere. We have 18 steps at the Main Ranch. There are 26 sticks of rebar stashed alongside the trail. Getting the steps to the work site is going to be a big problem. Our crew may be able to haul some of the steps but it would be nice if other volunteers carried some now and then prior to us arriving for our next work dates. It would be great if a schedule of sorts could be arranged for our next outings. This would really help us in our scheduling to get a crew together. We figure a crew of 8 is the right number for future trips. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Barry Dydyk, John Kross, Anne Russell, Don Brusselars, Ruth Feldon, Cindy Kimmick Total hours worked per crew member: 21 Total crew hours: 147 Total feet of trail worked: 5280 Read More |
| 2022.12.17 | Event #: [914] Wood Canyon Vista Trail, Point Mugu State Park - CORBA members and other newer volunteers joined SMMTC for this event. We had 4 occasional volunteers and 10 regulars (including Steve Messer of CORBA and Bridgette Baghari of Trail Corp) for a total of 14. State Parks ranger Jason Finlay joined to provide and supervise 2 battery-powered rock drills. We shuttled to the trailhead from the Wendy and Potrero lot in 5 vehicles. One crew consisting of 3 works plus Jason continued work on removing a very large boulder that juts into the trail and is blocking CSP from sending the Sweco along the trail. The other three crews cleared slough, removed rocks, widened the trail, and repaired ruts, working up from where we had stopped on 11/12/22. We installed a total of 10 drains, and covered .44 miles. It should be noted for the record that we saw a high-speed, possibly manned, white fixed-wing aircraft fly through the canyon at a very low altitude in the midmorning. We shuttled back to Wendy and Potrero at about 2:15. Total volunteer hours: 14 x 6 = 84 Feet maintained: 2323.2 Read More |
| 2022.12.10 | Event #: [913] Upper Serrano Valley loop trail, Point Mugu State Park - Summary: Eight of us regular volunteers met at 8:30 a.m., at the juncture of Serrano and Cotharin roads. Jason Finlay joined us. All of us proceeded to shuttle into Serrano Valley in 3 pickups. The road was a bit muddy but in much better condition than the previous Saturday. From the turnaround point, we walked about a mile to the trailhead, and from there we continued on for about another mile to where we had stashed the tools the week before. We used two gas powered weed whips and one pole trimmer to clear the brush and grasses, and to reestablish the trail. Two people raked, and the remaining 3 built water drains, improved the trail, pulled out roots, and pruned as needed. Given the weather forecast and the fact that it began to drizzle, we called it a day. We hiked back to the trucks and drove out of Serrano Valley. We arrived at the parking area, at the top of Serrano Road, at approximately 1:30 p.m. Crew size: 9 (8 regulars + Jason Finlay) Hours worked: 5 Total hours worked: 40 Feet of trail cleared: 950 Read More |
| 2022.12.07 | Event #: [912] Upper Saddle Peak Trail - The work was Routine trail maintenance, consisting of lopping, tread work and weed whacking. . Did much lopping to remove over growth into the trail corridor. Removed many toe stubbers (rocks). Weed whacked sections of the trail where appropriate. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Completed the day's event. Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 4 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,325. Read More |
| 2022.12.03 | Event #: [911] Upper Serrano Valley loop trail, Point Mugu State Park - We met at 8:30 at the juncture of Serrano and Cotharin roads. We shuttled 13 of us in three pickups past the gate about a mile into Serrano Valley. The road from the gate into the valley was recently graded making it drivable. However, the recent rains left the road very muddy and slippery for the trucks. We made it to the turnaround point and proceeded to walk about 0.90 mile to the trailhead. This trail has not been worked for about 12 years so the first 0.20 mile of the old ranch road was badly overgrown. We employed two gas powered hedge trimmers to clear the brush in combination with our crew manually pruning back sage brush and small trees, digging out roots, installing several water drains and smoothing the trail. The trail was moved over out of a rut in several places. This first section of trail is very steep but we cleared it to the top where it levels out into grassland. We’ll start here next Saturday with two weed whackers and one hedge trimmer. The work should go much faster since a good portion of it is grassland. There’re still some short patches of brush to clear. We hiked back to the trucks and drove back to the parking area at the top of Serrano road arriving at about 3:15. The dirt road out of the valley on the drive back was almost dried out and posed no problem. Crew size: 13 (12 regulars and one non-regular) Hours worked: 7 Total hours worked: 91 Feet of trail cleared: 1100 Read More |
| 2022.12.01 | Event #: [910] Serrano Valley - As Dave Edwards and John Kross were on Santa Cruz Island and rain was forecasted for Friday 12/2/2022, I volunteered to scout the Serrano Valley Loop Trail in advance of Saturday's outing. Not having a 4WD vehicle and being concerned about the condition of Serrano Rd, I started hiking at the junction of Cotharin Rd and Serrano Rd. Not only was the asphalt road to the gate in good shape with little brush, but the dirt road from the gate to the washout was in excellent shape having been recently graded by Jason Finlay and his State Parks crew. I began noting the condition of the Serrano Valley Loop Trail after hiking about 3 miles in from the car taking pictures and notes for the first 0.2 miles to where the trail entered a lengthy grassy section which would probably be the maximum distance we could clear on the first outing. I continued to flag the rest of the entire trail as it indistinct in many places for the benefit of future SMMTC outings as well as aiding anyone else attempting to follow the sometimes sketchy route. Returned to car at Cotharin and Serrano after covering about 10 miles out and back. On returning home, I provided a report to Dave and John detailing what to expect on the outing. Participants: Jon Sheldon. Total volunteer hours: 1 volunteer x 5 hours = 5 hours Read More |
| 2022.11.19 | Event #: [908] Old Boney trail, Point Mugu State Park - Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero Rd at 8:30 and drove to the Danielson multi-use camping area. It took six vehicles to transport some 31 volunteers. There was 12 of our regular trail workers and some 15 or so ultra-trail runners from Keira Henninger’s group along with two from CSCI Trail Corps. We hiked about 1.4 miles up the Blue Canyon and Old Boney trail toward the Chamberlain Rock trail to begin work. It was a very windy but otherwise nice day and a little on the cool side. We worked on the section of trail where we’ve had several slides in the past with lots of rocks of various sizes on the trail. All of these bad sections were cleared along with most all of the loose rocks. We cleaned several water drains and installed a few more new ones. So this whole section all the way up from the creek crossing to where the trail makes a big turn to the left was cleared. Nearly 2100 feet of trail. Hours worked: 6 Crew size: 31 Total hours: 186 Read More |
| 2022.11.18 | Event #: [909] Blue Canyon Trail - Scouting Report - There was five of us who scouted the Old Boney/Backbone trail for Saturday's trail work. The section of trail is the very steep section just past a creek crossing about 1.4 miles from the trailhead at Danielson. This section has a few minor slides with lots of loose rocks of various sizes. We expect a large turnout this coming Saturday with a slew of ultra-trail runners. Crew: Dave Edwards, Roger Young, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon Hours: 3 Read More |
| 2022.11.12 | Event #: [907] Wood Canyon Vista Trail Point Mugu State Park - This was a joint effort with CORBA members. The event was well-attended and we made good progress. We had 12 occasional volunteers (incl. CORBA) and 10 regulars for a total of 22. Jason Finlay joined us to support the shuttles. We met at the Wendy and Potrero, consolidated into 5 vehicles and shuttled down to the trailhead. After a tool talk and a safety talk, the volunteers were distributed over 4 crews, one crew built a substantial retaining wall and restored a 50 or 60 foot segment at the bottom of the trail. The next three crews focused on clearing slough and reshaping the trail, brushing, lopping, and installing or restoring a total of 12 drains, and, finally, the last crew focused on removing a very large boulder that juts out onto the trail and is preventing CSP from sending the Sweco up the trail to fix several spots above our work area. Jason went off to chainsaw a tree across the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail. Everybody headed back to the trailhead, and after refreshments, we got back in the vehicles for a short shuttle to the bottom of the U. Sycamore Canyon trail, to move off the trail the pieces of the tree that Jason cut up. Total volunteer hours: 22 x 6 = 132 + (3 x 3) - John, Anne and Steve scouted the trail on Friday. 141 hours for this project Feet maintained: 2,350 Read More |
| 2022.11.05 | Event #: [906] Fireline trail, Point Mugu State Park - A group of thirteen Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council volunteers and 6 CSUCI students assembled at Sycamore Day Use Parking to walk or shuttle to the work site. Our objective for the day was to brush, clear drains and remove Russian thistle. We began working at the start of the Fireline Trail. We cleared nearly a mile. 19 @ 6 hours = 114 hours Read More |
| 2022.10.29 | Event #: [905] Saddle Peak trail, Malibu Creek State Park - This was a routine planned trail maintenance event and the third project on this trail in the last 4 weeks. A crew of 10 met near the trailhead where the Piuma Ridge Trail (BBT) crosses Piuma Road at 8:30 am. After signing-in, we shuttled up to the Stunt Road connector at mile marker 2.9. During the last event on this trail the tools were safely hidden in the brush beside the trail, so only a couple of extra tools and fuel for the brush cutters and weed whacker was carried in. We proceeded to hike down the trail to where we left off last time, while admiring the well-groomed condition of the trail, approximately 1.15 miles. We recovered the tools and began work. Three crew members used the 2 brush cutters and 1 weed whacker to remove vegetation overgrowth from the trail. The other’s cleaned up the cuttings and cleared the trail using McLeods, loppers and saws. We ended work at 1:15 pm and returned down the trail to Piuma Road with all of the tools and arrived at 2 pm. The 2 shuttle drivers were taken back up to Stunt Road and then they drove back to Piuma Road to pick-up their passengers and tools. End of day at 2:30 pm. We cleared approximately 0.45 miles and there remains approximately 1.4 miles of work on the lower section of this trail. We will need to schedule follow-up events for this lower section in the Spring of 2023 to continue clearing this trail of brush and improving the badly worn and eroded tread. Crew size: 10 Total Hours worked: 60 hours total (10 volunteers 6 hours each) Total feet of trail maintained: 2376 feet (0.45 miles) Crew Members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitchham, Barry Dydyk, George Sherman, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Greg Sweel, 2 Cal. State University Channel Island trail core students, and 1 volunteer. Read More |
| 2022.10.28 | Event #: [904] Upper Sycamore - Downed tree - At Jason Finlay's request, two Trail Council volunteers hiked in to the Upper Sycamore Trail to locate and possibly remove a tree that had been reported as having fallen across the trail. The downed tree, a large Coast Live Oak, was located about 50 feet below the junction of Upper Sycamore Trail and Danielson Road/Old Cabin Trail. It completely blocked the trail causing hikers to detour through the brush and twice across a gully to continue on trail. Equestrians were unable to proceed. After assessing any risks, we elected to start removing the branches that we could safely deal with. We were able to remove sufficient material to make the trail passable, though we left some large, heavy, overhead branches impinging on the creek side of the trail for a larger crew with chainsaws. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 3.5hours = 7 hours Read More |
| 2022.10.22 | Event #: [903] Saddle Peak trail, Malibu Creek State Park - Location: Saddle Peak Trail, Malibu Creek SP Crew leader: Barry Dydk Summary: We met at 8:30 at mile marker 2.9 on Stunt Road. The work consisted of brushing the trail with gas powered equipment. The crew split up into two groups. One group started where we left off last time and the other group leap frogged them. We cleared about 3200 feet of trail. We finished work at 1:15 and hiked back to the parking area. Crew size: 15 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 90 Total feet of trail worked: 3200 Read More |
| 2022.10.15 | Event #: [902] COSCA Fall Work Day - 12 crew leaders, 3 CSUCI Trail Corps members, 7 rangers, and 55 volunteers, met at the Westlake Village Community Park. The work area spread over 0.7 miles of trail. The available volunteers were distributed over 6 crews, and the rangers took one of the flagged segments. The trail needed grooming. Some sections had to be re-shaped. The work was mostly treadwork with McLeods. Only one drain was needed. Also, some segments needed some lopping and brushing. Total volunteer hours: 77 x 4 = 308 Feet maintained: 3,700 Read More |
| 2022.10.08 | Event #: [901] Saddle Peak trail, Malibu Creek State Park - This was the first of probably three events along this segment of the Backbone Trail. Ten volunteers began working on the connector trail from Stunt Road to the BBT. Encroaching brush was cleared to restore the trail corridor’s width. We used a combination of weed whip, brush cutter and mcleods to remove both native and invasive brush. Several volunteers skipped ahead and began working on the BBT as it winds down towards Piuma. Trail width was restored on a few sections and overhead branches were removed to provide clearance for equestrians. A lunch break provided an opportunity to discuss future efforts to work on this trail and to enjoy the shade. The heat was noticeable as we worked on sun drenched segments of trail. We began the hike back a bit after 1:35. Work completed for the day. 4,200 feet of trail brushed. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 6.0 hours = 60 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4200 Read More |
| 2022.10.06 | Event #: [900] La Jolla Cyn CSUCI TC - This was a special Orientation and training for the CSUCI Trail Corps 2022. The audience consisted of one new CSUCI Trail Corp Member, for the 2022 – 2023 school year. The event consisted of two components; Trail Corp Orientation and Introduction to Trail Maintenance. Presentations were given Jerry Mitcham. Met at the day use parking lot at La Jolla Canyon. The Orientation session introduced the Trail Corps to the SMMTC Mission and Goals followed by a description of the organization of and planned activities of the Trail Corps program. The Trail Maintenance session covered basic trail maintenance topics such as terminology, definitions, trail maintenance guidelines, trail work safety and trail assessments. Completed training. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 3.0 hours = 6.0 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA. Read More |
| 2022.10.01 | Event #: [895] Round Mountain, Cal State Channel Islands - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event on the Round Mountain Trail. We had 8 SMMTC, 4 Trail Corps members and approximately 65 student volunteers for the project. Met on Old Lewis Road near the CSUCI campus. Unloaded and staged tools for the event. Student volunteers arrived at the trail head. Forty student volunteers were divided into four crews and deployed to the work sites. The trail had been previously brushed with cuttings left on the trail. The volunteers in three of the crews removed the cuttings, dug out roots and remove tripping hazards and loose rooks. The forth crew removed invasive plants (fennel and Russian thistle). Cutting from the invasive plants were bagged and brought to the trail head for disposal. Crews returned to the trailhead. An additional 25 student volunteers were divided into two crew and hiked to the work sites. The combined volunteer crews finished the trail clean up. All volunteers returned to the trailhead. Completed work and returned to the trail head. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 4 hours = 40 hours 2 Volunteers x 5 hours = 10 hours Total = 50 Feet of trail maintained: 2,700 ft. Read More |
| 2022.09.29 | Event #: [894] Round Mountain Trail - This was a special project to prepare for the CSUCI student volunteer day scheduled for October 1. Three SMMTC volunteers used power tools to trim back brush on the trail. The student volunteers will clean up the cuttings on their project on Saturday. Three SMMTC volunteers met at the trailhead. Three power tools were used to trim the brush to the top of the trail. . Completed work and hiked back to the trail head. . . Project complete. One volunteer transported power tools bach to the SMMTC tool storage and loaded tools for Saturday's event. Completed tool trasnsfer. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 6 hours = 12 hours 1 Volunteer x 7 hours = 7 hours Total hours 19 hours Feet of trail serviced: 2,700 Read More |
| 2022.09.24 | Event #: [896] Serrano Canyon - Met at Day Use Parking.10 Scouts and 11 adults. Drove two vehicles with tools and materials to Serrano Canyon TH. Remainder of volunteers hiked to TH. All gathered at TH. Assigned tools and materials to carry to work site. Presented safety briefing. Arrived at work site. Eagle broke volunteers into four teams - three four man teams worked on adding/replacing 9 steps. One larger team gathered rock/crush and transported it to use as fill around completed steps. Broke for lunch. Started work on remainder of steps. Completed all tasks and returned to TH with tools and old step material. Hiked back to Day use parking. 21 Volunteers and 126 hours Read More |
| 2022.09.24 | Event #: [897] National Public Lands Day - Worked on Ranch Overlook, Satwiwa Connector (trail from parking lot to Cultural Center), and Hidden Valley Overlook. Cleared brush on all trails using combination of power and hand tools. Brush on connector trail was piled up to chip and remove to reduce fuel load. Other brush was hidden along the trails. Ranch Overlook: 400 feet of brush clearance. Satwiwa Connector: 0.5 miles of brush clearance. Hidden Valley Overlook: 0.75 mile of brush clearance. SMMTC Volunteers: Barb Thomas, Anne Russell, Greg Sweel, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2022.09.21 | Event #: [893] Deer Leg & Malibu Vista Trail - Summary: This was a special work day to make up for work we missed on September 3rd when we canceled due to hot weather. Trail work consisted of brushing the Cage Creek trail from the first creek crossing near the top down to the second rock outcropping. We employed two brush cutters. After this work was completed, we built a rock bridge about 18 inches high across a small creek crossing near the juncture of the Dear Leg and Yearling trails. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon About 500 ft of trail was cleared. Hours worked: 5 Total hours: 25 Read More |
| 2022.09.17 | Event #: [891] Malibu Connector trail, Peter Strauss Ranch - Eight of us, Carlyn Taggart, Jon and Ruth Sheldon-Feldon, Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, and myself, met at the Peter Strauss Ranch asphalt parking area. We signed in and proceeded to the work area, 4/10th of a mile up the trail. With two brush cutters, and careful not to disturb the burrowing wasps that got Greg the previous time, we slowly made our way up the hill. The brush was thick, poison oak was everywhere, and progress was slow. We arrived at a point on the trail where we had to figure out which way to go, and after some exploring, agreed on a path to follow. This path is completely covered with vegetation, with many fallen trees that have to be removed. At this point, and given the time of day, we decided to call it quits. NPS will have to provide us with guidance, should we continue restoring this trail or do they have other plans for it. Total volunteer hours: 8 x 6 = 48 hours Feet maintained: 1,320 Read More |
| 2022.09.17 | Event #: [892] La Jolla Canyon - This was a special Orientation and training for the CSUCI Trail Corps 2022. The audience consisted of four new CSUCI Trail Corp Members, for the 2022 2023 school year. The event consisted of two components; Trail Corp Orientation and Introduction to Trail Maintenance. Presentations were given Jerry Mitcham. Met at the day use parking lot at La Jolla Canyon. The Orientation session introduced the Trail Corps to the SMMTC Mission and Goals followed by a description of the organization of and planned activities of the Trail Corps program. The Trail Maintenance session covered basic trail maintenance topics such as terminology, definitions, trail maintenance guidelines, trail work safety and trail assessments. Completed training. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 5.5 hours = 27.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA. Read More |
| 2022.09.11 | Event #: [917] Crew Leader Training - Jason Finlay organized training. Read More |
| 2022.09.10 | Event #: [898] Malibu Connector trail, Peter Strauss Ranch - Summary: This was a routine planned trail maintenance event and a continuation of the National Trails Days event held on June 4th. A crew of 5 met at the Peter Strauss Ranch parking area at 8 am. After signing-in, a safety talk, and distribution of tools we proceeded to the Peter Strauss Ranch Loop Trail and turned up the Malibu Connector Trail. A couple of crew members worked on removing a partially fallen burnt tree while another crew member used a brush cutter to remove vegetation overgrowth from the trail. Near the base of a cluster of bay trees an underground nest of wasps (yellowjackets) was discovered. We created a detour around this area to avoid additional contact with the aggressive wasps. We continued to remove very heavily overgrown vegetation using a brush cutter, loppers, and saws. Lots of poison oak. We turned back and returned the cars and finished at 2 pm. The section of the Malibu Connector Trail from the Loop Trail to the location we ended work on June 4th is in good condition and needs no work at this time. Approximately 0.3 miles in, the trail is very overgrown with brush, burned fallen trees have blocked sections, and the path is difficult to follow beyond this point. We cleared approximately 0.1 miles. We have scheduled a follow-up event for the following Saturday, September 17th to continue clearing this trail. Crew size: 5 Total Hours worked: 25 hours total (4 volunteers 6 hours each, 1 volunteer 1 hour) Total feet of trail evaluated: 520 feet (0.1 miles) Crew Members: John Kross, Greg Sweel, Dave Perlmutter, Dave Edwards, and Jerry Mitcham Read More |
| 2022.09.10 | Event #: [916] Crew Leader Training - Jason Finlay organized crew leader training. Read More |
| 2022.08.31 | Event #: [899] Deer Leg Trail - This was a trail evaluation survey and scouting effort in preparation for an upcoming maintenance project scheduled for September 3rd. A crew of 2 met at the Reagan Ranch parking area off of Cornell Drive at 7:30 am and drove in to the State Park Maintenance Area near the Yearling Trailhead. We walked the Yearling Trail to the Deer Leg Trail. We turned onto the Deer Leg Trail and proceeded to the connector trail and to the Yearling Trail. We walked a portion of the connector trail and then returned back on the Deer Leg Trail to the junction with the Lake Vista Trail. We continued along the Lake Vista Trail to the overlook area on the ridgeline. We then returned back down the Lake Vista Trail and back to the cars and finished at 9 am. Both trails need extensive weed whacking, brush cutting, and tread repair. Highest priority is a few sections along the Lake Vista trail which are eroding away on the down slope side to do overgrown vegetation on the up slope side forcing users off the trail. Crew size: 2 Total Hours worked: 3 hours total (2 volunteers 1.5 hours each) Total feet of trail evaluated: 8976 feet and 1.7 miles (0.6 miles on Deer Leg and 1.1 miles on Lake Vista). Crew Members: John Kross and Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2022.08.16 | Event #: [890] Eagle Ridge Trail - Location: Prisoners Harbor campground, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We had two consecutive day trips, 15 and 16 August, to construct tent pads for the new campground at Prisoners Harbor. The work consisted of clearing and leveling six campsites for 9 x 21 ft pads for tents and a picnic table. We also cleared and cut in several small trails leading to each campsite. The next phase (unknown dates, probably several weeks from now) will consist of installing 6x6 inch by various lengths of pressure treated timbers to border the tent pads. The pads will be filled in with decomposed granite and leveled. A crew of 7 worked for 4 hours on 15 August for 28 total hours. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell, Barry Dydyk, John Kross and Lindsay Coony A crew of 11 worked for 4 hours on 16 August for 44 total hours. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk, Dave Perlmutter, Lisa Markowitz, Greg Sweel, Tarynn Kimmick and William Hu Grand total hours: 72 Read More |
| 2022.08.15 | Event #: [889] Eagle Ridge Trail - Location: Prisoners Harbor campground, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We had two consecutive day trips, 15 and 16 August, to construct tent pads for the new campground at Prisoners Harbor. The work consisted of clearing and leveling six campsites for 9 x 21 ft pads for tents and a picnic table. We also cleared and cut in several small trails leading to each campsite. The next phase (unknown dates, probably several weeks from now) will consist of installing 6x6 inch by various lengths of pressure treated timbers to border the tent pads. The pads will be filled in with decomposed granite and leveled. A crew of 7 worked for 4 hours on 15 August for 28 total hours. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell, Barry Dydyk, John Kross and Lindsay Coony A crew of 11 worked for 4 hours on 16 August for 44 total hours. Crew members: Dave Edwards, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk, Dave Perlmutter, Lisa Markowitz, Greg Sweel, Tarynn Kimmick and William Hu Grand total hours: 72 Read More |
| 2022.07.11 | Event #: [888] Eagle Ridge Trail - Summary: This was a 4 day trip to Santa Cruz Island to work on the Eagle Ridge trail. We once again stayed at the Del Norte cabin. We continued our trail work where we left off last time which was about 0.75 miles up from the trailhead at the Navy Road. The work continued to be weed whacking a narrow, 18-inch wide (plus or minus) trail down to the dirt and cutting back fennel about 4 ft to a height of 12 inches on each side of the trail. We didn’t do any tread work. We finished roughing in the trail to its end at an overlook. The next phase on future trips will be to finalize the trail by cutting in a bench at several places and also to smooth it out. The crew of 5 each worked 22 total hours in the four days. Total hours: 110 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, Cindy Kimmick, Carlyn Taggart and Ruth Feldon Read More |
| 2022.07.08 | Event #: [887] Paramount Ranch Trails - We met at Paramount Ranch at 8:00. An NPS person opened the gate and escorted two of our tool trucks about a half mile to park alongside a dirt road. We passed out the tools to the crew and hiked about a half mile to begin work on the trail. We used 3 weed whackers and 2 brush cutters to clear the trail of weeds and brush. No tread work was performed. The trail we worked is a loop trail where there will be 5K runs on July 14th, 21st and 28th sponsored by Fleet Feet in Agoura Hills and by the SAMO fund to raise money to rebuild Paramount Ranch. We intermittently cleared about a mile of trail. We finished work at 11:30 and drove/hiked back to the parking area arriving at 12:00. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 48 Total feet of trail worked: 5280 Read More |
| 2022.06.25 | Event #: [886] Santa Ynez Trail - A group of seven volunteers met at Topanga State Park Tippet Ranch parking and shuttled to the trail head along with Jason Finlay from State Parks We proceeded to hike down the trail about ½ mile to where we stopped last outing and commenced to install 10 wood steps and one rock step. Lumber and rebar were already on site. We left a bit early due to heat and the fact we completed our goal for the day. 7 volunteers @ 6 hours for a total of 42 hours Read More |
| 2022.06.18 | Event #: [884] Leo Carrillo SP - Location: Camp 13 trail, Leo Carrillo SP Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 8:30 at the Leo Carrillo SP day use parking lot. This was supposed to be a special work day for volunteers of California State Parks. However, only one volunteer showed up. The work consisted entirely of brushing the trail the old fashioned way – by hand, with no gas powered equipment. The crew split up into two groups. One group started near the trailhead and the other group started at the other end. We cleared about 2000 feet of trail. We finished work at 12:15 and hiked back to the parking area. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 48 Total feet of trail worked: 2000 Read More |
| 2022.06.11 | Event #: [883] Santa Ynez Trail Topanga State Park - Summary: A crew of 11 Trails Council volunteers met at the Trippet Ranch parking lot at 8:30 AM. This was the third work day scheduled on this trail and another joint project with the Sierra Club’s Santa Monica Mountains Task Force trail crew. We briefly discussed the safety precautions we’re to take for the COVID-19 pandemic, the anticipated work planned for the day, and precautions related to the forecasted heat. We then shuttled up the East Topanga Fire Road and parked at the trailhead. We then distributed the tools and hiked 0.30 miles to the location where we left on the previous trail work event. We split into a couple of groups, continuing to replace burned and damaged steps along a steep section of the trail with assistance provided by State Parks staff. We installed four new wooden steps, cleaned/restored drains, smoothed and graded sections of the trail, and constructed a new rock step. The day was sunny and very warm. We stopped work after a lunch break and hiked back to the trailhead and returned via shuttle to the parking lot at Trippet Ranch. We restored about 550 feet or 0.1 mile of trail. After 3 events, this trail is now safer and in much better shape. Crew size: 11 Hours worked: 5.5 Total hours: 60.5 Total feet of trail worked: 550 feet Regular Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Jerry Mitcham, Carlyn Taggart, Robert Bittner, Caroline Martinez Read More |
| 2022.06.04 | Event #: [885] National Trails Days - Met at Peter Strauss. TC crew leaders led crews on work on the loop trail above the amphitheater and the Malibu Connector Trail. Loop trail was completed (clearing and hiding cut brush, grubbing roots, opening existing drains. The heavily overgrown (star thistle, poison oak, mustard) Malibu connector trail was brushed to the end in conjunction with Sierra Club and other volunteers. Below is the summary from NPS. Cactus Garden was cleaned up Amp seating was cleaned (19 large trash bags of duff) Peter Strauss Loop trail was completed Malibu Lake Connector trail had some work done (not sure how far folks got) Some more of the grounds were tidied up We had a total of 35 trash bags of duff and other materials removed on Sat! Estimated trail clearance: Loop: 1/3 mile, MC: 1/2 mile: ~4300 feet 11 TC Volunteers plus general public and Sierra Club TC Volunteers: Barb Thomas, Jerry Mitcham, Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell, Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, John Kross, George Sherman, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel Read More |
| 2022.05.28 | Event #: [882] Santa Ynez trail, Topanga SP - Eleven Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council volunteers worked alongside a dozen or more SMMTF volunteers to repair steps that had been burned in 2021. Our objective for the day was to brush, clear drains and place more than a dozen steps. We hiked about.75 mile and began working. Placing steps involved removing rebar, creating a level footprint for the board and driving a 36 piece of rebar thru the board and into the ground. Dave and crew cut the boards to size and drilled the boards. Hazards included red ants – unhappy that their homes were being disturbed for a drain. We will need to come back to finish this section. Distance worked: 600 feet 11 volunteers @ 6 hours = 66 hours Regulars: George, Dave, Don, John, Jerry, Jon, Ruth, Greg Read More |
| 2022.05.23 | Event #: [880] Eagle Ridge Trail - Location: Eagle Ridge trail, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: This was a 4 day trip to Santa Cruz Island to work on the Eagle Ridge trail. The first day we were to settle in at the Del Norte cabin but we couldn’t because it was being occupied by another group until the following day. So luckily Jennifer Baker of The Nature Conservancy agreed to put us up at the Main Ranch. Otherwise we would have gone back to the mainland on the NPS boat on the first day and would have returned on the NPS boat next day. We would have missed an entire day's work not to mention the inconvenience of dragging our stuff back and forth unnecessarily. So a special thanks to Jennifer. We continued our trail work where we left off last time which was about 0.30 mile up from the trailhead. The work continued to be weed whacking a narrow, 18 inch wide (plus or minus) trail down to the dirt and cutting back fennel about 4 ft to a height of 12 inches on each side of the trail. We didn’t do any tread work. The Chumash Indians have a contract with NPS to check out the trail for any Indian related artifacts or other things of interest to them. They will do this after we finish our phase of trail work. Once they finish and give the ok we'll perform lots of tread work on future trips. There's many sections which require cutting in a bench, filling in big holes and smoothing out the trail. We have about 0.41 mile of trail remaining to be worked which we may be able to finish on our next 4 day trip (dates unknown at this time). Total length of trail worked won't be finalized until the trail is completed and open to the public. The crew of 6 each worked 24 total hours in the four days. Total hours: 144 Crew members: Dave Edwards, Don Brusselars, Cindy Kimmick, Jamie Wolf, Karen and William Powell. Read More |
| 2022.05.21 | Event #: [881] Santa Ynez trail, Topanga SP - Nineteen Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council volunteers worked alongside a dozen or more SMMTF volunteers to repair steps that had been burned in 2021. Our objective for the day was to brush, clear drains and place more than a dozen steps. We hiked about.5 mile and began working. Placing steps involved removing rebar, creating a level footprint for the board and driving a 36 piece of rebar thru the board and into the ground. Dave and crew cut the boards to size and drilled the boards. Hazards included a red ants unhappy that their homes were being disturbed for a drain. We will need to come back to finish this section. Distance worked: 800 feet 19 volunteers @ 6 hours = 114 hours Regulars: Barb, Dave, Anne, Don, John, Jerry, Jon, Ruth, Greg, Robert Read More |
| 2022.05.07 | Event #: [879] Round Mtn Invasive Plant Removal - This was the second invasive plant removal event on the Round Mountain Trail this year. We had 2 SMMTC and 6 student volunteers (3 Trail Corps members) for the project along with a guest instructor from the Sierra Club's Santa Monica Mountains Task Force for this project. This event will complete our CSUCI events for this year. Met on Old Lewis Road near the CSUCI campus. Unloaded and staged the equipment/tools for the event. Student volunteers arrive, conducted introductions, safety and equipment briefing. Walk to the trailhead and begin removal of invasive plants by hand and bagging all vegetation. Students receive training on the 7 Leave No Trace principles of outdoor ethics. Resume removal of invasive plants from the top of the mountain and along the trail corridor back to the trailhead. The students worked rapidly and effectively. (No formal lunch break taken as agreed by all). Completed all tasks and walked back to the cars. End of day. Total volunteer hours: 8 volunteers x 5.5 hours = 44 hours Read More |
| 2022.04.30 | Event #: [878] Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu State Park - We met at the Day parking at Sycamore Cove at 8:00 AM and hiked to the Serrano Canyon Trail Head. At the TH we broke into seven teams where each team consisted of at least one SMMTC crew leader and one Scout leader and several scouts. We provided task descriptions and a safety briefing and headed to the worksite. Our primary efforts were directed at improving the steps just east of the quarry. These steps were initially installed by the Troop about 33 years ago. Team 1 performed slough removal about 1/4 mile in from the TH and on the east side of the step project. Team 2 worked on the tread between the teams replacing/improving the steps. Team 3 walked the entire trail removing branches impinging the trail. Team 4 Gathered crush for use in step construction. Teams 5,6 and 7 worked on step improvement Initially the scouts from teams 5,6 and 7 moved the step timbers and rebar from the TH to the work site and then joined the other members of the team. We expected to complete 6 to 8 steps out of 18 planned but when all was completed we were able to install 10 steps. We returned to Day parking at 2:00 PM Read More |
| 2022.04.27 | Event #: [873] Eagle Ridge Trail - Location: Eagle Ridge trail, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Ventura Harbor at 8:00 and left for SCI Prisoners Harbor at 9:00 on the Island Packer boat. We arrived at Prisoners Harbor at 11:30 and began trail work at 12:00. We brushed and weed whacked the trail beginning at the trailhead just off the Navy Road. The first 3/10 of a mile of new trail is now completed. We cleared the sides vertically with hedge trimmers and weed whacked the path to bare ground. We didn’t do any digging. We got to about 100 feet past the blocked off side trail marked with 4 blue pin flags. We continued to cut back fennel 4 feet from the center of the trail. Native vegetation was only trimmed along the sides of the trail. We still have a mile or so left which will take a few more trips. We cleared about 1600 feet of trail. We finished work at 3:45 and arrived back at Prisoners Harbor to catch the 4:30 boat back to Ventura Harbor. The crew of 8 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 32 Total feet of trail worked: 1600 Read More |
| 2022.04.24 | Event #: [876] 39th Annual Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon - Blue Canyon Trail: 37 Volunteers: All Volunteers worked on the Blue Canyon Trail. The work was exclusively brushing, from the campground trailhead to near the junction of the Old Boney Trail. Crew leader: Dave Edwards Total volunteer hours: (37 volunteers x 3 hours) = 111 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,690 Read More |
| 2022.04.23 | Event #: [877] 39th Annual Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon - Seventeen SMMTC volunteers were on hand to organize and supervise the trail maintenance activities. Volunteers were organized into several crews. Crews were shuttled to various trail heads, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. Four crews hiked to their assigned work sites, up the Blue Canyon/Old Boney trails. The Sierra Club volunteers were shuttled their work sites on the Coyote. The CORBA crew was shuttled to the Guadalasca Trail. Two crews were shuttled to the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows: Blue Canyon Trail: Crew #1; 9 volunteers. Crew #1 Lopped brush from a badly overgrown trail. Minor tread work to repair recent storm damage. Crewleader: Anne Russell Total volunteer hours: (9 volunteers x 6 hours) = 54 hours Feet of trail maintained: 520 Blue Canyon Trail (Actually Old Boney Trail - east): Crew #2; 6 volunteers. Crew #1 Lopped brush from a badly overgrown trail. Minor tread work to repair recent storm damage. Crewleaders: Jon Sheldon/Ruth Felton - Total volunteer hours: (6 volunteers x 6 hours) = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: 790 Blue Canyon Trail: Crew #3; 7 volunteers. Crew #31 Lopped brush from a badly overgrown trail, minor tread work to repair recent storm damage and cleared a few drains. Crewleader: Greg Sweel Total volunteer hours: (7 volunteers x 6 hours) = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,200 Blue Canyon Trail: Crew #4; 8 volunteers. Crew #4 Lopped brush from a badly overgrown trail, minor tread work to repair recent storm damage and cleared a few drains. Crewleader: George Sherman Total volunteer hours: (8 volunteers x 6 hours) = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,200 Upper Sycamore Canyon: Crew #1: 12 volunteers. This crew was assigned the task of completely restoring a washed out stream crossing. The tasks involved repairing/building two large rock walls, constructing a ramp up the stream bank and repairing two drai Read More |
| 2022.04.22 | Event #: [875] Trail Days - Prep - Friday - Met at Danielson Campground. Began work with six SMMTC volunteers. Performed various tasks to prepare for Saturday’s main event. Performed maintenance on tools, developed the work plan for Saturday (defining crew and trail assignments), Sorted and arranged tools for the various Saturday crews. Set-up tables and other features for Saturday. Prepared certificates for the Saturday Volunteers. Read More |
| 2022.04.21 | Event #: [874] Trail Days - Prep - Thursday - Six SMMTC Crewleaders met at Hollywood Storage/Danielson Campground to begin planning and preparations for Trail Days. Met at Hollywood Storage – loaded tools and all other trails days event equipment. Hauled tools/equipment to Danielson Campground. Unloaded tools. Four volunteers hiked the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail performing assessment and identifying tasks to be performed on Trail Days. Read More |
| 2022.04.16 | Event #: [870] Lost Cabin Trail - Summary: The crew members met at Reagan Ranch at 8:30 a.m. and shuttled to the MASH site in 4 vehicles. We started up the.75 mile dead-end Lost Cabin trail around 9:15 a.m. and hiked to the End of Trail sign. SP's Jason Finlay had flagged 2 sections as non-dig areas due to the presence of arch sites. There was deep erosion in multiple sections of the trail, so we started working from the End sign toward the start. We got within sight of the first flagged area. We installed 7 drains, which should help prevent the arroyo-cutting. We stopped work around 1:15 p.m. and shuttled back to the vehicles at. Reagan Ranch. The crew of 16 included 2 members of the CSCI Trail Corps. Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 96 Total feet of trail worked: 1,056 Read More |
| 2022.04.13 | Event #: [869] Eagle Ridge Trail - Summary: We met at 8:00 at Island Packers at the Ventura Harbor. We received an orientation from Sterling Holdorf, Chief, Facilities Management Div. While waiting in line for our 9:00 a.m. boarding, the NPS superintendent, Ethan McKinley, stopped by to chat with us for several minutes and answered several of our questions about the park. He’s very pro trails. We arrived at Santa Cruz Island, Prisoners Harbor at 11:45 and proceeded to the Eagle Ridge trailhead. Clark Cowan, NPS’s fennel eradicator amongst other things, gave us instructions which included: weed whack the trail to no more than 18 inches wide and down to the ground (no digging). Clear the trail to 4 feet on each side to one foot above ground. There’s lots of fennel in the two sections where we worked. We used a hedge trimmer to cut the fennel and 3 weed whackers to define the trail. Clark will come back in a few weeks to spray the fennel with herbicide after it sprouts new foliage. We didn’t start work at the beginning of the trail which is just off of the Navy road. This section for about ¼ mile is very brushy mainly with sage brush. The NPS will conduct a nesting bird survey in this section before we can begin work here in future outings. Our work was well above this section in a fairly open and grassy environment. We will have many more trips, mostly multi-day trips, to complete the trail work for the new Eagle Ridge trail. Future trips will require the Chumash to monitor our work as this area is considered to be culturally sensitive. The crew of 12 included 1 member of the CSCI Trail Corps. Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 48 Total feet of trail worked: 700 Read More |
| 2022.04.09 | Event #: [871] Phantom trail, Malibu Creek SP - Summary: We met at 8:30 at the dirt parking area alongside Mulholland Dr. We started work at the trailhead just across the road. We employed one gas powered hedge trimmer which cleared large stands of mustard and other weeds which were choking the trail. Volunteers followed behind to finish clearing vegetation and widened the trail by pulling down sluff from the upslope side. Two large inside drains were cleared and made useful again. This trail from the Mulholland side will require several more work days to restore to a suitable condition. We worked about 1600 ft of trail. The crew of 15 included 2 members of the CSCI Trail Corps. Crew size: 15 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 90 Total feet of trail worked: 1600 Read More |
| 2022.04.02 | Event #: [868] Saddle Peak Trail - Plant Restoration/Trail Maintenance at Saddle Peak Malibu Creek State Park. Crewleader=Jerry Mitcham This project was scheduled for the CSUCI Trail Corp. Today we had two regular SMMTC volunteers and five Trail Corps members. The main objective of day's the project was to give the Trail Corps members an opportunity to work on the ongoing Spanish broom removal project. As it turned out, there was very little restoration work to do, so most of the day's activities was regular trail maintenance on the Saddle Peak Trail. Generally, the ongoing restoration project on Saddle Peak has been so successful, that there was very little restoration work to do. However, we began the day treating the small number of plants in the small meadow above the water tank. Later in the day, we treated a few plants on the top of the peak. The major part of the day we performed routine trail maintenance on the Saddle Peak portion of the Backbone Trail. This work included cleaning out several large drains and removing much brush alongside and overhead off the trail. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,800. Read More |
| 2022.04.02 | Event #: [872] Phantom trail, Malibu Creek SP - A group of seven volunteers assembled at the South end of Liberty Canyon Road and hiked in approximately 1-1/4 miles to the start of the work site. As we were hiking to the site, two drains were added to the trail, and steps added at a turn to protect an existing drain that was cleaned out. Work at the top of the trail was widening the trail by removing vegetation, including a few thick stands of mallow intruding on the trail, and tread work to provide a clean surface. A 7 volunteers @ 6 hours for a total of 42 hours Approximately 0.4 mile of trail was cleared in addition to the drain and step work that was performed. Read More |
| 2022.03.26 | Event #: [867] Lower Hondo Canyon, Topanga State Park - Summary: We met at 8:30 at the parking area alongside Old Topanga Road at the lower Hondo Canyon trailhead. The work consisted mainly of cutting back thick stands of mustard and other weeds which were growing into the trail. We also performed tread work in several places and cleaned out a few water drains. We finished work and arrived back at our vehicles at 2:30. We cleared about 1500 feet of trail. We had a crew of 16 which included 4 members of the CSUCI Trail Corps. Crew size: 16 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 96 Total feet of trail worked: 1500 Read More |
| 2022.03.19 | Event #: [866] Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency spring work day - 10 crew leaders, 6 rangers, and 123 volunteers met in the inner parking lot at Wildwood Park. The work area spread over 1 mile of trail. 86 volunteers were assigned to 7 crews led by SMMTC crew leaders. Work areas had been flagged in advance on March 16 by Jon Sheldon, John Kross, lead ranger Bruce Pace and ranger Joe Neary. Crew leaders were provided with a list of issues to be address in their assigned trail segment. Crew leaders gave safety talks to their crews, assigned tools, and proceeded to their assigned work area. The trail was severely rutted with lots of loose rocks and not enough drains. Also narrowed by brush in some areas, with overgrown lemonade berry branches growing on to the trail. Our crews addressed all of those issues, with a wheelbarrow crew bringing in dirt to the most severely rutted areas towards the top, and water in special backpacks to dampen and compact the dirt. Many new drains were installed and several old drains were improved. Total volunteer hours: 86 x 6 = 516 Feet maintained: 5,300 Read More |
| 2022.03.12 | Event #: [864] Guadalasca Trail - Five mountain bikers and eight TC regulars met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle in three trucks to the Guadalasca trailhead on Wood Canyon fireroad. Trucks were: Dave Edwards, Jason Finlay, John Kross We arrived at the trailhead, assigned tools, and Steve Clark gave the tools and safety talk. Dave Edwards and Don Brusselars chain sawed and removed a large oak branch that was partially blocking the trail while the rest of us moved on. Work areas began 1.6 miles up the trail. We got there and divided into groups of 3, and proceeded to fill in the severe ruts in the trail. Also, five drains were installed. We stopped at 11:30 for lunch, then continued working at 12 noon. We finished our day by shuttling back to the Wendy trailhead. We got back to the Wendy trailhead at 2:45 p.m. Total volunteer hours: 13 x 6 = 78 Feet maintained: 1,056 Read More |
| 2022.03.12 | Event #: [865] Round Mtn Invasic Plant Removal - Four CSUCI students joined crew leaders Anne Russell and Cindy Kimmick on Old Lewis Rd outside the Camrosa water treatment plant. We talked to the trailhead, about half a mile. We hiked to the summit of Round Mountain and from there we spread out across the western slope of the summit where Russian sage and fountain grass are the most extensive. We worked until 11:30 cutting and bagging the invasive plants. At noon, we began to work our way down the trail, cutting and dropping fennel along the way. There was very little Russian sage lower down, but we did remove some. At the saddle, near the commemorative bench, the crew spread out and worked the lower western slope where Russian sage is a significant problem. We stopped at 1:00 to return to the cars, carrying 8 bags of plant material. Each large construction waste bag weighed between 10 and 15 lbs, we estimated. So that means we removed somewhere around 80-120 pounds of Russian sage We were happy to see that the summit area is progressing somewhat akin to Saddle Peak, where as more space for native plants is opened up, they start to reclaim their turf. We saw lots of little buckwheat plants springing up where they were previously absent. Nice poppies and other wildflowers, too. We loaded the bags in Cindy's car for disposal at CSUCI’s dumpsters, which Jerry Mitcham had secured permission for in advance. Volunteer hours: 6 x 6 = 36 Scouting: 2 x 2 = 4 Total = 40 Feet maintained: 2 miles (10,560 feet) Read More |
| 2022.03.05 | Event #: [863] Camp 13 Trail - This was a regularly scheduled project to perform repair and restoration maintenance on the Camp 13 Trail. This was a joint project with the Environmental Services and Resource Management (ESRM) department of California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI), providing volunteer opportunities for ESRM students. There were 11 ESRM volunteers, 4 CSUCI Trail Corps members and 11 SMMTC volunteers present. A charter bus was provided (at SMMTC expense) to transport student volunteers to/from the campus to the Leo Carrillo State Park. CSUCI students met the charter bus at CSUCI campus. SMMTC volunteers met at Leo Carrillo State park. CSUCI Students arrived at Leo Carrillo. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. Began work. Cut back thick brush and removed slough on trial. Removed storm debris and restored level grad to the tread. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 26 Volunteers x 6 hours = 156 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,750. Read More |
| 2022.03.04 | Event #: [862] Leo Carrillo - This was a special project to perform prepatory work for the CSUCI service day scheduled for March 5. The work consisted of brush trimming using gas powered trimmers. There were two SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the day use parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Park. Began work. Trimmed brush on both sides of a 500 foot section of trail.. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 2.5 hours = 5 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500. Read More |
| 2022.03.02 | Event #: [861] Bent Arrow Trail - Location: Bent Arrow trail, Topanga State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 9:00 at the parking area at the end of Reseda Blvd and drove into Topanga State Park to the Bent Arrow trailhead. The last two rows of planks were installed which completed the wall construction. Gravel was added with dirt on top to smooth out the tread. We also installed 6 wooden steps, 6x6x30 inches, just below the wall at a sharp and steep switchback. Each step was secured in place with two rebar stakes. This now completes our work on the Bent Arrow trail, at least for the time being. The crew consisted of 6 SMMTC persons and 3 from State Parks, including Jason Finlay. We arrived back at the parking area at 3:00. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 36 Total feet of trail worked: n/a Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2022.02.26 | Event #: [860] Phantom trail - Saturday, March 19, 2022 13 TC regulars, 2 CSUCI students, and Dale Chaloukian, who used to work for Dale Skinner and joined us for trailwork, met at the lower parking lot and proceeded to shuttle to the base of the Phantom trail. After assigning tools, we proceeded up the trail to the work area We split into three groups and assigned each group to a segment of the trail to be restored. We headed back to the vehicles Total volunteer hours: 16 volunteers x 6 hours = 96 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1700 Read More |
| 2022.02.20 | Event #: [857] Trail Sign Survey - Activity: PMSP Sign Restoration Project Field Survey Location: Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Jon Sheldon Drove to the Sycamore Cyn FR/Wood Cyn FR junction to begin this last survey of signs. Surveyed 10 existing signs and identified locations for three additional signs. Returned to Wendy/Potrero. This completes the Field Survey portion of the project. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Bryan Loya (CSUCI) PRELIMINARY STATISTICS (subject to change) All 73 signs installed by the Trails Council in 2007 were surveyed. Of this number, 4 signs are missing, 9 signs are unreadable due to fire damage and 5 signs have partial fire damage. Most of the remaining 56 signs have some form of degradation due to sun exposure or vandalism. An additional 39 signs were located in the park in various conditions. Some signs have incorrect trail names, some have incorrect mileage to destinations. There are many inconsistencies between various sign’s trail names and destinations that will be detailed later. There are a total of 39 named trails/roads in the park. There are 64 junctions in the park. Six junctions are fully signed, 39 are partially signed and 19 are unsigned. Serrano Valley is completely unsigned. The BBT traverses 8 different segments in the park with 2 entry points and 8 intermediate junctions. A total of 18 signs should have a BBT indication. We found only one BBT directional sign in place. A total of seven trips into the park, including this one, were made to complete the field survey. Today's volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 6 hours = 18 hours Read More |
| 2022.02.19 | Event #: [858] Guadalasca trail, Point Mugu SP - We had 20 volunteers for our 3rd Guadalasca work day + Ranger Jason Finlay assisting with driving. Four trucks left the Wendy-Portrero parking area promptly at 8:30 a.m. with volunteers and tools. Two of the volunteers Dorian and Katie were CSUCI Trail Corps students. (Because of limitations with transport, I had to turn away 1 student and 4 would-be volunteers.) 18 of the volunteers, including co-leaders Anne Russell and CORBA's Steve Clark and Steve Messer, went 1.3 miles up the Guadalasca Trail, leaving Jerry Mitcham and Barry Dydyk to complete unfinished lower trail drain work. The mid-trail group worked.6 miles of trail, cutting brush, filling deep ruts, removing berms that interfered with drainage, and smoothing tread. The team installed 16 critical new drains. More work is needed above. Work ended at 1:00 and we hiked the 2 miles out, met the trucks, and returned to the parking lot by about 2:45 p.m. Read More |
| 2022.02.17 | Event #: [855] Serrano Canyon - Date: February 17, 2022 Activity: Trail Maintenance Location: Serrano Canyon trail, Point Mugu SP Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 8:30 at the Sycamore Canyon day parking lot just off the PCH. We drove to the Serrano Canyon trailhead and parked. We cleared three sections of trail where tree limbs had fallen and partially blocked the trail. We arrived back at the parking lot at 11:30. Crew size: 3 Hours worked: 3 Total hours: 9 Total feet of trail worked: n/a Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon Read More |
| 2022.02.17 | Event #: [856] Trail Sign Survey - Activity: PMSP Sign Restoration Project Field Survey Location: Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Jon Sheldon Still feeling energetic after the morning’s outing with Dave removing three downed trees in Serrano Canyon, we elected to complete the survey of signs in the southern section of the park. We hiked in to check out sign conditions at the top of the Scenic Trail, the junction of Scenic Trail and Overlook Fire Road and at the top of the Fireline Trail. Five existing signs were surveyed and locations for four additional signs were noted. One more survey is needed in the middle of the park to complete the first phase of the project. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Read More |
| 2022.02.16 | Event #: [854] Bent Arrow Trail - Bent Arrow Trail, Topanga State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 9:00 at the parking area at the end of Reseda Blvd and drove into Topanga State Park to the Bent Arrow trailhead. We continued to work on the retaining wall and almost completed laying in the 4th row of pressure treated planks. The wall is being backfilled with gravel. Three of us were involved in making the cuts to fit the planks together while the other two, along with two state park employees, worked putting the planks in place. We think that two more rows of planks will be enough to finish the wall. We arrived back at the parking area at 3:00. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 30 Total feet of trail worked: n/a Crew members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Jamie Wolf Read More |
| 2022.02.13 | Event #: [853] Trail Sign Survey - Two Trail Council volunteers and three CSUCI students met at the Sycamore Cyn Day Use Parking area and carpooled into the park to begin hiking at the Serrano Cyn TH for an excursion around Serrano Valley with a break at the Serrano Homesite. Six signs from the 2007 installation project were surveyed, one of which was found to be missing. We determined that four new signs would be beneficial in Serrano Valley and found three signs (two unreadable) that were not included in the 2007 package. We also found that the Harrison map and State Park GIS data do not reflect the obvious, well used path between the southern terminus of the Serrano Valley Loop Trail and the Serrano Homesite. The main route in this section is clearly delineated in apps (Gaia, Alltrails) based on OpenStreetMap data Read More |
| 2022.02.12 | Event #: [852] CSUCI Trail Corp Project - Met at day use parking. Walked to trail head, stage tools and assign tasks. Remove barbed wire and old posts. Flag new posts and start installing posts. Start filling trail with addition soil to remove trench. Install cable in new posts. Complete trail leveling and return to Day use Parking Read More |
| 2022.02.12 | Event #: [859] Bent Arrow Trail - A group of eleven volunteers assembled at the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park parking area to shuttle to the work site. Our objective for the day was to continue rebuilding the portion of trail that had been destroyed by a landslide due to heavy rain. Work consisted of moving dirt away from the area that is being rebuilt, dumping it somewhere where we can retrieve it to fill in as the wooden structure is built. Buckets of gravel were also moved to fill in portions of the wooden structure to prevent dirt from escaping. During the process, one of the volunteers, Dave Perlmutter fell as he was trying to get to the lower level. Initially he seemed OK, but a while later he was complaining of confusion. Dave Edwards brought him to the hospital emergency room to be checked. He was released about the time we finished working, and we shuttled back to parking. 10 volunteers @ 6 hours 1 volunteer @ 4 hours 1 volunteer @ 3 hours 12 volunteers and 67 hours Read More |
| 2022.02.09 | Event #: [851] Lookout Trail - Location: Lookout trail, Malibu Creek State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 8:30 at Malibu Creek State Park and drove to the Lookout trail trailhead along Crags Road. Our main objective was to widen about a 40 feet section of trail and another shorter section where the outer edges were eroding away. These two sections were about 150 yards up the trail from the trailhead along Crags road. We also restored 7 water drains and cut in one other. We returned to the parking lot at 1:30. Crew size: 13 Hours worked: 5 Total hours: 65 Total feet of trail worked: n/a Read More |
| 2022.02.05 | Event #: [850] Bent Arrow Trail - We met at 8:30, at the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park parking lot. We had a mixed group today, 2 from the Sierra Club Task Force, 5 from CSUCI's Trails Co-Op, 1 high school student who needed Community Hours + his mother, and 9 SMMTC regulars. We drove in 3 trucks into Topanga State Park to the Bent Arrow trailhead. We arrived at the trailhead and split into three groups, one group continued the Bent Arrow trail improvement project, one group continued preparing the foundation for the retaining wall, and Dave Edwards + Jamie Wolf (SC) worked on making cutouts on the timbers, getting them ready for the retaining wall. 2:30 PM We returned to the parking lot Total volunteer hours: 18 volunteers x 6 hours = 108 hours Read More |
| 2022.01.29 | Event #: [849] Bent Arrow Trail - Location: Bent Arrow trail, Topanga State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 8:30 at the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park parking lot and drove into Topanga State Park to the Bent Arrow trailhead. We had a large turnout of 29 people consisting of the Trails Council, members of the Sierra Club Task Force, Cal State Channel Islands Trail Corps and others. We split up into several small groups. Most of the Sierra Club worked on restoring the trail at the site of a large washout while other Sierra Club member performed tread work by widening the trail in various locations. Another small group filled in a lengthy rut on the nearby Garapito trail. The primary work consisted of preparing a site for a large retaining wall which will be built utilizing large wooden planks. The existing wall was completely washed away by the recent rains. Lots of soil was removed to establish a foundation for the wall. This work will be ongoing with several more outings required to finish it. Once this wall is completed another slightly smaller one will be built just below it. We returned to the parking lot at 2:30 Crew size: 29 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 174 Total feet of trail worked: 500 Read More |
| 2022.01.26 | Event #: [848] Camp 13 Trail - This was originally scheduled for January 22, as one of the special CSUCI student service day projects. The CSUCI participation in the project had to be cancelled due to the COVID situation on campus. We intended to continue the project without the students. But on the morning of the project, we had to cancel due to extremely high winds. The project was rescheduled for today, January 26. Today we had twelve regular SMMTC volunteers and one Trail Corps member. Our objective was to address trail damage resulting from recent rain events. Met at the day use parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Park. Conducted event briefings and safety and tool talks. The work was totally tread work. Removed slough and storm debris from the trail. Constructed two low, but long retaining walls and restored the tread to the proper grade, Construction of the retaining walls required brining in a large number of large rocks from the back of the campground. This was accomplished using a gas powered wheelbarrow provided by state parks. Installed two long straw wattles on the slope above the trail to divert future rainwater away from the trail. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Completed the days event. There is still a large amount of work to be done on this trail. Although we resolved the hazardous issues, the trail is nowhere near compliance with the ADA requirements for this trail. We have another CSUCI student service day scheduled for March 5. We can address much of this needed work on that event. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours 2 Volunteers x 4 hours = 8 hours* Total = 68 Hours Feet of trail maintained: !, 023. ( * Dorian Curtin and Dave Perlmutter performed 4 hours each.) Read More |
| 2022.01.18 | Event #: [847] Trail Sign Survey - Two Trail Council volunteers began hiking from Triunfo Pass to survey the most remote sign in the park at the east end of Chamberlain Trail at the State Park/NPS boundary. Unfortunately this sign was burned in the Woolsey Fire and is unreadable so will require replacement. The posts are good, though. Returned to car. Began hiking down Serrano Rd from the Cotharin intersection to survey the least visited sign in the park. (The road turned out to have been cleared very recently, but I didn’t want to take a chance on being blocked by slough, brush or rocks as there is no way to turn around before the end.) Accessing the sign at east end of Serrano Valley is shorter from Cotharin than from the Serrano Canyon Trail. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 5 hours = 10 hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A Read More |
| 2022.01.15 | Event #: [845] Reagan Ranch Trails - Location: Lookout and Cage Creek trail, Malibu Creek SP Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at the parking area of the Reagan Ranch at 8:30 and drove to the end of the paved road. We hiked to the Lookout trail and began work at 9:00 a.m. The work consisted entirely of widening the trail to better accommodate equestrians. A few new water diversions were cut in. Four of our crew worked at the top end of the Cage Creek trail. With a large crew of 14 we were able to finish the work on the Lookout and Cage Creek trails. We spent the last half hour filling in a large washout on the main trail near the Cage Creek juncture. We hiked back to the parking area arriving at 2:30. Crew size: 14 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 84 Total feet of trail worked: 500 Read More |
| 2022.01.14 | Event #: [846] Trail Sign Survey - Starting from the RSV parking lot began hiking to survey signs on Danielson Rd, Old Boney Trail (North), Sin Nombre Trail, Ranch Center Road and the Sycamore Canyon road. Surveyed 21 signs and possible identified locations for 12 additional signs. Total volunteer hours: 1 volunteers x 5.5 hours = 5.5hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A Read More |
| 2022.01.13 | Event #: [841] Trail Sign Survey - Two Trail Council volunteers and one CSUCI Student met at Wendy and Potrero, drove to the Danielson Multi-Use Area and hiked the Blue Canyon, Old Boney/Toe Stubber, Big Sycamore Canyon Trail, Sycamore Canyon FireRoad and Two Foxes trails to survey signage. Seventeen existing signs were surveyed and locations for six additional signs were identified. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Katie Eikenberry. Returned to car at Wendy and Potrero. Total volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 5.5 hours = 16.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A Read More |
| 2022.01.13 | Event #: [842] Bent Arrow Trail - This was a trail assessment by Jason Finlay (Roads and trails), Rachel Glegg, John Kross and myself. There are two major slides which need extensive repair work. There’s also several sections of trail which need widening. For this report I’m not going into details. Crew size: 2 Hours worked: 3 Total hours: 6 Total feet of trail worked: n/a Read More |
| 2022.01.12 | Event #: [843] Cage Creek Trail - Location: Cage Creek trail, Malibu Creek SP Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at 8:30 at the parking area of Reagan Ranch at the end of the asphalt road. We hiked to the Cage Creek trail and began work at 9:00 a.m. just past the first creek crossing. Work consisted mainly of widening the trail to make it safer for equestrians. We also installed four new water drains. We completed the tread work all the way to the bottom. Two state park workers also helped with the work. We hiked back to the parking area arriving at 1:30. Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 5.0 Total hours: 35 Total feet of trail worked: 1400 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Sheldon, Barb Thomas, Anne Russell, Don Brusselars Read More |
| 2022.01.09 | Event #: [840] Trail Sign Survey - Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon started up the Chumash Trail to inspect the erosion on the Mugu Peak Trail about 0.2 miles east of Chumash Saddle in advance of the next scheduled outing. The deep hole in the trail had not deepened significantly with the recent rains and remained slightly above knee deep but there was a bit more erosion on the downhill slope. While surveying the area for large rocks to be used to shore up the eroded edge, we deterred one small group from using the eroded section to take a shortcut down to the Chumash Trail and observed a mother picking up her young son, step into the hole and proceed to carry him down the slope. We then continued east on the Mugu Pk Trail and looped around the trails in La Jolla Valley surveying 18 existing signs and identifying locations for 9 additional signs. We noted significant parallel ruts, some up to 2 feet deep and 8 inches wide, on the La Jolla Valley Fire Road which could cause problems for vehicles driving to the usual parking spot. Returned to car at the Chumash TH. Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 5 hours = 10 hours Read More |
| 2022.01.08 | Event #: [839] Guadalasca trail, Point Mugu SP - Ten TC regulars, four CSUCI students, plus nine mountain bikers (including Steve Messer, president of CORBA and Steve Clark), and Jason Finley of CSP, met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle in five vehicles down to the Ranch Center rd., then on to the Wood Canyon fireroad, to reach the bottom of the Guadalasca trail. We arrived at the trailhead and, after the safety and tool talks, split into small groups of two and three people, and hiked to where we left off the last time to continue putting in drains, filling in trenches, and brushing. We cleared and restored two culverts and restored or built a total of 9 drains. W Event Concluded at 2:30PM Total volunteer hours: 23 volunteers x 6 hours = 138 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,960 Read More |
| 2022.01.05 | Event #: [844] Trail Survey - Guadalasca - Anne Russell, Steve Clark, and John Kross, met at the Wendy trailhead and rode down into Sycamore Canyon. We went in the Wood Canyon fireroad to evaluate the condition of the fireroad for the shuttle on Saturday, and then went on the Guadalasca trail, assessing conditions and flagging and chalk-marking, again for trailwork Saturday 01/08. Given the poor condition of the Wood Canyon fireroad, on the way out we took the Ranch Center road, which happened to be a better option. From the top of the Sage, we went down a ways. Then Steve Clark and John Kross turned around, and Anne Russell continued on in order to inspect the Sin Nombre trail. We met up with Anne again at the bridge, at the junction of Sin Nombre and Ranch Center. The Sage and Sin Nombre trails are in very good condition, they showed little, if any, rain damage. And no need for brushing. We headed on back Sycamore Canyon, we got back to our cars at 12:30 p.m. Total volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 3.5 hours = 10.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A Read More |
| 2021.12.22 | Event #: [836] Record Keeping - Hours calculated on 55 events @15 minutes to record, scan, email and file away trail work reports. We had several scheduling meetings where the calendar on the website and google required updating. Dave prepares the schedul in xls format. I take that and convert it the columns and rows that the goolge calender is expecting. Trailhead locations are looked up and verified (mostly). I also take that data and upload it to a SQL database for the web site calendar page. Lots of steps. Read More |
| 2021.12.21 | Event #: [838] Eagle Scout Kiosk - A smaller team met J Mitcham and B Dydyk at 9:00AM on Dec 21, 2021. The team installed the roof on the kiosk and raised the kiosk to its vertical position. The area in front of the kiosk was leveled and a small ramp was built to the existing trail. The old signs were reinstalled on the new posts. The project was completed at 11:00 AM. Hours worked: Dec 20: 7 adults for 7 hours = 49 hours Dec 21: 3 adults for 2 hours = 6 hours Read More |
| 2021.12.20 | Event #: [837] Eagle Scout Kiosk - J Mitcham and B Dydyk met the eagle candidate James P. and his crew at 8:30 AM on Dec 20, 2021 in the day parking area of Leo Carillo State Park. After introductions and covid protocols we drove to the maintenance yard and picked up the kisk and brought it back to the Camp 13 ADA trailhead. The Scouts were divided into two teams. One team began digging the holes for the kiosk legs and the other removed the old sign posts and burnt kiosk legs and installed the new sign posts. The post holes were completed by 2:00PM so the team aligned the posts and poured the concrete which was left to harden until the next day. The team departed the work site at 3:30PM Hours worked: Dec 20: 7 adults for 7 hours = 49 hours Read More |
| 2021.12.18 | Event #: [835] Wood Canyon Vista trail, Point Mugu State Park - Location: Wood Canyon Vista trail (BBT), Pt Mugu S.P. Nine TC regulars, two CSUCI Trail Corp students, five mountain bikers (including CORBA president, Steve Messer), and Jason Finlay from CSP, met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle in four pick up trucks to the top of the Wood Canyon fire-road (hell hill). After tools were assigned, Steve Clark gave a safety talk. We agreed that Steve Clark would go first, flagging areas for drains and tread work, and dropping off people at each work area (note: Steve Clark and I rode down the trail on Friday 12/17 but were unable to flag it because of muddy conditions at the time). We cleared or put in a total of 54 drains and filled in ruts in about 1 mile of trail. With the sun and the wind, the ground had dried a lot since Friday, and soil conditions were perfect for tread work . Total volunteer hours: 16 volunteers x 6 hours = 96 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5,200 Read More |
| 2021.12.11 | Event #: [832] Old Cabin trail, Point Mugu State Park - We met at the Wendy trailhead and shuttled down to where the Danielson Fire road meets the Satwiwa Loop trail. We arrived at the junction and hiked to the beginning of the trailwork area, about 7/10th miles. Several of the group worked on the waterfall spur trail. The rest of the group worked their way up the Old Cabin Trail. On the waterfall trail, we managed to remove enough rock to create two steps and a relatively level path for walking. Our other group removed encroaching brush, cleared drains and improved tread over about a 1,000 feet of trail We got back to the truck and drove out. We got back to the Wendy trailhead Total volunteer hours: 7 volunteers x 7 hours = 49 hours George, John, Jon, Don, Dave P, Greg and Isaac G Read More |
| 2021.12.11 | Event #: [833] CSUCI Trail Corp OJT - This was a special project to provide initial trail maintenance training to the CSUCI Tail Corps members. We met in the day use parking lot for a lecture session, followed by on-the-job training on nearby trails. There were four Trail Crew member present. Met at the day use parking lot at Leo Carrillo State Park. Jason Finely was on site to verify the member’s vaccination status. He also provided a brief description of his job, the importance of the SMMTC support to State Parks and how the two organizations work closely together. I conducted approximately two hour lecture on topics of: purpose of tails and importance of trail maintenance. Also covered, maintenance terminology, tread repair, drainage features, brush work and retaining wall maintenance. After the lecture, we went on nearby trails for on-the-job training. On the trail, I pointed our many trail features and problems (we didn’t attempt to repair all the problems). I instructed the crew on the proper construction of drains and allowed them to repair three poorly functioning drains. Performed a small amount of lopping. I pointed out a spot needing a small retaining wall and described how we would construct the same. Completed the day’s events. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 5 hours = 25 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA. Read More |
| 2021.12.04 | Event #: [831] Waterfall Trail - A group of eleven Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council volunteers and 13 Boy Scouts and 5 Scout Leaders assembled at Wendy & Potrero to shuttle to the work site. Our objective for the day was to brush, clear drains and do a bit of rock work on the waterfall trail. We hiked about .5 mile and began working. We cleared nearly .25 of a mile. Approximately 5 drains were cleared. A short (15 foot section) of the waterfall spur trail was assaulted with sledgehammer, rock hammer and rock pick. We will need to come back with a rock bar to finish this section. 16 volunteers @ 6 hours = 96 hours 13 Minors @ 6 hours = 78 hours 29 volunteers @ 6 hours = 174 hours Read More |
| 2021.12.02 | Event #: [830] Upper Sycamore - We hiked about 7/10th miles to the fallen tree. Jon took a before picture. After strategizing for a bit and getting the chainsaw ready, we proceeded to chop up the tree and take the pieces off the trail. Total volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 3 hours = 9 hours John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Mallory Ham Read More |
| 2021.11.27 | Event #: [829] Willow Creek Trail - Location: Willow Springs and Nicholas Flat Loop trails, Leo Carrillo State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Leo Carrillo SP day parking at 8:30. We hiked about 3/10 mile to begin work. The crew spent about an hour building a rock wall to help prevent erosion. Several large rocks were excavated from the nearby hillside. Most of the work was near the top of the trail where it was widened by removing sluff buildup. We finished our work on the Willow Springs trail and broke for lunch at 11:30. After lunch we worked our way down from the top of the Nicholas Flat Loop trail clearing some 12 drains and installing one new one. This concludes our work on both the Willow Creek and the Nicholas Flat Loop trails. We still have a short section left to work on the Nicholas Flat trail about two miles up from the parking lot. We returned to the parking lot at 2:00. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 5.5 Total hours: 33 Total feet of trail worked: 1000 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Norm Simmonds and Cindy Kimmick. Read More |
| 2021.11.20 | Event #: [828] Guadalasca Trail - Six TC regulars plus fourteen CORBA volunteers, and Jason Finley and Jonathan from CSP, met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle in five pick up trucks down to the Wood Canyon fireroad, to reach the bottom of the Guadalasca trail. We divided into four crews and continued the work started the week before, filling in ruts and improving drainage. We cleared and restored one culvert and put in five drain. This group of volunteers excelled. Much of the work was pick work. Total volunteer hours: 20 volunteers x 6 hours = 120 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,700 Read More |
| 2021.11.18 | Event #: [834] CSUCI Trail Corp Orientation - This was a special meeting scheduled by Pilar Pacheco, Director, CSUCI Center for Community Engagement. The purpose was the initial Orientation for the new CSUCI Trail Corps students. Presentation were given by Pilar Pacheco, Jerry Mitcham and Cindy Kimmik. Met at Ojai Hall on the CSUCI Campus. Pilar Pacheco gave an introduction to the Center for Community Engagement and to the Trail Corps Program. Jerry Mitcham gave a presentation introducing SMMTC Mission and Goals followed by a description of the organization of and planned activities of the Trail Corps program. Cindy Kimmik provided description of Channel Islands Restoration and the planned restoration activities with SMMTC. Read More |
| 2021.11.13 | Event #: [827] Guadalasca Trail - Four TC regulars plus three CORBA volunteers, and Jason Finley and another person from CSP, met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle in two pick up trucks down to the Wood Canyon fireroad, to reach the bottom of the Guadalasca trail. We arrived at the trailhead and hiked to the beginning of the trailwork area. We divided into two crews and went to work on filling in ruts and improving drainage, and put in one drain. We did not use any power tools, we cleared a lot of bush mallow with picks and hand saws. Read More |
| 2021.11.06 | Event #: [826] Willow Creek Trail - Willow Creek Trail Leo Carrillo State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: This was a continuation of the Willow Creek Trail maintenance project. A crew of 10 met at the Leo Carrillo day-use parking area at 8:30 am. We distributed tools and discussed the work plan. We hiked up the Willow Creek Trail and continued our project to remove slough from the uphill side of the trail and restore the four-foot wide path. A couple of areas required removing rocks which could cause tripping hazards and forced hikers to the outside edge of the trail. We used pick-mattocks, McLeods, and a sledge hammer to clear the trail. Some minor brushing was also performed. We brushed and cleared approximately 0.15 mile (800 feet) of trail. The majority of the trail is now completed with just a few small sections remaining. We finished work for the day, gathered the tools, and hiked back to the day-use parking lot and completed our work at 2:30 pm. Crew size: 10 Total Hours worked: 60 Total feet of trail worked: 800 feet Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Don Brusselars, Jerry Mitcham, Norm Simmonds, Sharon Simmonds, Barry Dydyk Read More |
| 2021.10.30 | Event #: [825] Willow Creek Trail - Location: Willow Springs trail, Leo Carrillo State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Leo Carrillo SP day parking at 8:30. We hiked about 3/10 mile to begin work. The crew spread out along the trail and mostly performed tread work, pulling sluff down from the upslope side and widening the trail. The soil was easily worked after a recent rain softened it considerably. Part of the crew spent most of their time removing several rocks from a very rocky section and smoothing out the tread which was a serious tripping hazard. It will take a least one more outing to complete the work on this trail. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 72 Total feet of trail worked: 1500 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Dave Perlmutter, Greg Sweel, Barry Dydyk, George Sherman, Anne Russell, Don Brusselars, Norm Simmonds and German Paniagua. Read More |
| 2021.10.23 | Event #: [824] La Jolla Trails - La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy Dr. and Potrero Rd. at 8:00 and proceeded to drive into La Jolla Valley. We hiked about 1.5 miles to the starting point which is about 0.30 mile north of the saddle of where the Chumash trail tops out and the La Jolla Valley trail begins. Two crew members used a gas powered pole chain saw and a hedge trimmer to cut brush while others followed and cleared the trail. We cleared about 2600 ft of trail. After a dozen or so outings in La Jolla Valley all of its trails are now cleared including a portion of the Mugu Peak trail. We drove back to Wendy and Potrero arriving at 2:30. Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 6.5 Total hours: 52 Total feet of trail worked: 2600 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Dave Perlmutter, Greg Sweel, Barry Dydyk and George Sherman. Read More |
| 2021.10.09 | Event #: [823] Round Mountain, Cal State Channel Islands - This second trail maintenance event on the Round Mountain Trail this year. We had 11 SMMTC and approximately 25 student volunteers for the project. This event will complete our CSUCI events for this year. Met on Old Lewis Road near the CSUCI campus. Unloaded and staged tools for the event. Student volunteers arrived at the trail head. Conducted introductions, safety and tool briefings. All volunteers hiked to the top of the mountain. About 15 volunteers and crewleaders began work on cutting in a new trail from the cleared area on top of the mountain to a nearby, second peak (approximately 400 feet). Another 10 volunteers began work clearing roots and rocks form an area on top of the mountain, to create a meeting place. Three students and two SMMTC volunteers began work clearing invasive pants form the trail and meeting area. The work progressed rapidly and effectively. Total volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 4 hours = 44 hours Feet of trail maintained: 400 ft. Read More |
| 2021.10.02 | Event #: [822] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park - Nine of us met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle to La Jolla Valley in two pickup trucks. Jon Sheldon and Roger Young hiked in on the Chumash trail. Roger led five runners up the trail and to the trucks. The runners signed in and presented their proof of vaccination. We proceeded to the work area. We arrived at the work area. We had two power brush cutters, and we divide the group into three main categories: brush cutter operators (2), cleaning up behind the machines (4 x brush cutter), forward loppers/saws, and the remainder of the group pulling up stumps and removing rocks, and cutting back brush with McLeods. It is with great satisfaction that I can say we have now completed the entire La Jolla Loop. We hiked back to the trucks. Runners, Roger Young and Jon Sheldon hiked back down the Chumash trail Total volunteer hours: 16 volunteers x 6 1/2 hours = 104 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2524 Regular crew: John Kross, Dave Perlmutter, Greg Sweel, Dave Edwards, George Sherman, Barry Dydyk, Norm Simmonds, Cindy Kimmick, Don Brusselars, Jon Sheldon, Roger Young Day volunteers/runners: Peter Parziale, Kevin Tolo, Sean Barry, Harvey Karlovac, Brent Pepper Read More |
| 2021.09.25 | Event #: [821] National Public Lands Day, Peter Strauss Ranch, NPS - Summary: We met at the main parking area of Peter Strauss Ranch at 8:30 to work with NPS on National Public Lands Day. The purpose of this outing was clearing the trail of brush and weeds to a width of four feet. We worked alongside members of the Sierra Club Santa Monica Mountain Task Force. At 8:30 we began clearing the trail of cleared brush and the occasional dead tree branches. Several drains were constructed along with a bit of tread work. We quit work at 12:00, had lunch and hiked a short distance back to our vehicles. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 48 Total feet of trail worked: 2600 ft Crew members: Anne Russell, Robert Bittner, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Barry Dydyk, Don Brusselars, Cindy Kimmick, Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, John Kross and Dave Perlmutter. Read More |
| 2021.09.22 | Event #: [820] Peter Strauss Ranch - Peter Strauss Ranch Trail Crew leader: Dave Edwards We met at the main parking area of Peter Strass Ranch at 8:30. The purpose of this outing was to clear the trail of brush and weeds to a width of four feet and to leave the cuttings on the trail. This coming Saturday is National Public Lands Day. The volunteers for this event will be tasked with raking and cleaning up the trail of the cuttings we left on the trail today. At 8:45 we began clearing weeds and brush using two gas powered hedge trimmers. Another crew member went ahead with a gas-powered pole chain saw and cleared the trail of dead tree branches and part of a large tree which fell onto the trail. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 20 Total feet of trail worked: 2600 ft (trail clearing will not be complete until Saturday. We won’t report any additional footage for Saturday’s work). Crew members: Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, John Kross and Dave Perlmutter. Read More |
| 2021.09.18 | Event #: [819] Round Mountain, Cal State Channel Islands - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event on the Round Mountain Trail. We had 9 SMMTC and approximately 50 student volunteers for the project. Met on Old Lewis Road near the CSUCI campus. Unloaded and staged tools for the event. Student volunteers arrived at the trail head. Approximately 25 student volunteers were divided into two crews and deployed to the work sites. The trail had been previously brushed with cuttings left on the trail. The volunteers removed the cuttings, dug out roots and remove tripping hazards and loose rooks. Some students returned to the trailhead. An additional 25 student volunteers departed the trail head and hiked to the work site. The combined volunteer crew finished the trail clean up. The crews then proceeded the top of the mountain and cleared brush from approximately one acre, to create an assembly area. Completed work and returned to the trail head. Total hours: 9 Volunteers x 5 = 45 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,350 ft. Read More |
| 2021.09.15 | Event #: [818] Round Mountain Trail - This was a special trail maintenance event to prepare for the main Round Mountain Trail Maintenance event next Saturday. We had 7 volunteers for the project. Met on Old Lewis Road near the CSUCI campus. Walked to the trail head. Began work. Used three power tools to trim brush back to a trail width of 4 feet. Left cuttings on the trail for the students to clean up on the Saturday project. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 5 hours = 35 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,350 ft. Read More |
| 2021.09.11 | Event #: [817] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park - Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:30 and drove into La Jolla Valley and parked near the trailhead leading to the pond. We hiked past the pond and joined the Canyon trail and hiked about 1.1 miles south to where we left off last Saturday. With a crew of eight we employed three powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 0.25 miles of trail. Temperatures were warm. We quit work at 1:15, hiked back to our vehicles and drove out of the park, arriving back at Wendy and Potrero at 2:30. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 55 Total feet of trail worked: 1320 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Anne Russell, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, George Sherman, Don Brusselars, Dave Perlmutter, Cameron Fowler Read More |
| 2021.09.04 | Event #: [816] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park - Seven of us met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle into Sycamore Canyon in three pickup trucks. Jon Sheldon hiked in and met us at the work area We parked by the pond trail and hiked to the work site with tools (2 brush cutters, MacLeods and pick mattocks). George Sherman brought his own battery operated brush cutter. Starting point was at N 34 5.796 W 119 2.498. Brush was very thick and had narrowed the trail to less than 2 feet We cleared about 600 feet Tools were stashed for the following week, when we will be returning There is still work to be done in this area, next Saturday we will continue working on the La Jolla Loop Trail. Read More |
| 2021.06.26 | Event #: [815] LaJolla Valley Trail - La Jolla Valley trails, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:30 and drove into La Jolla Valley and parked near the trailhead leading to the pond. We hiked past the pond and joined the Canyon trail and hiked about 0.8 miles south to where we left off last Saturday. With a crew of 11 we employed 3 gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 0.20 miles of trail to the juncture of the Valley Loop trail and then about 0.03 mile on the Valley Loop trail down to the creek crossing. The Canyon trail is now cleared all the way from its trailhead at the northern juncture with the Valley road to where it ends at the trail closed sign at the juncture of the Valley Loop trail. We have some ¾ mile of trail to clear to the old water tank. This will probably take 3 more outings. This will leave some 3/10 of a mile to clear on the southern end of the main Valley trail leading to the Chumash trail. We quit work at 1:15, hiked back to our vehicles and drove out of the park, arriving back at Wendy and Potrero at 2:30. Crew size: 11 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 66 Total feet of trail worked: 1200 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Jerry Mitcham, Barry Dydyk, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, George Sherman, Cindy Kimmick, Don Brusselars, Dave Perlmutter and Norm Simmonds Read More |
| 2021.06.19 | Event #: [814] La Jolla Valley Trails - Point Mugu State Park - Location: La Jolla Valley Loop Trail (Eastern Side) - Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: This was a continuation of the La Jolla Valley Trail maintenance project. A crew of 7 met at the Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:30 am. We then drove into Point Mugu State Park just past the walk-in campground in La Jolla Valley. From there we hiked past the dry pond to the Loop Trail, turned right (south) and then another 0.5 miles to where we left off last week. We were joined by 1 additional volunteer who had hiked in from PCH. Using two gas-powered hedge trimmers we brushed and cleared approximately 0.21 mile (1108 feet) of trail. We have approximately 0.3 miles remaining on the eastern side of the loop before we reach the junction with the southern portion of the loop. We finished work for the day, drove out of Point Mugu State Park, and arrived back at Wendy/Potrero at 3:30 pm. Crew size: 8 Total Hours worked: 49 (7 volunteers 6 hours, and 1 volunteer 7 hours) Total feet of trail worked: 1108 feet (0.21 miles) Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Don Brusselars, Dave Perlmutter, Rolf Henriksson Read More |
| 2021.06.12 | Event #: [813] La Jolla Valley trails, Point Mugu State Park - This was a continuation of the La Jolla Valley Trail maintenance project. Today We were joined by a group of three trail runners and a group of ten scouts/adults. The crew was divided into two groups. The first group consisting of a group of SMMTC volunteers and the trail runners met at the Wendy Potrero trail head at 8:00. The second group consisting of SMMTC volunteers and the scout group met at 8:30 AM. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the La Jolla Valley trails. We had a total of 18 volunteers for the project. A group of SMMTC volunteers and three trail runners met at the Wendy/Potrero Trailhead. The group carpooled to the La Jolla Valley. The first group of volunteers began work. Three volunteers began brushing the Pond trail with three power brush trimers. The remaining part of the crew hiked in to the Loop trail and began work where they left off last week. This group maintained a total of 1,300 feet of the Loop Trail. A group of five SMMTC volunteers and a group of ten scouts/ (seven scouts and three adults) met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the La Jolla Valley area. Parked just west of the La Jolla campground. Conducted tool and safety briefings. Began work. The crew cleaned up the cuttings left by the earlier brush cutters, cleaned out three large drains and removed a lot of slough from much of the trail. Completed work on the pond trail. The crew had lunch in the campground. This group maintained 1,100 feet of trail. Crew finished lunch and began work in the campground. Trails and campsites around the group camp were brushed. Trash was removed from the food boxes and surrounding area. Removed all fire pits. Completed work and returned to the meeting place. Group two arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Group one completed work and hiked back to the vehicles. Carpooled back to meeting place Group one arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6.5 Read More |
| 2021.06.05 | Event #: [812] La Jolla Valley trails, Point Mugu State Park - Ten of us met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle into Sycamore Canyon in three pickup trucks. Jon Sheldon hiked in and met us at the work area After driving past Walk-in camps on the La Jolla Fire Road, one truck parked by the pond trail and three of us took a brush cutter and McLeods to go to the La Jolla Loop trail and started working north. The remaining trucks proceeded to the previous weeks work area on the La Jolla Valley Center Trail, and after retrieving the cached tools finished the trail work there. Then, they proceeded to join the group on the Loop trail and work south from the intersection with the pond trail., brushing and also improving the tread where needed. Brush was generally thick and had narrowed the trail to about 2 feet We cleared about 0.4 mile (total for both locations) On the way back one group stopped at the walk-in camp, replaced the maps in the kiosk and tightened the bolts holding the display case they had gotten loose and the sign was swaying. There is still work to be done in this area, next Saturday we will continue working on the La Jolla Canyon trail. Also, a group of boy scouts will join us and will probably work on the Pond trail. We hiked back to the trucks Shuttled back to our cars Event Concluded Total volunteer hours: 11 volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,112 Read More |
| 2021.05.29 | Event #: [811] La Jolla Valley Trails, Point Mugu State Park - Date: 5/29/2021 Activity: tread work, brushing, install drain Location: La Jolla Valley Loop, Pt Mugu S. P. Crewleader: John Kross Activity Eleven of us met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle into Sycamore Canyon in three pickup trucks. Jon Sheldon hiked in and met us at the work area At the work area, after retrieving the cached tools, we split into two groups, one group of three people with a weed whip worked in an area with tall grasses on both sides, brushing and improving the tread where needed. The other group of nine hiked about 1-1/2 miles and worked our way back, with three brush cutters and hand tools. We brushed, improved the tread, moved the trail over in one short section. Also installed a drain. There is still work to be done in this area, next Saturday we will begin working on the La Jolla Canyon trail. Total volunteer hours: 12 volunteers x 6 hours = 72 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5,020 Read More |
| 2021.05.22 | Event #: [810] Mugu Peak trail, Point Mugu State Park - Location: Mugu Peak trail and the middle loop of the La Jolla Valley trail - Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 9 met at the Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:30 am. We then drove into Point Mugu State Park just past the walk-in campground in La Jolla Valley. From there we hiked 1.3 miles to the southwestern end of the loop (at the old water tank) and then 800 feet up the southern end of the Mugu Peak trail to where we left off on two weeks ago (May 8th). We were joined by 3 additional volunteers who had either hiked or run in from PCH. Using two gas-powered hedge trimmers and an electric hedge trimmer we brushed and cleared approximately 0.40 mile (2112 feet) of trail. Reaching the ridgeline at an elevation of 970 feet we stopped, admired the view, and returned back to the old water tank in La Jolla Valley. From there we brushed and cleared another 0.3 miles (1584 feet) of the southern end of the middle loop. We arrived back at Wendy 3:00 pm. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 7.5 Total hours: 90 Total feet of trail worked: 3696 feet (0.7 miles) Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Don Brusselars, Dave Perlmutter, Robert Bittner, Rolf Henriksson, Shinya Nakata, Ian and Rachael Read More |
| 2021.05.19 | Event #: [809] Serrano Canyon Steps - On Wednesday May 19 Five crew leaders met at Serrano canyon TH and transported two additional steps to the stream crossing work site. They installed these two steps and two others to complete the step construction of seven steps. An additional side support was placed on the upstream side of the lower three steps. A drain was constructed above the uppermost step. This effort successful completed the 2021 Trail Saver project. Six crew leaders worked 5 hours each for a total of 30 hours Read More |
| 2021.05.15 | Event #: [808] Serrano Canyon - On Saturday morning May 15 at 8:00 AM we met in the Day use parking at Sycamore Cove. The Scouts were given a brief safety briefing on how to carry tools. A more detailed brief was given by crew leaders of the individual tasks at the task site. The Scouts the hiked to the Serrano TH and the SMMTC crew leaders drove to the TH and staged the tools for each task. On arrival at the TH the Scouts were assigned to one of the four tasks. Each task had one or more SMMTC leads, two or more Scout leaders and an appropriate number of scouts. The four teams then hiked to their respective task sites, were given detailed briefings on tool use and safety and then performed their task. All tasks were successfully completed with the exception of building all the steps. Eight crew leaders and eight Scout adult leaders worked 6 hours each for a total of 96 hours. Twenty three scouts worked 6 hours each for a total of 138 hours. Read More |
| 2021.05.12 | Event #: [807] Serrano Canyon - On Wednesday May 12 three crew leaders met at the Sycamore Cove day use parking and travelled to the Serrano Canyon TH. They unloaded six steps (2x6x6) and 12 lengths of rebar 30 inches in length. These were loaded on carts and transported them to the bottom of the rock quarry hill where they were stashed for use on Saturday. Three crew leaders worked 3 hours each for a total of 9 hours of work Read More |
| 2021.05.08 | Event #: [804] La Jolla Valley -Mugu Peak Trail - Location: Mugu Peak trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:30 and drove into La Jolla Valley. We hiked about 1.3 miles to the old water tank and began work at the creek crossing where the Mugu Peak trail begins. We used two gas powered and one battery powered hedge trimmers. This section of trail hasn't been worked in several years and was very overgrown. We cleared about 1300 ft of trail which includes some 500 ft of the La Jolla Valley loop trail. One crew member carved several dirt steps leading down into the creek. We arrived back at parking at Wendy and Protrero at 2:30. Crew size: 10 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 70 Total feet of trail worked: 1300 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Mike Epler, Cindy Kimmick, Mark Simril, Roger Young, Carlyn Taggart and Rolf Henriksson Read More |
| 2021.05.08 | Event #: [805] La Jolla Valley Trail - This was a continuation of the La Jolla Valley Trail maintenance project. Today we worked on westernmost leg of the La Jolla Loop Trail. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance. We had 3 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the northern La Jolla Valley area. Parked just west of he La Jolla campground. Hiked approximately one mile to the work site. This section of trail is overgrown with tall grasses and a scattering of various light brush. Our major effort was to cut back the weeds with a weed whacker and lop the brush as necessary. Did not perform any tread work as the tread is generally in good condition. The westernmost leg of the loop trail is now complete. Stopped work. Hiked back to the parking area, then carpooled back to the meeting place. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 6 hours = 18 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,100 ft. Read More |
| 2021.05.05 | Event #: [806] Serrano Canyon - On Wednesday May 5th three crew leaders walked the trail and selected four tasks to be performed by Troop 730 scouts. These tasks were as follows: 1) At mile 1.6 from the Sycamore Canyon trail head repair the stream crossing by ramping one side of the stream approach and building steps on the other side. 2) At mile 0.75 widen the trail by breaking two large boulders at the side of the trail away from the stream bank. 3) At the quarry stairs sweep the trail of loose rocks both up the steps and down the trail on the other side. Widen the trail as appropriate heading back to the trail head. 4) At three designated locations remove slough from the trail to widen the trail and prevent slippage. Three crew leaders worked 3 hours each for a total of 9 hours of work Read More |
| 2021.05.01 | Event #: [803] La Jolla Valley Trail - Ten of us met at the Wendy trailhead and proceeded to shuttle into Sycamore Canyon in three vehicles, Mike Epler with his Nissan Xterra, and Dave Edwards and I with our 4wd trucks. Participants in addition to Mike, Dave and myself were: George Sherman, Jon Sheldon, Cindy Kimmick, Carlin Taggart Greg Sweel, Mark Simril, and Roger Young, who was still recovering from the 100 miler he ran just a week ago. We stopped at the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead to take out a large tree that was blocking the trail about 3/10 miles from the trailhead. Then we proceeded to La Jolla Valley We parked and hiked 1.7 miles to our work area. Work consisted of taking out another good size tree, treadwork, brushing with two brush cutters as well as with McLeods, moving about 120 feet of trail onto the berm, and installing one drain. From the starting point three worked their way back, Mark jumped ahead to the Mugu Peak trail, and the rest of us worked in the direction of the Mugu Peak trail. There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, we haven’t worked on the Mugu Peak trail and the La Jolla Valley loop trails around it in many years. We stashed the tools and hiked back Shuttled back to our cars Everyone left Total volunteer hours: 10 volunteers x 7 hours = 70 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,600 Read More |
| 2021.04.24 | Event #: [802] La Jolla Valley Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Today, our two crews of the last few weeks joined to work together. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the La Jolla Canyon Trail. We had 11 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the northern La Jolla Valley group camp area. Began work at the point where the crew left off last week. Used the power tools to trim brush back to the standard 8’ width. Performed maintenance on a total of 1,670 ft. of trail. Tread work consisted of primarily of removing roots and stumps from the trail. We found moderately heavy brush consisting of a mix of deer weed, sage misc other brush and grasses. We cut the grasses we skipped over last week Going forward from where we left off there is a lot of brushing to be done. The tread is only about two feet wide, but in good shape.. Stopped work. Hiked back to the trail head, then carpooled back to the meeting place. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,670 ft. Read More |
| 2021.04.17 | Event #: [800] Hidden Pond Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the La Jolla Canyon Trail. We had 5 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the northern La Jolla Canyon trail head, off of the La Jolla Valley Loop Trail (Service Road). Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8’ width. Performed maintenance on a total of 570 ft. of trail. Tread work consisted of primarily of removing roots and stumps from the trail. We found moderately heavy brush consisting of a mix of deer weed, sage misc other brush and grasses. We skipped over about 350 feet of trail which was only tall grass. We will bring a weed whacker next week and take care of these stretches. Going forward from where we left off there is a lot of brushing to be done. The tread is only about two feet wide, but in good shape.. Stopped work. Hiked back to the trail head, then carpooled back to the meeting place. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: 570 ft. Jerry, Don, Barry, Mike, Norm Read More |
| 2021.04.17 | Event #: [801] Old Boney Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on Old Boney Trail. We had 6 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the top of the Sycamore Canyon Blacktop. Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8 foot width. Performed maintenance on a total of 1100 ft. of trail. Tread work consisted primarily of the removal of encroaching brush from the trail. Several drains were cleaned and reshaped. Loose rocks were cleared from the trail. This concludes our efforts on the Old Boney Trail. Stopped work. Hiked back to the trail head, then carpooled back to the meeting place. Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 7 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 570 ft. George, Dave, Jon, John, Greg, Mark Read More |
| 2021.04.10 | Event #: [798] Old Boney Trail - Location: Old Boney trail 0.4 mile up from Danielson fire road Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 6 met at the Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:30 am. We then drove into Point Mugu State Park and parked by the water tank. From there we hiked 2.0 miles up the Danielson fire road and then 0.4 mile on Old Boney trail to where we left off the previous week. We then distributed the tools and using a gas-powered hedge trimmer we brushed and cleared approximately 0.10 mile (528 feet) of trail, constructed 2 new water diversion drains, and cleaned accumulated silt from 3 others. The day was sunny and warm. This was our 7th consecutive outing on this trail and we are now close to the junction with the Danielson fire road. We plan to have one more outing on the Old Boney trail before moving on to other trails. We arrived back at Wendy 2:30 pm. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 42 Total feet of trail worked: 528 feet Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, and Mark Simril Read More |
| 2021.04.10 | Event #: [799] Hidden Pond Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Hidden Pond Trail. We had 4 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the Hidden Pond connector trail head in on Sycamore Canyon Road. Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8’ width. Performed maintenance on a total of.23 miles, which included.1 miles of tread work. Tread work consisted of slough removal, filling trench in trail and establishing an out slope to improve drainage.. Stopped work. Hiked back to the trail head, then carpooled back to the meeting place. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 4 Volunteers x 6 hours = 24 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,200 ft. Read More |
| 2021.04.03 | Event #: [796] Old Boney Trail - Location: Old Boney trail 0.50 mile up from Danielson fire road, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:30 and drove into PMSP and parked by the water tank. From there we hiked 2.0 miles up the Danielson fire road and then about 0.50 mile on Old Boney to begin where we left off last time. We brushed and cleared about 0.15 mile or about 800 ft of trail. We used one gas powered hedge trimmer. With a large crew we were able to move the trail over a few feet out of a heavily rutted section for a distance of about 300 ft. Several water drains have been added over the course of several outings. We plan to have one more outing on Old Boney before moving on to other trails. We arrived back at Wendy at 2:30. Our work force included 5 ultra trail runners. They have been a big help lately and are very enthusiastic about continuing to come out. Crew size: 13 (one crew member not in count but given credit for 2 hours) Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 91 Total feet of trail worked: 800 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Cindy Kimmick, Mark Simril, Roger Young, Carlyn Taggart + 4 trail runners Read More |
| 2021.03.29 | Event #: [797] Rivas Canyon Connector - A crew of 6, with support from Dale Chaloukian and Jason Finlay of State Parks met at the top of Chautaqua Blvd. and hiked 1/10th of a mile to the work area. The 6 crew members were Bill Vanderberg, Rachel Glegg, Mark Simril, Ron Dean, Jon Sheldon and John Kross. The area to be corrected is about 25 feet long, goes over solid rock and was dangerously narrow in several spots. State Parks provided 4 hammer drills, 2 power generators, and knowledgeable advice from Dale Chaloukian and Jason Finlay. With four hammer drills the work went relatively fast. At 1:30 p.m. we stopped to assess the work and Dale Chaloukian said that we had done all that was needed. There was a 6 foot long section that Dale and Jason said they would go back the next day and improve with retaining timbers. Event concluded Total volunteer hours: 6 volunteers x 5 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: 25 feet Read More |
| 2021.03.27 | Event #: [794] Hidden Pond Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Hidden Pond Trail. We had 8 volunteers for the project. Prior to work, all volunteers filled out and signed the new State Parks “Volunteer COVID-19 Agreement. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the Hidden Pond trail head in on Ranch Center Road. Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8’ width. Cleaned some existing drains and installed thre new ones. Installed two new large drains and several smaller ones. Filled in many feet of trenches in the trail. Stopped work and began hike back to the trail head. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 8 Volunteers x 6 hours = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,110 ft. Jerry, Barry, Norm, Dave P, Mike E, Anne, Don, Carole Miles Read More |
| 2021.03.27 | Event #: [795] Old Boney Trail - A crew of 7 met at the Wendy trailhead at 7:30 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we take on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. We reviewed the work planned for the day, tools to be used and so on. We then shuttled down to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead in three vehicles. We once more hiked up the Fossil trail to continue our work where we left off the previous week, with one brush cutter, McLeods, pick-mattocks, loppers and hand saws. After breaking for lunch at 11:30, we continued our work until it was time to leave. We hiked 1.5 miles back to the vehicles, shuttled back to the Wendy trailhead and parted ways. We cleared about 1600 feet or 0.25 mile of trail, cleared four drains and established two new ones. Hiked out, for a shuttle back to the Wendy trailhead . Total volunteer hours: 7 volunteers x 7 hours = 49 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.25 miles = 1,325 feet Read More |
| 2021.03.20 | Event #: [792] Hidden Pond Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Hidden Pond Trail. We had 5 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the Hidden Pond trail head in on Ranch Center Road. Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8’ width. Installed two new large drains and several smaller ones. Filled in many feet of trenches in the trail. Established a 40 foot realignment. Stopped work and began hike back to the trail head. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Jerry M, Anne R, Norm S,Don B, Barry D. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1690 ft. Read More |
| 2021.03.20 | Event #: [793] Old Boney Trail - Location: Old Boney Trail (North of Fossil Trail) Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 6 met at the Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:00 am and we drove down and parked by the bridge at the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead. We discussed the safety precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated work planned for the day. We hiked up the Fossil Trail 1 mile to the junction with the Old Boney Trail and turned north and continued hiking about 0.6 mile to where we left off the previous week. We then distributed the tools and using a gas-powered hedge trimmer we brushed and cleared approximately 0.15 mile (792 feet) of trail, constructed 3 new water diversion drains, and cleaned accumulated silt from 2 others. The day was perfectly sunny and clear with far reaching views. We stopped work and hiked back to the Old Sycamore Canyon trailhead and then drove back up the meeting location. We cleared a total of 792 feet or 0.15 mile of trail. This was our 4th consecutive outing on this trail and we are now almost at the crest of this trail. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 42 Total feet of trail worked: 792 feet Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Greg Sweel, Cindy Kimmik, and Mark Simril Read More |
| 2021.03.13 | Event #: [791] Old Boney Trail - Location: Old Boney north of Fossil trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:00 and drove down and parked by the bridge at the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead. From there we hiked up the Fossil trail and then about 2/3 mile north on Old Boney to begin where we left off last time. We brushed and cleared about 0.20 mile or about 1100 ft of trail. We used one gas powered and one battery powered hedge trimmer. The trail is overgrown with bush mallow, black sage and deer weed. We have one more outing to hopefully finish clearing 1/3 mile or so to the top. After that we will probably start from the other side on the Danielson fire road and work our way back up Old Boney. We also cleaned about half of the water drains on the upper part of the Fossil trail. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 6.5 Total hours: 78 Total feet of trail worked: 1100 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Cindy Kimmick, Dave Perlmutter, Mike Epler, Mark Simril, Roger Young, Carlyn Taggart, Maryanne Read More |
| 2021.03.06 | Event #: [790] Old Boney Trail - A crew of 10 met at the Wendy trailhead at 8 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we take on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each volunteer had their temperature taken. We reviewed the work planned for the day, tools to be used and so on. We then shuttled down to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead in three vehicles. We continued the work where we left off the previous week, with two brush cutters, McLeods, pick-mattocks, loppers and hand saws. Our day was cool but sunny, a perfect day for trailwork. After breaking for lunch at 11:30, we continued our work until it was time to leave. We hiked 1.5 miles back to the vehicles, shuttled back to the Wendy trailhead and parted ways. We cleared about 1600 feet or 0.3 mile of trail, cleared three drains and established four new ones. Hiked out, for a shuttle back to the Wendy trailhead. Total volunteer hours: 10 volunteers x 6.5 hours = 65 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.3 miles = 1,600 feet John, Mark, Greg, Dave E, Jon, Dave P, Tim Hauger, Cindy, George, Maryann Read More |
| 2021.02.27 | Event #: [789] Old Boney Trail - Old Boney Trail Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: George Sherman Summary: A crew of 8 met at Wendy & Potrero at 8 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we are to take for the COVID-19 pandemic (each volunteer had their temperature taken) and the anticipated work planned for the day. We then down into Sycamore Canyon in three vehicles. Tools were distributed we and split into a couple of groups, with one continuing to working on drains and the other using brush cutters to remove brush that was encroaching on the trail. Our day was cool, but sunny and occasionally breezy. We stopped work and hiked back to the cars and then drove back to the parking area. We cleared about 1600 feet or 0.3 mile of trail. Several more trips will be required to complete this. Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 56 Total feet of trail worked: 1600 feet Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Cindy Kimmik, and Mark Simril, Roger Young Read More |
| 2021.02.20 | Event #: [788] BBT- Hondo Canyon - Location: Backbone Trail Lower Hondo Canyon - Topanga State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 7 met at Old Topanga Canyon Road at 8:30 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated work planned for the day. We then distributed the tools and split into a couple of groups, with one continuing to remove grass and brush with a battery-powered hedge trimmer, and the other hiking 1 mile to where we left off the previous week removing slough from the uphill side of the trail, widen/smooth the tread, cutting overhead branches and tree limbs, and cleaning water diversion drains. The day was cool, but sunny and breezy. We stopped work and hiked back to the meeting location. We cleared about 2112 feet or 0.4 mile of trail. This was our 3rd consecutive outing on this trail. Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 42 Total feet of trail worked: 2112 feet Crew Members: Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Cindy Kimmik, and Mark Simril Read More |
| 2021.02.13 | Event #: [787] BBT- Hondo Canyon - Seven volunteers met at the Backbone Trail trailhead on Old Topanga Canyon Road. We reviewed the precautions we are taking for the COVID-19 pandemic, did the safety talk, and discussed the tasks to be accomplished. Then we split into two groups and proceeded to the work areas. We fixed a badly trenched 45 foot long portion of the trail. Brush was cleared along the trail corridor and segments of trail were widened by a foot or two. In many segments overhead branches were removed when deemed too low to be safe for equestrians. Another crew went on ahead and repaired tread where needed by cutting into the slope. In some cases the lower part of the tread was slipping downhill and had to be recut. We proceeded to hike back to the trailhead. Packed up tools and debriefed. Total volunteer hours: 7volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.55 miles = 2800 feet Tim Houger joined us. Read More |
| 2021.02.06 | Event #: [786] BBT- Hondo Canyon - Eight crew leaders and two volunteer guests met at the Backbone Trail trailhead on Old Topanga Canyon Road. We reviewed the precautions we are taking for the COVID-19 pandemic, did the safety talk, and discussed the tasks to be accomplished. Then we split into three groups and proceeded to the work areas. We moved a badly trenched 25 foot long portion of the trail uphill, away from the trench. We cut with the power pole saw and removed a large tree fallen across the trail, brushed extensively with the power brush cutter, built five drains, and built a sorely needed 73 foot long diversion around the old wooden steps. As we completed our work in the lower section we moved up the trail, widening spots that were dangerously narrow. We also removed a large rock that pinched the trail to a width of approx. 18 inches, providing a wider path for hikers and equestrians. Total volunteer hours: 10 volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.4 miles = 2,112 feet John Kross, Greg Sweel, Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon,Mike Epler, Dave Perlmutter, Craig Percy, Alan Dworman, Cindy Kimmick, George Sherman Read More |
| 2021.01.30 | Event #: [785] Saddle Peak Connector And Trail - Location: Backbone Trail - Saddle Peak Connector & Saddle Peak Trail, Malibu Creek State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 9 met at mile marker 2.9 on Stunt Road at 8:30 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated work planned for the day. We then distributed the tools and started up the Saddle Peak connector trail to the junction with the main Backbone Trail, turning left (east) and proceeding uphill. This week we did not use power tools, only hand tools. We brushed, lopped and sawed vegetation encroaching into the trail. We restored/cleaned and/or installed 44 water diversion drains. We also widened/smoothed the tread and filled in 30 linear feet of erosional ruts. The day was cool with frost on the damp ground in the morning. We all marveled at the far reaching views of snow-capped mountains to the north. We stopped work and hiked back to the meeting location. We cleared and restored 5,280 feet or 1 mile of trail. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 5.5 Total hours: 49.5 Total feet of trail worked: 5,280 feet Crew Members: Anne Russell, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Dave Perlmutter, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Mike Epler, Cindy Kimmik Read More |
| 2021.01.23 | Event #: [784] Cage Creek Trail - Location: Cage Creek Trail, Malibu Creek State Park Crewleader: Greg Sweel Summary: A crew of 9 met at Regan Ranch at 8:30 AM. We discussed the safety precautions we’re to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated work planned for the day. We then distributed the tools and hiked 0.7 miles on the Yearling Trail to the junction with the Cage Creek trail. We split into a couple of groups, with one continuing from last weeks effort to remove slough from the uphill side of the trail, widen/smooth the tread, and install water diversion drains. The other group proceeded down to the spot we worked on last week where the trail is sandwiched between an oak tree and a large rock outcrop. With assistance from two battery-powered hammer/drills provided by State Parks staff, the rock outcrop was cut back to a 4-foot wide clearance and benched. The day was cool and cloudy with a few light sprinkles. We stopped work and hiked back to the meeting location. We cleared about 550 feet or 0.1 mile of trail. After 2 consecutive outings, this trail is now returned to fine shape. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 5.5 Total hours: 49.5 Total feet of trail worked: 550 feet Crew Members: Anne Russell, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Dave Perlmutter, George Sherman, Greg Sweel, Roger Young, Cindy Kimmik Read More |
| 2021.01.16 | Event #: [783] Cage Creek - Our crew of 10 met at Reagan ranch. We reviewed the precautions we are taking for the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed today's work to be accomplished. Then we hiked 0.7 miles on the Yearling trail to the junction with the Cage Creek trail. At the junction, we split into three groups. Dave, Jon and doc Dave began working their way down, focusing on spots where the trail was dangerously narrow, brushing and clearing slough. George brushed with his electric brush cutter. The next group continued on to a spot where the trail was pinched between an oak tree and a very large rock. We began to break up the rock and made quite a bit of progress; we hope to finish this project next Saturday. George joined this group when done with brushing. Not a minute too late, breaking up the rock is heavy work and we welcomed his timely help. Meanwhile, Anne had gone ahead of us with a couple of people and made progress clearing slough off the trail. Anne also restored a couple of drains. In total we restored three drains. The day got very warm and we were exposed, so we stopped our work and proceeded to hike back. Total volunteer hours: 10 volunteers x 5 hours = 50 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.2 miles = 1,050 feet Read More |
| 2021.01.09 | Event #: [781] Chamberlain Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 6:45 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 4.5 miles up Blue Canyon and the Chamberlain Rock trail to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 8 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 2400 feet of trail. We quit work at 3:00 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back to Wendy arriving at 5:30. We reached our final goal of clearing the Backbone/Chamberlain Rock trail all the way up to the saddle by the Eye of the Dinosaur rock formation, a distance of 4.9 miles from Danielson. Two ultra runners spent the entire time working on the bad drainage section. They installed two large drains and cleaned three others. They smoothed out the worst section near the top and also installed a large drain there which should divert lots of water. We had nine outings to complete this project. Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 10 Total hours: 80 Total feet of trail worked: 2400 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Cindy Kimmick, Roger Young, Mallory Ham and Luan McKenzie Read More |
| 2021.01.02 | Event #: [780] Upper Sycamore Canyon - We met at the Wendy trailhead at 8:30 a.m. and shuttled down to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead. From there we hiked 0.6 miles up the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail to the fallen tree. After assessing the situation carefully and clearing the area around the base of the fallen tree, we proceeded to cut it into large pieces and moved the cut pieces off the trail. On the hike out we stopped at the ramp we put in a few years ago that goes down into the creek(Dave's ramp). The ramp has a small trench running down the middle that would further erode with future rains. There is a drain at the top of the ramp that was badly silted and has now been restored, and will hopefully prevent further erosion of the ramp. We shuttled back to our cars We were back at our cars Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 3 hours = 6 hours Read More |
| 2020.12.31 | Event #: [782] Trail Work Record Keeping - Keeping track of work hours, updating databases, creating reports and scheduling for the 2020 calendar year. Read More |
| 2020.12.19 | Event #: [778] Hidden Pond Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Hidden Pond Trail. We had 6 volunteers for the project. Met at the Wendy Dr/Protrero Rd. trailhead. Carpooled to the Hidden Pond trailhead on Sycamore Canyon Rd. trailhead near the bridge. Began work at the trailhead. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 6'-8' width. Completed work on the first section of the trail. Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,500 ft. CrewMembers: Jerry Mitcham Barry Dydyk Anne Russel Dave Perlmutter Norm Simmonds Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2020.12.19 | Event #: [779] Chamberlain Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 6:45 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 4.3 miles up Blue Canyon and the Chamberlain Rock trail to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 7 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 2300 feet of trail. We quit work at 2:00 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back to Wendy arriving at 4:00. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared to within about 3000 feet (0.57 mile) shy of our goal to the saddle next to the "Eye of the Dinosaur" rock formation. Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 9 Total hours: 63 Total feet of trail worked: 2300 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Jon Sheldon, Cindy Kimmick and Roger Young Read More |
| 2020.12.12 | Event #: [776] BBT Yerba Buena - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the newest section of the BBT off Yerba Buena Road. We had 7 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head on Yerba Buena Road. Began work at the trailhead. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 6'-8' width. Cleaned out the inside drains at the switchbacks. Completed work on the entire section of trail. Had lunch and returned to the meeting place. Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 4 hours = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,200 ft. CrewMembers: Jerry Mitcham Barry Dydyk Anne Russel Dave Perlmutter Don Brusselars Norm Simmonds Sharon Simmonds Read More |
| 2020.12.12 | Event #: [777] Chamberlain Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 6:45 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 3.75 miles up Blue Canyon and the Chamberlain Rock trail to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 6 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 1100 feet of trail. We quit work at 2:00 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back to Wendy arriving at 4:00. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared almost 1/2 mile past Chamberlain Rock, about 100 yards shy of the long, washed out trench. We have about 8/10 mile left to our goal of clearing up to the saddle next to the Eye of the Dinosaur rock formation. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 9 Total hours: 54 Total feet of trail worked: 1100 ft Crew members: Dave Edwards, Greg Sweel, George Sherman, John Kross, Jon Sheldon Cindy Kimmick Read More |
| 2020.12.05 | Event #: [774] Fossil Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Fossil Trail. We had 4 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the Fossil Trail trailhead in Sycamore Canyon. Began work where we left off last week. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8' width. Cleaned out numerous badly silted drains. Reached the trail junction with the Old Boney Trail. The Fossil Trail is now complete. Stopped work and began hike back to the trail head. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 4 Volunteers x 6 hours = 24 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,900 ft. CrewMembers: Jerry Mitcham Barry Dydyk Anne Russel Dave Perlmutter Read More |
| 2020.12.05 | Event #: [775] Chamberlain Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 6:45 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 3.35 miles up Blue Canyon and the Chamberlain Rock trail to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 6 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 3000 feet of trail. We quit work at 12:30 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back to Wendy arriving at 2:30. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared to about 1/4 mile past Chamberlain Rock. We have about one mile left to our goal of clearing up to the saddle next to the Eye of the Dinosaur rock formation. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 7.5 Total hours: 45 Total feet of trail worked: 3000 ft Read More |
| 2020.11.28 | Event #: [773] Fossil Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID -19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Fossil Trail. We had 10 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Potrero Road. Carpooled to the Fossil Trail head in Sycamore Canyon. Began work where we left off last week. Used the power tool to brush back to the standard 8 foot width. Cleaned out 25 badly silted drains. Stopped work at 13:00 and began hike back to the trail head. Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6 hours + 1 volunteer at 8 hours = 62 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2600 ft Read More |
| 2020.11.21 | Event #: [771] Fossill Trail - Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Protrero Road. Carpooled to the Fossil Trail trail head in Sycamore Canyon. Began work where we left off last week. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8 foot width. Cleaned out several badly silted drains. Stopped work and began hike back to the trail head. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: 750 ft. CrewMembers: Jerry Mitcham Barry Dydyk Mike Epler Don Brusselars Sharon Simmonds Norm Simmonds Read More |
| 2020.11.21 | Event #: [772] Chamberlain Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:00 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 2.65 miles up Blue Canyon to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 5 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 3200 feet of trail. We fixed one badly eroded spot by installing a small rock wall. We quit work at 1:45 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back then to Wendy arriving at 3:40. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared up to its juncture with the Chamberlain trail and then 1.25 miles up the Chamberlain trail. We are now about 0.35 mile from Chamberlain Rock. I hiked up the trail to the saddle next to the Eye of the Dinosaur rock formation. The trail is a total mess from Chamberlain Rock to the saddle. It's grown in almost the entire length to the top. Large stands of Bleeding Hearts dominate the sides of the trail leaving only a foot or so open. Other plants have grown into the trail as well. The distance needing to be cleared is about 1.25 miles. It will be a slow go. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 8.5 Total hours: 42.5 Total feet of trail worked: 3200 ft Read More |
| 2020.11.14 | Event #: [768] Fossil Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. The goal of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Fossil Trail. We had 4 volunteers for the project. Met at the trail head at Wendy Drive and Protrero Road. Carpooled to the Fossil Trail trail head in Sycamore Canyon. Began work. Used the power tool to trim brush back to the standard 8' width. Cleaned out four badly silted drains. Stopped work and began hike back to the trail head. . Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 4 Volunteers x 5 hours = 20 hours Feet of trail maintained: 650 ft. Read More |
| 2020.11.14 | Event #: [770] Blue Canyon Trail - Location: Chamberlain/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 7:00 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 1.8 miles up Blue Canyon to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 4 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 4300 feet of trail. We quit work at 1:30 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back then to Wendy arriving at 2:30. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared up to its juncture with the Chamberlain trail and then 0.64 miles up the Chamberlain trail. The Chamberlain trail, at least as far as we went, was weed whacked prior to our arrival. It may be that a crew from the Ranch at Malibu did this. This helped us get more distance cleared. We still had to clear weeds and brush that the whackers didn't get. There were large gaps that the whackers cleared which needed no further attention. There was one section which required extensive brushing with our hedge trimmers and hand saws. Crew size: 4 Hours worked: 7.5 Total hours: 30 Total feet of trail worked: 4300 ft Read More |
| 2020.11.07 | Event #: [767] Blue Canyon Trail - Location: Old Boney/Backbone trail, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:00 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about 1.5 miles up Blue Canyon to begin clearing brush and weeds from where we previously left off. With a crew of 5 we employed two gas powered and one battery powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 2800 feet of trail. We quit work at 1:30 and hiked backed to Danielson and drove back then to Wendy. The Old Boney/Backbone trail is now cleared up to about 0.30 miles from its juncture with the Chamberlain trail. On our next outing we'll continue to work up to the juncture with Chamberlain and on up toward Sandstone Peak. Rain threatened early on as a few of our crew decided not to chance getting wet. However, it never rained from start to finish and the trail was only slightly damp, but not at all slippery. The weather turned out to be perfect for our work while being cool and breezy. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 35 Total feet of trail worked: 2800 ft Read More |
| 2020.11.04 | Event #: [766] Blue Canyon Trail - Location: Blue Canyon, Point Mugu State Park Crew leader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at Wendy and Potrero parking area at 8:00 and drove to the Danielson Multiuse Area. From there we hiked about ¾ mile up Blue Canyon to begin clearing brush and weeds working our way back toward Danielson. With a crew of 6 we employed one gas powered and one battery powered hedge trimmer and cleared about 3500 feet of trail. We quit work at 1:30 and hiked backed to Danielson and then to Wendy. Blue Canyon is now almost cleared up to its juncture with Old Boney. About 1/4 mile remains uncleared but is considered ok for hikers. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 36 Total feet of trail worked: 3500 ft Read More |
| 2020.10.31 | Event #: [765] Blue Canyon Trail - The crew met at the Wendy Drive trailhead in Newbury Park at 8:00 AM, then carpooled to the Danielson Group Campground in Sycamore Canyon. We discussed the new safety precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated work planned for the day. With a crew of 11 we employed three gas powered hedge trimmers and an electric powered hedge trimmer. We distributed the tools and hiked about 0.6 miles to the junction with Old Boney Road where we began clearing the trail. A smaller group started brushing from the campground. Altogether we cleared about 4224 feet or 0.8 miles of trail. We quit work at 1:00 pm and hiked back to the campground. The weather was cool in the morning and warmed up to 82 in the afternoon. We anticipate continuing work on this trail next week. Read More |
| 2020.10.24 | Event #: [764] Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail - A crew of 8 of us met at the Wendy trailhead and shuttled in three trucks down to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead. Two others hiked down and met us at the trailhead We reviewed the precautions we are taking for the COVID-19 pandemic and also the task to be accomplished. We hiked 0.6 miles up the trail to where we left off the last time, and continued brushing. We had four brush cutters, and 6 people sweeping, lopping, and cutting low hanging branches. The day was overcast and cool, so at the end of the day we decided to go an extra half hour and finish brushing the entirety of the trail. We were able to accomplish this. We hiked back to the trailhead, disinfected tools and equipment, loaded up the trucks, and shuttled back to our cars. Total Volunteer hours: 10 x 6.5 = 65 Total feet of trail: 0.7 miles = 3696 feet Read More |
| 2020.10.17 | Event #: [763] Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail - A crew of 8 of us met at the Wendy trailhead, at the intersection of Wendy Drive and Potrero rd., and shuttled in two trucks down to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead. We reviewed the precautions we are taking for the COVID-19 pandemic and also the task to be accomplished. Then we began to brush from the very bottom of the trail. We had four brush cutters, each with a sweeper picking up behind them. The weather got very warm, so at 11:30 we stopped for lunch and decided to call it a day. We hiked back to the trucks, disinfected tools and equipment, loaded up the trucks, and shuttled back to our cars. Total volunteer hours: 8 volunteers x 6 hours = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 0.6 miles = 3,168 feet Read More |
| 2020.10.10 | Event #: [769] Picnic Table Assembly - This was the final special project to assemble redwood picnic tables. This special project was an Eagle Scout Project, with a goal of assembling eight tables and transporting them to Danielson Ranch Campground. Several months ago, the Trails Council requested and received a cash grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation to purchase 19 redwood picnic tables for donation to California State Parks and to be installed at Danielson Ranch Group Campground in Point Mugu State Park. The picnic tables were received several months ago and have been stored at Malibu Creek State park. Assembly of the tables and placement at Danielson Campground has been delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The recent improvement in the COVID-19 situation allows us a window of time to proceed with this project. Today, two SMMTC volunteers and several scouts and adults participated in the project. Read More |
| 2020.10.10 | Event #: [762] Serrano Canyon - We met at the Sycamore Canyon day-use parking lot at 8:00 am and drove to the Serrano Canyon trailhead. We discussed the new safety precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic and anticipated work planned for the day. We distributed the tools and hiked about 1.3 miles to where we left off last week and began clearing the trail. With a crew of only 5 we employed two gas-powered hedge trimmers and an electric powered hedge trimmer and cleared about 2112 feet or 0.4 miles of trail. We quit work at 1:00 pm and hiked backed to the trailhead parking. The weather was perfect with a temperature of about 72. This was our fourth consecutive outing on this trail and the entire trail up to Serrano Valley is now cleared. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 30 Total feet of trail worked: 2112 feet Read More |
| 2020.10.03 | Event #: [761] Serrano Canyon - Location: Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Dave Edwards Summary: We met at the Sycamore Canyon day use parking lot at 8:00 and drove to the Serrano Canyon trailhead. I briefly explained the new precautions we're to take for the COVID-19 pandemic. We hiked about 1.1 mile to begin clearing the trail. With a crew of only 4 we employed two gas powered hedge trimmers and cleared about 1200 ft or 0.22 miles of trail. We quit work at 1:00 and hiked backed to the trailhead parking. There remains about 0.30 miles to clear up to Serrano Valley. The weather was much cooler than we expected with a temp of about 78 and a good canyon breeze. One more outing should complete the clearance of the trail. Crew size: 4 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 24 Total feet of trail worked: 1200 ft Read More |
| 2020.09.23 | Event #: [760] Picnic Table Assembly - This was a special project to assemble redwood picnic tables. Several months ago, the Trails Council requested and received a cash grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation to purchase 19 redwood picnic tables for donation to California State Parks and to be installed at Danielson Ranch Group Campground in Point Mugu State Park. The picnic tables were received several months ago and are stored at Malibu Creek State park. Assembly of the tables and placement at Danielson Campground has been delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The current COVID-19 situation allows us a window of time to proceed with this project. Today, six SMMTC volunteers participated in this project. Read More |
| 2020.09.16 | Event #: [759] Picnic Table Assembly - This was a special project to assemble redwood picnic tables. Several months ago, the Trails Council requested and received a cash grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation to purchase 19 redwood picnic tables for donation to California State Parks and to be installed at Danielson Ranch Group Campground in Point Mugu State Park. The picnic tables were received several months ago and are stored at Malibu Creek State park. Assembly of the tables and placement at Danielson Campground has been delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The current COVID-19 situation allows us a window of time to proceed with this project. Today, six SMMTC volunteers participated in this project. Read More |
| 2020.09.12 | Event #: [758] Kiosk Special Project - This was a scheduled eagle scout project. This is the last of several subprojects in the Trails Council's plan to provide improvements to 12 Backbone Trailheads. This project was at the BBT trail head at the crossing of Latigo Canyon Road. The project involved the installation of a display panel and picnic table. The eagle scout candidate organizes the project, provides fellow scouts for labor and purchases some minor hardware and equipment for the project. The National Park Service provided the material kits for the display panel and the picnic table. The Trails Council provided coordination with the NPS and provided on-site supervision. There were two SMMTC volunteers, four adult supervisors and a varying number of scouts participating. Met at the BBT trailhead at Latigo Canyon Road. There were two SMMTC volunteers, 4 adult scout volunteers, and several scouts. The table and display panel kits and tools were transported to the area by the SMMTC volunteers. Began work to clear brush from a 20 by 30 area adjacent to the parking lot for the picnic table. Assembled and then installed the display panel adjacent to the trail. Assembled, then installed the picnic table in the previously cleared area. Read More |
| 2020.09.09 | Event #: [757] Picnic Table Assembly - This was a special project to assemble redwood picnic tables. Several months ago, the Trails Council requested and received a cash grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation to purchase 19 redwood picnic tables for donation to California State Parks and to be installed at Danielson Ranch Group Campground in Point Mugu State Park. The picnic tables were received several months ago and are stored at Malibu Creek State park. Assembly of the tables and placement at Danielson Campground has been delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The current COVID-19 situation allows us a window of time to proceed with this project. Today, four SMMTC volunteers participated in this project. Read More |
| 2020.07.04 | Event #: [756] Serrano Canyon - Location: Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Dave Edwards Summary: Our trail crew was the only ones allowed to enter into the park and park in the day use parking area. All other people were turned away due to all beaches being closed for the holiday. At about 8:20 we drove to the Serrano Canyon trailhead and hiked the 3/4mile to begin clearing the trail. We employed a weed whacker and two hedge trimmers. We cleared about 1900 ft or 0.35 miles of trail. We still have about 0.60 miles to clear up to Serrano Valley. There seems to be a mistake on the mileage posted on the trailhead sign at the beginning of the Serrano Canyon trail along Big Sycamore Canyon road. The sign reads 2.7 miles to Serrano Valley but gps readings indicate it's only about 1.7 miles. It's expected to take two more outings to completely clear the trail to the valley. Crew size: 10 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 60 Total feet of trail worked: 1900 ft Read More |
| 2020.06.27 | Event #: [755] Serrano Canyon - Serrano Canyon in Point Mugu State Park was the location for today's effort. Three powered brush cutters and a weed whip cleared brush from the start of the trail to the creek. The rest of the crew disposed of the brush and lopped the bigger branches. Tread was in good shape with a couple of areas needing more attention. Read More |
| 2020.06.24 | Event #: [754] BBT - Latigo Canyon - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects and the second work day on this trail. Today, we had a crew of 5 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was continue and complete brushing on this section of trail from our last outing here. This section of trail stretches trail from Latigo Canyon Road Trailhead to the Newton Motorway, a distance of 1.4 miles We previously completed.9 miles. Met at the Latigo Canyon Road trailhead. Conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked to the location of completion of the last outing's work (approximately.45 miles). Began work. Generally, the tread on this section of trail is in very good condition, so our work was almost entirely brushing, using power tools. Stopped work and began the hike/drive back to the trailhead. Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. We did not complete this section of trail. There is approximately 700 feet left to do. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2, 100 ft. Read More |
| 2020.06.20 | Event #: [753] BBT - Latigo Canyon - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. This was a crew of 11 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was perform brushing on the trail from Latigo Canyon Road Trailhead to the Newton Motorway, a distance of 1.4 miles Met at the Latigo Canyon Road trailhead. Conducted safety and tool talks. Drove one truck with tools to the far end of the trail section on Newton Motorway. Remainder of the crew began work form the trailhead. Began work. Generally, the tread on this section of trail is in very good condition, so our work was almost entirely brushing, using power tools. We worked from both ends of the trail toward the center. Stopped work and began the hike/drive back to the trailhead. Arrived back at the meeting place. Project complete. We plan to return on Wednesday, Jun 24 to complete this section of trail. Total volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4, 700 ft. Read More |
| 2020.06.13 | Event #: [752] Fireline Trail - Arrive at the Day Use parking lot, sign-in, and shuttle five volunteers to the top of the trail on the Overlook Fire Road. The remaining 5 volunteers drove up Sycamore Canyon to the bottom of the trail. The upper crew used two hedge trimmers while the lower crew used a weed whacker and two hedge trimmers to clear brush and grasses. The remaining volunteers provided support to rake and remove the cuttings off the trail. Take lunch break. Resume work brushing. The upper crew met the lower crew and we all hiked down the trail to the vehicles. Return tools and shuttle back to the Day Use parking lot. End of work day. 10 volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours (see sign-in sheet). Upper Crew cleared 0.3 miles (1584 feet) of trail. Lower Crew cleared 0.3 miles (1584 feet) of trail. Total distance maintained = 0.60 miles (3168 feet). (Note: The entire trail has now been cleared of brush and grasses. Some drainage repair is needed on the Upper Section). Read More |
| 2020.06.06 | Event #: [751] Fireline Trail - Arrive at the Day Use parking lot, sign-in, and shuttle five volunteers to the top of the trail on the Overlook Fire Road. The remaining 6 volunteers drove up Sycamore Canyon to the bottom of the trail. The upper crew used two hedge trimmers while the lower crew used a weed whacker and two hedge trimmers to clear brush and grasses. The remaining volunteers provided support to rake and remove the cuttings off the trail. The upper crew met the lower crew and we all hiked down the trail to the vehicles. Return tools and shuttle back to the Day Use parking lot. End of work day. 11 volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours (see sign-in sheet). Upper Crew cleared 0.21 miles (1108 feet) of trail. Lower Crew cleared 0.73 miles (3854 feet) of trail. Total distance maintained = 0.94 miles (4963 feet). Total distance remaining = 0.57 miles (3010 feet). Read More |
| 2020.06.03 | Event #: [750] Scenic Trail - Scenic Trail Point Mugu State Park This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. This was a small crew of 7 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was to finish brushing of the Scenic Trail following last Saturday's work. Began work on the upper section of the Scenic Trail out to the ocean overlook. Also cleared the connector trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Work consisted of light brushing and cutting of mustard, thistle and weeds. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 4 hours = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 600 ft. This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. This was a small crew of 7 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was to finish brushing of the Scenic Trail following last Saturday's work. Began work on the upper section of the Scenic Trail out to the ocean overlook. Also cleared the connector trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Work consisted of light brushing and cutting of mustard, thistle and weeds. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 4 hours = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 600 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.30 | Event #: [749] Scenic Trail - Scenic Trail Point Mugu State Park This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. This was a small crew of 7 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was to finish brushing of the Scenic Trail following last Saturday's work. Began work on the upper section of the Scenic Trail out to the ocean overlook. Also cleared the connector trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Work consisted of light brushing and cutting of mustard, thistle and weeds. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 4 hours = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 600 ft. This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. This was a small crew of 7 SMMTC crewleaders. Our goal today was to finish brushing of the Scenic Trail following last Saturday's work. Began work on the upper section of the Scenic Trail out to the ocean overlook. Also cleared the connector trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Work consisted of light brushing and cutting of mustard, thistle and weeds. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 4 hours = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 600 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.23 | Event #: [748] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Location: NPS-Mishe Mokwa trail Crewleader: Dave Edwards Summary: We began our hike to the work site at 7:30. Work was very much the same as last time out. A section of trail of about 60 feet was widened and smoothed by pulling in the outside berm and filling in a shallow trench resulting in a gentle out slope. A water drain was installed at the bottom of this section. A very large rock step was installed at the top of this section and a couple of additional rock steps were installed at the beginning of this section. The remaining section of trail up to the juncture of Mishe Mokwa and the Backbone connector trail was cleared of loose rocks and weeds. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 1:30. Crew size: 5 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 30 Total feet of trail worked: 160 ft Read More |
| 2020.05.21 | Event #: [747] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Continued workingon the Mishe Mokwa Trail. Completed work on the third step. Worked to outlsope trail where Mishe Mokwa meets the Sandstone Peak Connector Trail. Read More |
| 2020.05.20 | Event #: [746] Spanish Broome Removal - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform Spanish Broom removal on Saddle Peak. There were 8 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Hiked up to Saddle Peak. We used the cut and paint technique, with Pathfinder II. There were not a large number of plants. Finished work and hiked back to the meeting place. Completed the day's project. Total volunteer hours: 8 Volunteers x 4 hours = 32 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2020.05.16 | Event #: [745] Mishe Mokwa Trail - NPS-Mishe Mokwa trail Crewleader: Dave Edwards Summary: We hiked to the work site at 8:00 and split into two groups of three each. One group worked from where we left off last time by clearing morning glory and rocks from about a 130 ft section of trail. We widened and smoothed the tread and pulled the berm in leaving a slight out slope. The other group worked about a 70 foot fairly steep and gnarly section which was badly eroded with a deep trench and high outside berm. We removed the berm, filled in the trench and moved the trail to the outside. Several small tree stumps were removed. A drain was installed near the bottom of this section and a large rock step near the top. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 2:00. Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 36 Total feet of trail worked: 200 ft Read More |
| 2020.05.14 | Event #: [744] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing "social distancing". We had 2 volunteers for this project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to the work site. Began work on that section of the trail below the connector to the Sandstone Peak Trail. Constructed two stone steps and back filled with crush. Filled approximately 20 feet of trenched tread. Stopped work and and began the hike down to the trailhead. Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 4 hours = 8 hours Feet of trail maintained: 30 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.13 | Event #: [742] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Continued our efforts on the Mishe Mokwa Trail. Cleared brush and smoothed out tread using using hand tools. Cleared 300 feet of trail. 4 volunteers @6 hours 24 Hours Total Read More |
| 2020.05.12 | Event #: [743] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing social distancing Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to the work site. Began work on that section of the trail below the connector to the Sandstone Peak Trail. This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing social distancing. We had 3 volunteers for this project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to the work site. Began work on that section of the trail below the connector to the Sandstone Peak Trail. Installed two new drains. Filled approximately 30 feet of trenched tread. Due to ta light rain, we stopped work and began the hike down to the trailhead. Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 3 hours = 9 hours Feet of trail maintained: 60 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.11 | Event #: [741] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Summary: We hiked to the work site at 7:30 and split into two groups. One group finished the work on the Sandstone Peak connector trail. The trail starting from the Sandstone Peak side has now been moved over and out of the badly eroded old trail up to where it levels off. We also installed a step three rocks wide near the Mishe Mokwa trail. Most of the work effort was on the Mishe Mokwa trail where we installed a water drain and removed the berm on about a 30 ft section of very rocky and eroded trail. This entailed removing several large rocks lining the outside of the trail. Lots of vegetation and several small tree stumps were removed. The finished section is now smooth with a gentle out slope. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 1:30 Crew size: 4 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 24 Total feet of trail worked: 60 ft Read More |
| 2020.05.08 | Event #: [740] Mishe Mokwa Trail - NPS-Sandstone Peak/Mishe Mokwa connector trail Crewleader: Dave Edwards Summary: We began our short hike at 7:30 and started work at 7:50 near the Sandstone Peak end of the Backbone connector trail.Two of us spent about 90 minutes straightening the trail sign post at the juncture of Sandstone Peak and the Backbone connector trail. It was apparently knocked several degrees off vertical by heavy machinery and was bent near its bottom. We continued work on a previous section where we moved the trail over and out of a badly eroded trench. We still needed to flatten the trail be removing a slight crown. We cleared weeds and burned out stumps and moved the trail over at another section close to the Sandstone Peak end. When we return on our next outing we'll finish this last section. This will leave a continuous new trail next to the old, rutted trail all the way from the bottom at the Sandstone Peak side up to where it levels off. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 12:00. Crew size: 4 Hours worked: 4.5 Total hours: 18 Total feet of trail worked: 100 ft Read More |
| 2020.05.06 | Event #: [739] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing social distancing. We had 3 volunteers for this project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to the work site. Began work on that section of the trail below the connector to the Sandstone Peak Trail. Completed a new large drain began last outing. Filled approximately 50 feet of trenched tread. Began work on a new drain. Due to the extreme heat, we stopped work and began the hike down to the trailhead. Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 4 hours = 12 hours Feet of trail maintained: 75 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.04 | Event #: [737] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing "social distancing". We had 3 volunteers for this project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to the work site. Began work on that section of the trail below the connector to the Sandstone Peak Trail. Cleaned and expanded a large drain. Began work on a new, large drain. Due to the extreme heat, we stopped work and began the hike down to the trailhead. Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 4.5 hours = 13.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: 50 ft. Read More |
| 2020.05.04 | Event #: [738] Mishe Mokwa Trail - We began our short hike at 7:30 and started work at 7:50 near the Sandstone Peak end of the Backbone connector trail. The work consisted entirely of moving the trail over a few feet out of a substantially eroded and rutted section of trail. It involved clearing hard to remove morning glory vines, rocks and several small burned out tree stumps. This section of trail is now greatly improved and much easier to walk. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 12:00. Crew size: 3 Hours worked: 4.5 Total hours: 13.5 Total feet of trail worked: 200 ft Read More |
| 2020.04.30 | Event #: [735] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the week ends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing “social distancing. We had 3 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Yerra Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked trail to a location where the last crew stopped work earlier in the week. Began work. Cleaned all drains and cleared brush encroaching on the trail. We ignored the grass growing along the edges as this will die out soon. Stopped work and began hike down to the trailhead. Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 4 hours = 12 hours Feet of trail maintained: 740 ft. Read More |
| 2020.04.29 | Event #: [734] Tri Peaks Trail - Tri Peaks Trail. We began our 3 mile hike to the Tri-Peaks trail at 7:00 and arrived at 8:45. As in the previous two outings last week it was again very warm. We only worked about two hours as a result. But we did finish fixing the trail in the worst spots where it was heavily trenched. We continued to move the trail over a few feet out the trenches. Now the entire length of this trail, about 0.4 miles, is much easier to hike. I should point out that an NPS crew recently established 3 new water drains prior to our work. We didn't clear all of the weeds but they should die back during the summer months. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 1:00. Crew size: 3 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 18 Total feet of trail worked: 180 ft Read More |
| 2020.04.28 | Event #: [732] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Mishe Mokwa Trail. We worked approximately 1200 feet of trail starting where the last crew marked the trail. We removed overgrowth from the trail and worked the tred where slough reduced trail width. We marked our end point for the next crew. Because of heat and conditioning we reduced our work time to four hours Read More |
| 2020.04.28 | Event #: [736] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the week ends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing “social distancing. We had 2 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to a location where the last crew stopped work earlier in the week. Began work. Cleaned all drains and cleared brush encroaching on the trail. We ignored the grass growing along the edges as this will die out soon. Stopped work and began hike down to the trailhead. . Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 4 hours = 8 hours Feet of trail maintained: 200 ft. Read More |
| 2020.04.23 | Event #: [729] Tri Peaks Trail - Tri Peaks Trail. Our first task was to shore up the NPS trail sign at the top of the Tri-Peaks juncture with the Backbone connector trail. For the last several years the sign was held up by rocks piled against it or it was found lying on the ground. After digging a deep enough hole we put two 12 inch bolts through the holes at the bottom of the post, filled the hole with a combination of small rocks and dirt and then compacted around it. This provided a stable anchor for the sign. We continued our tread work by moving the heavily eroded trail over to the side in two separate places. This involved clearing away plants and digging up small burned out tree stumps. One more work outing should suffice to finish restoring the trail. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 2:00. Crew size: 3 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 21 Total feet of trail worked: 300 ft Read More |
| 2020.04.22 | Event #: [730] Mishe Mokwa Trail - This was one of the specially scheduled COVID-19 trail maintenance projects. Since the park is closed on the weekends, we are only working on weekdays, with very small crews and practicing “social distancing. We had 3 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Yerba Buena Road. Performed the GAR evaluation and conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to a location where the last crew stopped work earlier in the week. Began work. Cleaned all drains and cleared brush encroaching on the trail. We ignored the grass growing along the edges as this will die out soon. Stopped work and began hike down to the trailhead. . Arrived back at the trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x4 hours = 12 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500 ft. Read More |
| 2020.04.21 | Event #: [731] Mishe Mokwa Trail - Mishe Mokwa trail. We had three workers and complete 200 feet of trail. We performed tread maintenance and groomed 200 feet of trail starting at the BBT junction with Mishe Mokwa.as well as installing one drain. We only worked 4.5 hours as we tired due to lack of conditioning. Read More |
| 2020.04.21 | Event #: [733] Tri Peaks Trail - Tri Peaks Trail. We began our 3 mile hike to the Tri-Peaks trail at 7:15 and arrived at 9:00. Our main objective was to improve the tread in several places where there was severe erosion. With only 3 of us it was slow going. We filled in two heavily trenched sections and widened the trail in other places. We also cleared lots of rocks from the trail which were considered as hazards for hikers. Two more outings are probably needed to fix the remaining problem areas. For flower followers we found some 45 different blooming flowers. We arrived back at trailhead parking at 2:30. Crew size: 3 Hours worked: 7 Total hours: 21 Total feet of trail worked: 200 ft Read More |
| 2020.03.07 | Event #: [728] Fireline Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event. It was a joint project with student volunteers from CSUCI. The objective of the project was to conduct light brushing on the Fireline trail. There were eleven SMMTC volunteers and ten CSUCI volunteers present. Trails Council provided a bus to transport the student from the CSUCI campus to the Pt. Mugu meeting place. One volunteer met the bus and the CSUCI volunteers at the CSUCI campus. SMMTC volunteers met at the Sycamore Campground parking lot. They carpooled into the park, to the Fireline trailhead. Began work with the power tools. Bus with the CSUCI volunteers arrived at the parking lot. Volunteers hiked into the park to the Fireline trailhead. Conducted tool talk and safety briefing with the CSUCI volunteers. Hiked up the trail to the worksite, Began work. Work consisted of clearing brush cutting from the trail and removing slough from the inside of the trail. Competed work. Returned to the trailhead. CSUCI volunteers hiked back to the parking lot. CSUCI volunteers met the bus at the parking lot and were transported back to the campus. Completed the day's project. Total volunteer hours: 21 Volunteers x 6 hours = 126 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,150 Read More |
| 2020.02.29 | Event #: [727] Musch Trail - This was a joint work project with the Sierra Club's Santa Monica Mountains Task Force Trail Crew. The Sierra Club worked up the trail from the walk-in campground while the Trails Council worked down from the fire road. Arrive at Trippet Ranch parking lot (Topanga State Park). Sign-in and shuttle up the fire road to the trailhead. Distribute tools, discuss logistics, and provide tool safety talk. A crew of eleven proceeded down the trail with (2) hedge trimmers to about midway where the brush became thick. They cleared brush along the trail while several supporters raked up and removed the cuttings. The remainder of the group performed brushing, tread repair, and removal of loose rocks along the way. [Note: The entire Musch Trail is now cleared from top to bottom]. 8 volunteers x 6 hours = 48 hours (see sign-in sheet). 3 volunteers x 2.5 hours = 7.5 hours 2 Hours for scouting the trail Total volunteers = 11. Total hours = 57.5 hours Total distance maintained = 2000 feet. Read More |
| 2020.02.22 | Event #: [726] Malibu Springs Trail, NPS - We met at the top of the Malibu Springs South trail on Decker School Road. We had four Sierra Club Trailies, three NPS trail workers plus Lacey Cunningham, and five TC crew leaders. We had three hedge cutters and the Parks team had 2 weed whips. The Park team with weed whips went ahead of everyone, followed by the hedge cutters. Others followed behind and raked the trail. The trail was completely washed away in places, with 2 foot drops in places. Also, the trail was so overgrown that you could not see it, it was very hard to follow. We were able to restore the trail to at least passable and brushed it so it can now be easily followed. We put in five long drains and the Parks team built two crib walls to shore up the edge of the trail that was washing away. Total volunteer hours: 13 volunteers x 6 hours = 78 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4,752 Read More |
| 2020.02.19 | Event #: [725] La Jolla Valley - Continued our efforts in La Jolla Valley. Cleared brush using two brush cutters. Used hand tools to clear heavier brush. Cleared 2000 feet of trail. Read More |
| 2020.02.16 | Event #: [723] Malibu Springs Trail - Cleared several groups of fallen oak trees along the path down to Malibu Springs Trailhead at Mulholland Hwy. One clump of trees remains to be cleared. This is physically hard and dirty work. Trail is in horrible shape for most of its length. I lost the trail twice where it vanishes into an overgrown and eroded hillside. There are two sections that should be a priority to clear before the trail vanishes. Read More |
| 2020.02.15 | Event #: [722] Malibu Springs trail, NPS - A group of ten volunteers assembled at Leo Carrillo State Park to shuttle to the worksite. John Kross arrived separately. Our objective for the day was to clear the Malibu Springs Trail. From the trailhead, we were confronted with an overgrown and badly eroded trail. Three gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and removed the cuttings. Several drains we re-created. On occasion, rocks were placed in the ruts running down the trail to mitigate further erosion of water damage. We managed to clear about 3000 feet of trail. On the bright side, the vegetation is recovering nicely from the Woolsey Fire. John Kross scouted the trail on the previous Sunday. 11 volunteers @ 6 hours 11 volunteers and 66 hours Read More |
| 2020.02.15 | Event #: [724] BBT Improvements - This was a scheduled multi-day, eagle scout project. This is the latest of several subprojects in the Trails Council's plan to provide improvements to 12 Backbone Trailheads. This project was At the BBT crossing of Mulholland Hwy. in the Circle X Ranch area. The project involved the installation of a display kiosk and picnic table. The eagle scout candidate organizes the project, provides fellow scouts for labor and purchases some minor hardware and equipment for the project. The National park Service provided the material kits for the kiosk and picnic table. The Trails Council provided coordination with the NPS and provided on-site supervision. There were two SMMTC volunteers present and a varying number of scouts and adult supervisors. Read More |
| 2020.02.08 | Event #: [721] La Jolla Valley - A group of ten volunteers assembled at Wendy and Potrero to shuttle to the worksite. Our objective for the day was to clear the Pond trail past the old dam to the junction with the La Jolla Valley Loop Trail. Two gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and removed the cuttings. 10 volunteers @ 6 hours 10 volunteers and 60 hours Read More |
| 2020.02.01 | Event #: [720] Old Boney trail (Toe Stubber) - A group of nine volunteers assembled at Wendy & Potrero to shuttle to the work site. Our objective for the day was to trim brush and groom the Old Boney Trail from where it begins at the Upper Sycamore Fire Road. Two gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and removed the cuttings. We cleared nearly .71of a mile and installed three major water diversions. 9 volunteers @ 6 hours each 9 volunteers and 54 hours total Read More |
| 2020.01.25 | Event #: [719] Saddle Creek Trail - This was a routine trail maintenance project. The objective of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance (primarily brushing), on the Saddle creek Trail. We had 6 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Piuma Road. Hiked up the trail to a location where we stopped work on our last trip here (approximately 1 mile in). Began work. 2 volunteers went ahead, lopping the heavier brush. The other 4 volunteers used two power brush cutters to cut back brush encroaching on the trail. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,280 Read More |
| 2020.01.18 | Event #: [718] Hidden Pond Trail - A group of eight volunteers assembled at Wendy and Potrero to shuttle to the worksite. Our objective for the day was to continue from our previous stopping point and work towards the water tower on Ranch Center Road. We hiked about.5 miles and began working. Two gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and dispersed cuttings. Deerweed, California Sage and a variety of grasses gave us a run for our money. We cleared nearly half of a mile. With the wind at our backs, we worked all the way back to the vehicles. We have completed brushing from one end of the trail to the other! 7 volunteers @ 6 hours 1 volunteer @ 3 hours 8 volunteers and 45 hours Read More |
| 2020.01.15 | Event #: [717] Hidden Pond Trail - A group of eight volunteers assembled at Wendy and Potrero to shuttle to the worksite. Our objective for the day was to continue from our previous stopping point and work towards the water tower on RanchCenter Road. We hiked about .85 miles and began working. Two gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and removed cuttings. Deerweed, California Sage and grasses gave us a run for our money. We cleared nearly .35 of a mile. More than half a mile remains. We were fortunate to have Drew Smith working with us today! 8 volunteers x 6 hours =48 hours Read More |
| 2020.01.14 | Event #: [716] Scheduling Meeting - Scheduling Meeting. Some Pizza, some salad, NPS & State Parks representatives and some discussion regarding trails to work on. Read More |
| 2020.01.11 | Event #: [715] La Jolla Valley - The crew used two gas powered hedge trimmers to cut and clear brush and weeds growing along the edges and into the Wood Canyon and La Jolla Valley roads. Work also consisted of using loppers and hand saws to cut and clear small trees. We utilize these roads in Point Mugu State Park on a regular basis to provide access to the trails in La Jolla Valley. This work was necessary to help prevent damage to the sides of our vehicles. The number of feet of trail worked is zero since this was not actual trail work. We also checked out the scope of work for our upcoming work in the La Jolla Valley walk-in campground. A group of ten volunteers assembled at Wendy & Potrero for the shuttle to the worksite. Our objective for the day was to brush the paths connecting the group and individual campsites to the common areas in the campsite. A fallen Oak blocking access several sites was cut apart and removed. Three gas-powered brush trimmers were utilized to trim back vegetation. Several volunteers followed behind and removed the cuttings. In the campsites, areas around picnic tables were tidied up and choice spots for tents were made by clearing grasses and mustard. Read More |
| 2020.01.08 | Event #: [714] Wood Canyon Fire Road - The crew used two gas powered hedge trimmers to cut and clear brush and weeds growing along the edges and into the Wood Canyon and La Jolla Valley roads. Work also consisted of using loppers and hand saws to cut and clear small trees. We utilize these roads in Point Mugu State Park on a regular basis to provide access to the trails in La Jolla Valley. This work was necessary to help prevent damage to the sides of our vehicles. The number of feet of trail worked is zero since this was not actual trail work. We also checked out the scope of work for our upcoming work in the La Jolla Valley walk-in campground. Read More |
| 2020.01.04 | Event #: [713] Hidden Pond Trail - Continued our efforts on this trail. This was our fifth visit this season (previous events: 2019-11-30,2019-10-26,2019-10-09 and 2019-09-28). Perfect weather conditions allowed us to brush the edges of the trail, create/repair drains as well as some tread work. We had a group of 15 people working with us today. Two volunteers drove more than an hour to work with us – Thank you to Greg and Robert! We cleared nearly 2,112 feet of trail. Three gas-powered trimmers trimmed lots of Deerweed, California Sage and grasses. Mcleods, loppers and a pick were used to remove roots that remained after the brush cutters had gone through the area. More than a mile remains to be worked on this trail even though we have cleared more than three miles of this trail. 15 volunteers x 6 Hours each for 90 Hours Read More |
| 2019.12.27 | Event #: [712] Upper Sycamore Canyon - A limb from an oak tree had fallen across the Danielson Fire Road and was blocking the path. The large (20 foot) limb was cut into manageable sized pieces and moved off-trail. Farther down the trail a cluster of Sycamore limbs blocked the path. This took us more than an hour to untangle, cut and remove the pieces. Safety was our primary concern - 30-foot limbs resting on the broken limbs of other trees. We also learned that sapling branches, when cut, can fling dead branches in other directions! A bit farther down the trail, a cluster of dead Ceanothus and Sycamore trees had edged down towards the ground creating a very low bridge. Equestrians would have been blocked. We removed the branches and trunks that were encroaching upon the trail. Worked with Jon Sheldon. Read More |
| 2019.12.21 | Event #: [711] Solstice Canyon, NPS - The crew used three gas-powered hedge trimmers to cut and clear brush and weeds, most notably dead mustard stalks. The work also consisted of some tread work which was made much easier than normal due to the recent rains. We cleared the entire TRW loop trail. Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 72 Total feet of trail worked: 4220 ft Read More |
| 2019.12.18 | Event #: [710] Serrano Canyon - Met at the Sycamore Canyon campground day parking lot. Shuttled to the trailhead. Distributed tools, reviewed the work to be accomplished and proceeded to the work areas. Two people with a chainsaw went ahead to take out two large trees blocking the trail. One person ran a weed whip and another a brush cutter, others followed them clearing the cuttings off the trail and lopping as needed. We were also able to fill in ruts and widen the trail in several areas. After work we hiked down to the trailhead and shuttled back to the parking lot. Got back to our cars and departed. Total feet cleared of brush: 2650Total feet of tread improved: 80 Total distance to second tree: 1.75 milesTotal volunteer hours: 9 volunteers x 6 hrs. = 54 hours Read More |
| 2019.12.14 | Event #: [709] Backbone Trail, Rogers Road - This was a joint work project with the Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association (CORBA), Girls Gone Riding (GGR), and Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). Arrive at Will Rogers State Historic Park (WRSHP) and assist with parking. Pass the sign-in sheet and shuttle to the trailhead. Distribute tools, discuss logistics, and provide tool safety talk. A crew of nine (9) proceeded up to the Lone Oak carrying two (2) hedge trimmers and a weed whip. They cleared brush along the trail. The remainder of the group performed brushing, tread repair, and removal of loose rocks along the way. Take lunch break. Resume work improving tread, widening trail, and brushing. Stop work and hiked back to vehicles at WRSHP. Return tools. End of work day. 19 volunteers x 6 hours = 114 hours (see sign-in sheet). Total distance maintained = 2250 feet. [Note: More brushing is needed on this section of the BBT and we will need to return to clear/widen it all). Read More |
| 2019.11.30 | Event #: [708] Hidden Pond - The crew continued work on the Hidden Pond and worked up the switchbacks to within a half-mile or so of the actual Hidden Pond. We used one gas-powered hedge trimmer. The work consisted of tread work and brush and weed removal. The recent rain made the tread work much easier than normal. We quit work an hour early due to an incoming rainstorm. Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 5 Total hours: 45 Total feet of trail worked: 1400 ft Read More |
| 2019.11.23 | Event #: [707] Saddle Creek Trail, Malibu Creek SP - This was a joint work project with the Sierra Club's Santa Monica Mountains Task Force. We also had several students from Cal. State University Channel Islands with us as well. Arrive at Piuma Road and assist with parking. Pass the sign-in sheet, distribute tools and discuss logistics. Hiked up trail and conducted tool safety talk. Continued up the trail performing brushing, tread repair, and removal of loose rocks along the way. Erosion problems fixed, slopes stabilized, lopping of brush continued up the switchbacks. 32 volunteers x 6 hours = 192 hours (see sign-in sheet. Note that three (3) participants did not sign-in on sheet). Total distance maintained = 2200 feet. [We made it about ½ of the way up the switchbacks, and will need to continue the work on another day]. Read More |
| 2019.11.16 | Event #: [705] Backbone Trail, north of Mulholland, NPS - Under the supervision of NPS Ranger Larry Chirico, SMMTC and CORBA worked together with CSUCI students to repair Backbone trail damage from the Woolsey Fire and subsequent flooding. Met at the trailhead on Mulholland Hwy. Explained project objective, did safety talk, broke into teams and assigned tools. Hiked up to various points needing work. Group members collected rocks and boulders to create rock work around newly installed metal culverts; cleaned existing drains or installed new drains; and created rock walls to shore up collapsing areas of the trail. Returned to meeting place early due to unusually hot weather. Total volunteer hours: 21 Volunteers x 4 hours = 84 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5, 808 Read More |
| 2019.11.15 | Event #: [706] Picnic Tables - Danielson Ranch - The Trails Council purchased and donated five new picnic tables to State Parks, for installation at Danielson Group Camp in Point Mugu State Park. Friday, the tables were being delivered to the park. Three Trails Council Volunteers met the State park employees at the park to unload the tables. Saturday, a group of Boy Scouts will assemble the tables. Friday, November 15 Met the State Park employees with the tables and accompanied them to Danielson Group Camp. Began unloading the tables. Completed unloading tables. Began survey of Blue Canyon trail for possible trail work. . Completed trail survey. Returned to meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers 16 hours. Saturday, November 16 Met group of boy scouts at the Point Mugu SP gate. Escorted the scouts to Danielson Group Camp Briefed the group on SMMTC mission, project mission, safety and project tools/materials. Began work to assemble tables. Completed table assembly. Boy scouts camped overnight. SMMTC volunteers returned to the meeting place. Completed project. Read More |
| 2019.11.13 | Event #: [704] Sage Trail, Point Mugu State Park - Trail brushing, tread work, retaining wall Meet up site and caravan into park. Completed brushing of Sage trail from previous Saturday, so trail is brushed end-to-end. Proceeded to Hidden Pond trail at junction on Ranch Center. Brushed, tread work (widened trail, cut new bench, opened several drains), built small retaining wall to shore up narrow section of trail. Lunch break at 1130 and completed work to leave park by 2. Total volunteer hours: 13 volunteers x 6 hours = 78 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~1100 Read More |
| 2019.11.09 | Event #: [703] Sage Trail, Point Mugu State Park - This was a joint effort with members of CORBA for the purpose of brushing the Sage Trail. Met at the trailhead at Wendy and Potrero roads for a shuttle down to the Sage trail. Conducted a safety talk and tool talk, and shuttled into the park Began work, beginning at the top of the trail. With three power hedge trimmers, we moved at a good clip. Volunteers followed the hedge trimmers, sweeping and the disposal of the clippings. Other volunteers worked on restoring and installing new drains, and filling in ruts. Four drains were restored, one of which was armored with rocks Total volunteer hours: 18 volunteers x 6 hours = 108 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5,300 Read More |
| 2019.11.02 | Event #: [702] Backbone Trail, Upper Zuma Canyon, NPS - Arrive at pull-out approximately mile north of Tunnel #1 on Kanan Road. Pass the sign-in sheet, distribute tools and discuss logistics. Hiked down to creek crossing with some lopping, drain repair/installation and removal of loose rocks along the way. West of the creek, we installed and repaired several drains and water diversions. A buried culvert was located, excavated, and restored to functionality. Additional drains were cleaned and ruts were filled in. Take lunch break. Resume work improving tread, widening trail, filling in ruts. Stop work and hiked back to the parking lot. Return tools. End of work day. 12 volunteers x 6 hours = 72 hours (see sign-in sheet) 1 volunteer (Crew Leader) + 2 hours for surveying trail on 10/19/19 and phone discussions with Mike Zenan (NPS). Total distance maintained = 2100 feet. Read More |
| 2019.10.26 | Event #: [701] Hidden Pond Trail - Continued working our way up the Hidden Ponmd Trail. Used three brush trimmers and several Mcleods. Cleared .5 of a mile. One crew started where the trail nears Ranch Center Road and the other began further up trail. We met somewhere near the middle and in the process cleared lots of mustard, mallow and deer weed. Additionally, one crew cleared brush and shrubs from the edge on the road on Sycamore Canyon and Ranch Center Road. Read More |
| 2019.10.23 | Event #: [700] Backbone Trail, Saddle Peak - The objective of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance, on the Saddle Peak Trail. We had 7 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Stunt Road. Conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked up the trail to a location just above the large water tank and began work Began work. Cleaned out all drains. Lopped brush. Removed slough, rocks and debris from the trail. Stopped work and began hike down to the Stunt Road trailhead. . Arrived back at the Stunt Road Trailhead. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 600 Read More |
| 2019.10.19 | Event #: [699] COSCA Fall Work Day - Crewleaders met at the Santa Rosa Valley Park on Hill Canyon Road. Assignments were handed out, activities reviewed, and we walked to the Hill Canyon bridge where the tools were. Volunteers were directed to the tools and were then assigned to the different crews. We ended up with enough volunteers for 6 crews of ~12 each, about 72 volunteers on the trails. Four crews went up the Gasline trail. They put in five drains, brushed to 8 feet wide, raked rocks, and filled in ruts.
Total volunteer hours: 72 volunteers x 4 hours = 288 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4,224 Crew Leaders were credited with 5 volunteer hours for this event. Our stats reflect only the Trails Council hours. Read More |
| 2019.10.12 | Event #: [698] Backbone Trail, Wood Canyon Vista Trail - The crew began work at the trailhead of the Wood Canyon Vista trail where it intersects with the main Sycamore Canyon Rd. Work consisted mainly of light brushing using two gas powered hedge trimmers and one weed whacker. Some tread work was done in a few places where the trail was narrowed by sliding soil. The trail was moderately overgrown with deer weed, sage and buckwheat. We worked about 0.35 of trail, leaving some 1.5 miles of trail left to where it intersects with the Overlook Fire Rd. Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 48 Total feet of trail worked: 1900 ft Read More |
| 2019.10.09 | Event #: [697] Hidden Pond Trail, Point Mugu State Park - Continued work on the Hidden Pond Trail from previous week. One crew started 1/3 mile from east end of section 1 worked west clearing brush with a brush cutter. Hand tools were used on heavier brush. Another crew started at west end of section one clearing brush with one weed whip and one brush cutter. Hand tools were used on the heavier items. Cleared 2000 feet of trail. Maintenance not required on remainder of section 1. Read More |
| 2019.10.06 | Event #: [696] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - We continued working our way up the ridge. Using Rogue Hoes, a pickmatic, loppers and saws we finished clearing the Old Boney Trail. The last 600 feet went quickly as we perfected the art of Black Sage Extraction – using the rogue hoe with a downward motion and pulling it back towards you. Extracting with one or two strokes made a huge difference when there were several hundred Black Sage plants to be dealt with. What a difference our efforts have made! Read More |
| 2019.10.05 | Event #: [695] Old Boney Trail, East of Blue Canyon - Continued working our way up the ridge. Used two brush trimmers, several Mcleods and a pick. Cleared .28 of a mile. Cleaned up fallen Sycamore tree that was laying across the trail near the trailhead in Blue Canyon. Needs chain saw to finish the job. Nearly completed this trail but fell about 500 feet short. Two mile hike to work area! One crew went in an hour early and the other at 8:30. Barry cleared several drains - essential to protect the work we do! MaryAnn and Tim C joined us today. 6 @ 7 hours + 4 @6 hours = Read More |
| 2019.09.29 | Event #: [693] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Continued working my way up the ridge. Cleared brush with Brush Trimmer. Went thru 5 tanks of fuel. Cut and cleared about 1100 feet of trail. Nice pleasant temperatures to work in. We will have .35 of trail to clear on Saturday. Read More |
| 2019.09.28 | Event #: [692] Hidden Pond Trail, Point Mugu State Park - The crew began work at the trailhead of the Hidden Pond trail just south of the bridge below Rancho Sierra Vista. Trail work consisted of using a gas powered hedge trimmer and weed whacker to clear brush and weeds growing into the trail. Considerable effort was involved manually cutting native bush mallow which grew along the trail in several locations. The crew installed two rows of rock steps and widened the tread at one of the creek crossings. Several more outings are required to clear the remaining 3 miles of trail to its ending at Ranch Center Road and the Coyote trailhead. Crew size: 10 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 60 Total feet of trail worked: 2000 ft Read More |
| 2019.09.25 | Event #: [690] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Continued working our way up the ridge. We will be back October 5 to continue our efforts on this trail. We have completed brushing beyond the one mile mark. Jerry, Dave and John manned the brush cutters. George and Jon prepped the trail by removing the woodier plants. The next visit should move quickly thru the trail that we prepped. This will leave approximately .35 of a mile to complete this effort!. Temperatures reached into the mid 80's as I headed back towards the car. 5 volunteers x 6 hours 30 hours distance cleared = 2000 feet. Read More |
| 2019.09.22 | Event #: [689] Old Boney Trail, East of Blue Canyon - Continued working my way up the ridge. We will be back October 5 to continue our efforts on this trail. Today's activity was in support of the brush trimmers for that effort. So many Greenbark Ceanothus were encroaching the trail! I cut several hundred branches and was stabbed dozens of times by the nasty spines. Mallow is a pleasure to cut in comparison. The trail looked like a jungle with no way to move along the trail without being scratched or hit by branches, I reached the one mile mark. The next visit should move quickly thru the trail that was prepped. This will leave one half mile of trail. Temperatures reached into the mid 80's as I headed back towards the car. 1 volunteers x 6 hours distance prepped = 2000 feet. Read More |
| 2019.09.21 | Event #: [694] Round Mountain, California State University Channel Islands - This was a special project with students and faculty volunteers of California State University Channel Islands. This trail project is part of a larger CSUCI project referred to as Road to Restoring Satwiwa. This trail is on Round Mountain, located on the CSUCI campus. The trail leads to the top of the mountain which is the site of an ancient Chumash sacred site. The trail follows an old road alignment, but has not been maintained in many years. The CSUCI volunteers met on main campus and were then bused to the trailhead. The SMMTC volunteers met at the trail head. There were 11 SMMTC volunteers and 120 CSUCI volunteers. Total volunteer hours: 120 Volunteers x 2 hours = 240 hours 11 Volunteers x 4 hours = 44 hours Total hours 288 hours Feet of trail serviced: 2,800 Read More |
| 2019.09.18 | Event #: [688] Old Boney Trail, East of Blue Canyon - We had a crew of four start at 6:30AM to beat the heat. Two gas powered brush trimmers were used to remove encroaching brush. A separate crew cleaned up the debris left by the brush trimmers. Nearly 2000 feet of trail was cleared on the Old Boney Trail. We will be back October 5 to continue our efforts on this trail. Temperatures reached into the high 80's as we headed back towards the car. 4 volunteers x 7 hours = 28 + 5 volunteers @ 5 hours = 25 hours Total Hours: 53 distance brushed = 2000 feet. Read More |
| 2019.09.15 | Event #: [691] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Continued working my way up the ridge. Cleared brush with Mcleod. Finished a section we missed on Saturday. Cleaned up stumps and tidied up the segments we previously worked. Read More |
| 2019.09.14 | Event #: [687] Old Boney Trail, East of Blue Canyon - We had a 6AM start to beat the heat. Three gas powered brush trimmers were used to remove encroaching brush. A separate crew brushed Blue Canyon and then cleaned up the debris left by the brush trimmers. Nearly one half a mile was cleared on the Old Boney Trail. We will be back September 18 to continue our efforts on this trail. Temperatures reached into the 90's as we headed back towards the car. 6 volunteers x 6 hours, 2 volunteers 5 hours and 0ne @ 4 = 50 hours Total distance maintained = 4000 feet. Read More |
| 2019.09.08 | Event #: [686] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Continued brushing my way towards Blue Canyon. Used a hand saw and loppers to remove encroaching Bush Mallow, Laurel, Sumac, Big Pod Ceanothus, Green Bark Ceanothus and Black Sage. This work was in preparation of the September 14 event. By clearing the thicker shrubs – we make it easier for the brush trimmer to clear the trail corridor. This effort began with a hike up the Blue Canyon Trail and then up towards the divide between the Fossil Trail and Danielson Ranch. 1 volunteers x 6 hours = 6 hours Total distance maintained = 800 feet. Read More |
| 2019.09.07 | Event #: [685] Backbone Trail, Piuma Ridge - Two crews brushed and lopped their way up or down this BBT segment from Tapia Park to the Piuma Road Crossing. Trail is in mostly good shape. One small segment was missed in the middle. Some tread work was done. This section could benefit from a weed whip or brush trimmer to clean up the edges of the trail. Finished early - Summer heat was a factor. The crew was delighted to have Norm and Sharon back on the trail with them! Read More |
| 2019.08.25 | Event #: [683] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - I began working where we left off on August 24. Cleared brush on both sides of trail from the last switchback down towards the penultimate switchback. Encountered dense Bush Mallow forest mixed with Greenbark Ceantohus. Working this area required sitting on the trail and cutting the stumps at ground level. The brush cutter does not work as well as the trusty Silky saw on segments like this. Today's effort has resulted in 99% completion of the segment from the Fossil Trail to the ridge is now up to State Park Standards. One more trip will be needed to tidy things up and begin the process of heading down the ridge towards Danielson Ranch. Read More |
| 2019.08.24 | Event #: [682] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - John Kross and Jon Sheldon joined me to clear about 3 tenths of a mile. John used the brush cutter and he went thru 4 tanks of fuel cutting the brush along the trail. Jon Sheldon wielded a rake as cleaned up trimmings and raked rocks and slough off of the trail. George lopped Green Bark Ceanothus, lots of Bush Mallow, and Laurel Sumac crowding the edge of the trail. 3 workers at 6 hours = 18 hours 1300 feet. Read More |
| 2019.08.18 | Event #: [681] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - A continuation of previous efforts to remove brush encroaching on the trail. Began at the intersection of Fossil Trail and Old Boney Trail. Removed the thicker shrubs in preparation of next weeks effort with the powered brush trimmers. Read More |
| 2019.08.13 | Event #: [680] Scheduling Meeting - Our semi-annual scheduling meeting was well attended by our devoted crew leaders. Events were scheduled for the time period September 7 2019 to January 18, 2020. Read More |
| 2019.08.11 | Event #: [679] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Began brushing near the Old Boney Trail where it begins to drop back towards Danielson Ranch. Worked the other direction - towards the Fossil Trail. Not as bad as the previous outing but plenty of overgrown brush to clear. There is a Mallow forest to deal with. About 500 feet of trail today. There is a segment that will benefit from the brush trimmer. Read More |
| 2019.08.10 | Event #: [678] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Began brushing near the Old Boney Trail where it begins to drop back towards Danielson Ranch. Trail was severally overgrown. The section I cleared was so narrow that you could not avoid the brush. In places you could not see the tread. About 500 feet of trail today. This may or may not be the worst segment on this trail. One can hope! Conditions on the trail warmed considerably after 10AM Read More |
| 2019.08.10 | Event #: [684] Old Boney Trail East of Blue Canyon - Continued brushing our way towards Blue Canyon. John used four tanks of fuel as he used a gas powered trimmer. George removed the debris and used a hand saw to remove encroaching Bush Mallow, Laurel, Sumac, Big Pod Ceanothus, Green Bark Ceanothus and last but not least Toyon. Lots of runners and hikers on the trail today. Most were quite appreciative of our efforts. This effort began with a hike up the Fossil Trail and then up to the divide between the Fossil Trail and Danielson Ranch. Temperatures were warm enough that we were happy to be done by noon. 2 volunteers x 6 hours = 12 hours Total distance maintained = 800 feet. Read More |
| 2019.08.03 | Event #: [677] Fossil Trail - Project Completed! Brushed from top of the trail all the way back to the start of the trail. Some Buckwheat plants added to the mix of plants crowding the trail. Today's lesson - Buckwheat is a bit harder to remove than California Sage. Black Sage, Mallow, Sumac, Tarweed and needlegrass were on the menu. Cleared about 530 feet of trail today. Conditions on the trail warmed considerably after 10AM. Read More |
| 2019.07.31 | Event #: [671] Fossil Trail - John Kross and Jon Sheldon joined me to clear about 3 tenths of a mile. John used the brush cutter and he went thru 3 tanks of fuel cutting the brush along the trail. Jon Sheldon wielded a rake as cleaned up trimmings and raked rocks and slough off of the trail. George lopped Green Baked Ceanothus, Bush Mallow, Black Sage, California Sage, Sugar Bush and Laurel Sumac crowding the edge of the trail. We received lots of compliments today for our efforts. One more segment to do. 3 workers at 6 hours = 18 hours 1300 feet. Read More |
| 2019.07.28 | Event #: [670] Fossil Trail - Continued working on this trail. Todays effort addressed several areas of the trail that had been previously cleared but a little bit narrow. I removed one to two feet of brush on both sides of the trail to widen the segments. This opened up the trail and looks better. Amazing how much more efficient my technique has gotten. Using hand tools to remove lots of California Sage is made easier by stepping on the plant and breaking the stems before cutting with the loppers. Read More |
| 2019.07.23 | Event #: [668] Fossil Trail - Took the day off from work to work a segment from the Old Boney Trail Junction to the fossils. It was hot, Forty ounces of ice water was not enough to keep me out working until the afternoon. Knocking off early was the sensible thing to do. Just a couple more segments with dense brush to go. I had hoped to finish today! Jon Sheldon helped out by removing the cuttings from the trail and hiding them. Read More |
| 2019.07.23 | Event #: [669] Kiosk Replacement @ Corral Canyon - This was a special project to replace a display kiosk, at the Corral Canyon BBT Trailhead, which was destroyed in the Woolsey Fire. The replacement kiosk was paid for by SMMTC and was installed today by two SMMTC volunteers. Met at the trailhead at the Thousand Oaks Transportation Center. Drove to Malibu Creek State Park. Loaded the new kiosk into truck. Drove to the trailhead. Arrived at the Coral Canyon BBT Trailhead. Completed assembly of the kiosk, attached the Backbone Trail sign and attached the upper part of the kiosk to the previously installed legs. (The lower legs of the kiosk survived the fire, so we only had to attach the upper part.). Installed a trail map to the new kiosk. Completed the installation. Drove back to the meeting place. Arrived back at meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 3.5 hours = 7 hours Feet of trail maintained: None Read More |
| 2019.07.22 | Event #: [667] Fossil Trail - Revisited the lower sections of the trail to remove brush to the standard width. Often this meant removing the taller shrubs that were encroaching on the four-foot trail width. This segment will require one more visit to hide the cuttings and to rake up the remaining debris. Read More |
| 2019.07.21 | Event #: [666] Fossil Trail - Mid-afternoon trail work? I was busy in the morning but wanted to continue making my way up the Fossil Trail. Progress was slowed by the California Sage lining the trail. You can try and break through with the Mcleod but you invariably hit the rocks hiding in the soil. Cleared about 300 feet of heavy brush including Green Bark Ceanothus and Holly Leaved Cherry. Read More |
| 2019.07.14 | Event #: [665] Fossil Trail - Made it nearly to the actual fossils of the trail. So much brush to clear - yesterdays heat finally began to catch up to me. Will take another weekend to finish. Read More |
| 2019.07.13 | Event #: [664] Fossil Trail - Started at 6AM - hot weather was forecasted. Less grass to remove! Trail was quite steep as I brushed the Sumac, Deerweed, sage, mallow and Black Sage. Made it to the first flat spot after the steep section. Jon Sheldon removed the debris - I made quite a mess. He was hiking the trail and helped out for an hour or so. This helped tremendously. Read More |
| 2019.07.08 | Event #: [661] Trail Assessments - Hiked Hidden Pond and 1st portion of Fossil to assess trail conditions. Recommended to others work required to correct problems. Will address during scheduling meeting. Read More |
| 2019.07.07 | Event #: [663] Fossil Trail - A much tougher day due to the amount of grasses and Deerweed to remove. Read More |
| 2019.07.06 | Event #: [662] Fossil Trail - Brushing, lopping and chopping my way up the Fossil Trail. Today I mostly used my shears to clear 500 feet of grasses - crawling on my hands and knees. Mallow, Deerweed and losts of Sage were dispatched as I cleared the trail. Read More |
| 2019.06.30 | Event #: [659] Trail Work Reporting - Quarterly reporting of hours. These hours reflect time to process reports into the database and store on the server. Read More |
| 2019.06.29 | Event #: [660] Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area - This was a joint project with the Sierra Club's Santa Monica Mountains Task Force (SMMTF) trail crew to brush and improve the tread on the Waterfall and City View trails. The Trails Council was assigned the Waterfall trail which was overgrown with invasive mustard, spurge and thistle which needed removal. Two crew members proceeded to the end of the trail and started working back uphill while the others started down the trail from the top. 4 volunteers x 3.5 hours = 14 hours (see sign-in sheet) Total distance maintained = 500 feet. Read More |
| 2019.06.22 | Event #: [658] BBT Ray Miller Trail, Point Mugu SP - Location: Ray Miller trail, Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Dave Edwards (SMMTC) Summary: We split up into two groups: One group consisted of 5 people who, after driving to the top of the Ray Miller trail where it meets the Overlook fire road, worked from there going down the trail. This group 5 used two hedge trimmers to cut back weeds and brush growing into the trail and had three followers raking and clearing the trail of cuttings. About 2100 ft of trail was cleared. The second group started from the bottom and hiked about one mile up the trail to begin work. This group of 6 used a hedge trimmer and a weed whacker to clear the trail. There was also a fair amount of tread work involved in cleaning up minor slides. About 3200 ft of trail was cleared. Although we didn't work the entire 2.5 miles of the Ray Miller trail, it's in good hiking shape and requires no further work at this time. Crew size: 11 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 66 Total feet of trail worked: 5300 Read More |
| 2019.06.19 | Event #: [657] Spanish Broom Removal - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform Spanish Broom removal on Saddle Peak. There were 9 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Hiked up to Saddle Peak. . We used the “cut and paint” technique, with Pathfinder II. There was not a large number of plants. About 25 percent of these plants had seed pods. We stripped the seed pods from the plants, then cut and treated the plants. Read More |
| 2019.06.16 | Event #: [656] BBT Trail Head Improvements - The project is part of the SMMTC BBT Trail Head Improvement project and improved THs at Tapia Park and the hairpin turn on Piuma Rd. On Sunday we transported the second picnic table to the Tapia TH, assembled the table and secured it with a cable. We then moved to the hairpin turn and completed the installation of the kiosk which included installing a BBT sigh attaching the roof and raising the kiosk to a vertical position. This effort involved five adults and six scouts. and took 4.0 hours. Read More |
| 2019.06.15 | Event #: [654] BBT Topanga School Trails - The objective of this project was to brush the section of the Backbone Trail that goes behind the Topanga School. We accomplished this and continued toward the Dead Horse trail, up to the D. H. parking lot. We had a well-attended trailwork day with a total of 11 participants. We split into four units, led by Greg Sweel, George Sherman, Dave Edwards, and John Kross. Greg with a weed whip went to the west end, at Old Topanga road, and worked back. George focused on taking out two mid-sized trees blocking the trail and then took out many low hanging branches. Dave with a weed whip began at Greenleaf Canyon and worked toward the school. John with the pole chain saw took out a large tree, cut back a large trunk that was jutting out into the trail, and cut dead branches and low hanging branches. Also, 5 drains were restored and ruts were filled in two areas. After lunch we all got together at Greenleaf Canyon and crossed Topanga Blvd to work on the Deadhorse trail. When we got to the Dead Horse parking lot it was time to quit so we called it a day. Total volunteer hours: 11 volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3, 180 Read More |
| 2019.06.15 | Event #: [655] BBT Trail Head Improvements - The project is part of the SMMTC BBT Trail Head Improvement project and improved THs at Tapia Park and the hairpin turn on Piuma Rd. On Saturday we met the candidate at Malibu Creek and loaded a picnic table and a kiosk onto Jerry's truck and transported them to the Piuma TH at the hairpin turn. We installed the kiosk legs by digging two post holes 30 inches deep, aligning them and pouring cement. We also prepared a pad for the picnic table, assembled the table and installed a cable to secure the table. We also prepared the table pad at theTapia TH. This effort involved 6 adults and 14 scouts and took 7.5 hours Read More |
| 2019.06.08 | Event #: [653] Malibu Springs Trail, NPS - Eleven volunteers toiled on the Malibu Springs Trail. By the end of the day more than 6, 000 feet of trail was brushed, four drains were established, 300 feet of ruts were filled in and several fallen trees that had been blocking the trail were removed. A very successful day - several more days would be required to clear the trail down to Mulholland. Weed whips and brush cutters were employed by the crew. The rains had encouraged all manner of vegetation to grow on, over or next to the trail. We did what we could to make the trail passable and in some cases findable! 11 volunteers worked 6 hours each for 66 volunteer labor hours Read More |
| 2019.06.06 | Event #: [652] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park - La Jolla Valley in Point Mugu State Park was the site of todays event. The trail was crowded with overgrown brush. Cleared brush brush and grasses using 2 State-supplied Flail Mowers, a hedge trimmer and hand tools. Cleared 6600' of trail. Read More |
| 2019.06.01 | Event #: [651] National Trails Day - This was the annual National Trails Day event. As in the past, SMMTC provided support to NPS for the event. We supplied tools as well as several crewleaders to supervise the many volunteers. There were 9 SMMTC crewleaders present. Met at the trailhead on Encinal Canyon Road. Several of our crewleaders carpooled to the trailhead on Mulholland Hwy. There we met up with numerous volunteers. We conduced tool talk and safety briefings then hiked the trail to assigned work areas. Two other crewleaders carpooled to the BBT access point known as the “Yellow Gate and performed similar activities. The work in all areas consisted almost completely of chopping back new growth to restore the 4 foot wide tread. In one location a large rock wall was constructed to repair a large washout in the side of the trail. Completed work and began hike back to the meeting place... Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 4 hours = 40 hours Feet of trail maintained: 6, 864 Read More |
| 2019.05.28 | Event #: [650] National Trails Days Trail Survey - This was special project to assist NPS personnel in preparing for the upcoming National Trail Day event. We met with two NPS staff and together we walked trails to be worked on, on NTD. Met at the trailhead on Encinal Canyon Road. We carpooled to the trailhead on Mulholland Hwy, then hiked one mile up the BBT toward the Etz Meloy Motorway. We assessed the work to be done and flagged the trail. Carpooled to the “Yellow Gate” access point to the BBT off of Encinal Canyon Road. Hiked a portion of this trail to assess the work to be done.. Returned to the Encinal Road trail head. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 2 Volunteers x 4 hours = 8 hours Feet of trail maintained: None Read More |
| 2019.05.25 | Event #: [649] Saddle Creek Trail, NPS - This was a routine trail maintenance project. The objective of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance, primarily brushing, on the Saddle Creek Trail. We have worked on this section of the Backbone Trail twice recently. One session from the bottom of the trail, off of Piuna Road, and once from the top off of Stunt Road. On this trip we intended to work on the middle section. Our plan was to meet at the trailhead on Piuma Road, leave some vehicles there, and then be shuttled to the trailhead on Stunt Road. We had 9 volunteers for the project. Met at the trailhead on Piuma Road. Arranged carpool and shuttled to the trail head on Stunt Road. Arrived at the Stunt Road trailhead. Conducted safety and tool talks. We had three gas powered brush cutters. We broke up into three mini crews with a power tool in each crew. Hiked down the trail to the spot where we stopped work on the last trip here. Began the work about.5 miles down the trail (where we finished work at the last work event). The three mini crews separated and began work at different locations on the trail. We then leapfrogged each other working our way downhill. Fortunately, the tread on must of this section of trail was in pretty good condition. We only performed brushing and did no tread work. Stopped work and began hike down to the Piuma trailhead. Arrived back at the Piuma Trailhead. Shuttled drivers back to the vehicles on Stunt Road. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6 hours = 54 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5, 000 Read More |
| 2019.05.18 | Event #: [648] Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu SP - This year we had 20 adults and 25 scouts participate in the event for a total effort of 270 hours. We had five crews perform tasks and completed 5000 feet of trail maintenance. Crew #1 Dale Skinner and one adult cleared 5 downed trees on the trail Crew#2 Five adults used four brush cutters to cut growth along the trail starting at the Quarry heading up trail. Crew #3 Senior scouts and adults cleared and hid cuttings from brush cutters Crew #4 Three adults and junior scouts started at the quarry and worked down trail clearing the trail of overgrowth Crew #5 Two adults removed slough from a section of the trail near the start All in all we had another very successful event. Read More |
| 2019.05.11 | Event #: [646] Rogers Road, Topanga SP - This report reflects 3 days of trail work on Rogers Road in Topanga State Park. It was a joint project with the Sierra Club Task Force. A spike camp was set up as a base camp to work from each day. Some people camped either one or two nights and some hiked about 2 ½ miles to work for the day only. The work consisted entirely of rushing the trail to establish a corridor of about 6-8 feet. A state park employee used a flail mower to cut in on both edges of the trail followed by our volunteer crew using two gas powered hedge trimmers. The trail was heavily over grown is some sections with deer weed, buckwheat, sage and various other plants. There was a considerable amount of lopping and sawing of limbs from small trees growing into the trail. Other crew members followed behind raking the cuttings and dumping them off to the side. Rogers Road is now completely cleared for about 3 miles starting at its juncture with the Topanga Fire Rd. Work summary: May 10: Crew size: 7 (4 SMMTC, 4 SCTF) includes one juvenile with SCTF Hours worked: 7 Crew hours 56 Feet of trail worked: 1300 May 11: Crew size: 6 (SMMTC, 9 (SCTF) includes one juvenile with SCTF Hours worked: 7 Crew hours 105 Feet of trail worked: 3350 May 12: Crew size: 2 (SMMTC), 4 (SCTF ) includes one juvenile with SCTF Hours worked : 5 Crew hours: 30 Feet of trail worked: 4000 (The flail mower cleared most of the trail on the way back out the previous evening. The crew lopped and brushed where needed on the way out that day) Read More |
| 2019.05.08 | Event #: [645] Backbone Trail, Latigo - Cleared brush using 1 brush cutter and hand tools. Built or re-built 12 drains. Brush was extremely dense consisting of mustard and other types of vegetation. Cleared 1600' of trail. Read More |
| 2019.05.07 | Event #: [647] Serrrano Canyon Flagging - Survey of trail prior to May 18 Event at this location. Read More |
| 2019.05.04 | Event #: [644] Rogers Road Bypass, Topanga SP - This was a joint project with the Sierra Club's Santa Monica Mountains Task Force Trail Crew to widen the bypass for passage of an ATV for support of a spike camp down Rodgers Road (approx. 3 miles). Arrive at Trippet Ranch parking lot. Sign-in sheet and shuttle to trailhead. Distribute tools and discuss logistics. Hiked to area where we last worked this section of the Backbone Trail on November 17, 2018. Split into groups with the Sierra Club clearing brush along the section near the trailhead, another group used a hedge trimmer to remove vegetation while working back towards trailhead, another group hiked to the junction of the bypass with Rogers Road, and another group hiking towards the spike camp area scheduled for the following weekend. Take lunch break. Resume work removing brush and slough. Improving tread and widening trail. Stop work and hike back to trailhead. Return tools. Shuttle back to Trippet Ranch. End of day. 10 volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours (see sign-in sheet) Total distance maintained = 2100 feet. Read More |
| 2019.04.28 | Event #: [642] Trail Days Sunday - Volunteers began to arrive and sign in. Ten SMMTC volunteers were on hand to organize and supervise the trail maintenance activities. Crew leaders and volunteers were shuttled to the trail head. Volunteers were organized into two crews, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows Crew #1: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. 49 volunteers. Crew #1 used power tools to cut weeds and lighter brush. Loppers were used to remove heavier brush, to reestablish the four foot width. A short section near the upper end of the trail were slightly realigned and cleaned. Near the mid-section of the trail, slough was removed and tread outsloped. Crew leader: Dave Edwards/Barry Dydyk Total volunteer hours: (49 volunteers x 3 hours) = 147 hours Feet of trail maintained: 716 Crew #2: Blue Canyon Trail. 18 Volunteers (under 10 years of age and parents). Crew #2 Lopped and chopped light brush alongside the trail to reestablish the four foot width. Crew leader: Barb Thomas/Anne Russell Volunteer hours (18 volunteers x 3 hours) = 54 hours Feet of trail maintained: 200 CORBA: Two Foxes Trail: 6 Volunteers. The CORBA crew brushed and chopped weeds on the Two Foxes Trail.. Crew leader: Steve Clark Total volunteer Hours: (6 volunteers x 3 hours) = 18 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,213 Campground Breakdown: 4 Volunteers. After trail work and lunch, 4 volunteers stayed behind to clean up the campground, pack up equipment and return equipment to the Storage Unit. Total volunteers (4 volunteers x 3 hours)= 12 hours Total volunteer hours for Sunday: 219 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,413 Read More |
| 2019.04.27 | Event #: [641] Trail Days Saturday - Volunteers began to arrive and sign in Twelve SMMTC volunteers were on hand to organize and supervise the trail maintenance activities. Volunteers were organized into several crews. Crews were shuttled to various trail heads, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. Seven crews hiked to their assigned work sites, up the Blue Canyon/Old Boney trails. The Sierra Club volunteers were shuttled their work sites on the Wood Canyon Vista Trail. The CORBA crew was shuttled to the Two Foxes Trail The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows: Crew Under 10 Years-of- age (and parents): Blue Canyon Trail. Fourteen volunteers performed lopping and weed removal on 1,640 feet of trail. Crew Leader: Barb Thomas Total volunteer hours: (14 volunteers x 6 hours) = 84 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,640 Crew #1: Blue Canyon Trail; 11 volunteers. Crew #1 Lopped brush from a badly overgrown trail. Since much of the trail had been washed away in the winter rains, the trail alignment was delineated and widened. Crew leader(s): Jon Van Gorder/Don Brusselars Total volunteer hours: (11 volunteers x 6 hours) = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,300 Crew #2: Blue Canyon Trail. 11 volunteers. Crew #2 Chopped heavy weeds and growth along trail, widening the tread. Repaired two badly silted drains. Removed rocks and other debris from the entire section of trail... Crew leader: Anne Russell Total volunteer hours: (11 volunteers x 6 hours) = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,270 Crew #3: Old Boney Trail; 13 volunteers. Crew #3 Chopped heavy weeds and growth along trail, widening the tread. Three new drains were installed, through a large berm. Filled 150 feet of trench in the trail. Outsloped and cleared 60 feet of trail. Crew leader: George Sherman/Chris Morneau Total volunteer hours: (13 volunteers x 6 hours) = 78 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,110 Crew #4: Old Boney Trail; 14 volunteers. Cr Read More |
| 2019.04.26 | Event #: [640] Trail Days Friday - Began work with six SMMTC volunteers. Three volunteers hiked the Blue Canyon/Old Boney trails performing assessment and documenting tasks to be performed on Trail Days. Two volunteers surveyed the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. After lunch, two volunteers performed tool maintenance, sharping and lubricating tools as necessary. The crew assisted in setting up the campground for big event. Gathered and staged tools for Saturday's event. Completed work. Total volunteer hours: (6 volunteers x 6 hours) = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2019.04.25 | Event #: [639] Trail Days Thursday - This was the 38th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Four SMMTC Crewleaders met at Danielson Campground to begin planning and preparations for Trail Days. Began work. Hauled tools and all Trail Days event equipment and materials from the storage unit in Newbury Park. Unloaded tools. Three volunteers hiked the Blue Canyon trail performing assessment and documenting tasks to be performed on Trail Days. Completed work. Two volunteers camped overnight. Total volunteer hours: (4 volunteers x 7 hours) = 28 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2019.04.25 | Event #: [643] Amgen Outreach - Volunteer outreach at Amgen. Read More |
| 2019.04.20 | Event #: [637] Craigs Road, Malibu Creek SP - Rehabilitation of trail, joint activity with CORBA, MBU, Girlz Gone Riding. Met at Reagan Ranch parking lot for multiple shuttles into MSCP through back gate on Crags Rd. Parked adjacent to MASH site and hiked @ 0.2 miles to work site. Cleared brush and large debris piles from recent flooding, removed burned trees and branches that were impeding the route. Removed large to medium rock slides that had fallen onto the trail at 3 sections. Reconstructed washed-out tread in 3 areas, consisting of reinforcing the trail with rock and covering with dirt to create a path wide enough for safe use. Re-routed one section around large displaced drainage pipe. Removed a branch from very large downed oak that couldn't be otherwise moved and improved re-route around area. (That issue still needs attention.) Hiked out of worksite and shuttled back to Reagan Ranch parking lot after picnic lunch provided by CORBA Total volunteer hours: 36 volunteers x 4 hours = 144 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~2500 Read More |
| 2019.04.19 | Event #: [638] COSCA Work Day - This is the newest trail in the Conejo Open Space. Trails Council crew leaders have surveyed and flagged the trail, and have led volunteer crews on work days from the time the trail was laid out. The main objective for today was to finish cutting in the trail on the connecting hill between the west and east legs of the trail. This trail work day event was organized by Leadership Conejo. We had, including Bill Dinino as the crew leader, a total of 26 volunteers. This total included 4 rangers who actively participated. Bill Dinino and the rangers met at the Yarrow Family YMCA at 7:30am to finalize trail work and assignments. Volunteers started arriving at 8:30am and were assigned to one of two crews. The first crew was led by Bill Dinino and the second crew was led by one of the rangers. Crews proceeded to hike to work areas carrying tools, which involved hiking roughly 7/10ths of a mile uphill and then downhill to their designated work areas on the hill connector between the west and east legs of the trail. Volunteers primarily worked on cutting in the trail on the hill connector. Read More |
| 2019.04.18 | Event #: [676] Trail Days Prep - Hours for Barb Thomas during the prepartion for Trail Days. Read More |
| 2019.04.13 | Event #: [634] Saddle Creek Trail, Malibu Creek SP - Arrive at pull-out on Piuma Road. We worked the BBT segment going towards Saddle Peak. Two regular volunteers take two (2) weed whackers with gear and fuel. Walk to trailhead and begin removal of vegetation. Other volunteers remove slough, debris, cuttings, and improve tread. Reach Dark Canyon creek crossing after removing branches and cutting back poison oak. Proceed up the trail past the creek. Remove fallen trees. Weed Whip brush and grasses along edge of trail. Improve tread and remove slough. Resume work. General tread maintenance and slough removal. Continue weed whipping up the switchbacks. Improve and widen tread. 6 volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours (see sign-in sheet) Total distance maintained = 2600 feet. Please add 2.5 hours for Greg Sweel's trail assessment performed the prior week. Read More |
| 2019.04.10 | Event #: [633] Backbone Trail, Triunfo - Today's work was a joint project with volunteers for the NPS and SMMTC. The work consisted entirely of smoothing the trail and knocking down the berm on the outside edge of the trail. The berm was created as a result of excavator work by an NPS operator clearing slide material as a result of the recent rains. There were about 10 volunteers for the NPS. Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 42 Total feet of trail worked: 3200 Agency: NPS Read More |
| 2019.04.06 | Event #: [631] COSCA Spring Work Day2 - This is the newest trail in the Conejo Open Space. Trails Council crew leaders have surveyed and flagged the trail, and led crews on trail work day from the time the trail was laid out. The main objective for this day was to finish cutting in the trail. There is some work left to be done but it's mostly cosmetic, trail building per se is now complete. The trail work event was organized by the Rotary Club of Thousand Oaks. We had, including the 5 crew leaders, a total of 58 volunteers. This total includes 4 rangers who actively participated. Crew leaders for this event were Anne Russell, George Sherman, Barbara Thomas, Bill Dinino, and John Kross. Crew leaders met at the Yarrow Family YMCA to get trail assignments. Volunteers were assigned to one of 5 crews. Crews proceeded to hike to work areas, which involved hiking roughly 7/10ths of a mile uphill, carrying tools. Volunteers were willing and able, and getting to the work areas was not a problem for anyone. In addition to cutting in the trail, volunteers restored trail width where narrowed by dirt that washed down with the rains, and filled in ruts. Crews hiked back down the hill. Everyone was treated to lunch and a drawing was held, with prizes. Day complete, everyone left Total Volunteer Hours: 58 people x 4 hours = 232 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1, 428 Read More |
| 2019.04.06 | Event #: [632] Fireline Trail, Point Mugu State Park - This was a routine trail maintenance project. It was a joint project with students from CSUCI. The objective of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Fireline Trail. Unfortunately, the scheduled bus to transport the students from CSUCI campus to Point Mugu State Park did not show up. The students agreed to carpool to the work site. Once at the state park. Things went according to plan. There were 21 CSUCI and 5 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the CSUCI campus. Met at the Sycamore Canyon day use area parking lot. Hiked to the Fireline trail head. Arrived at the trail head. Conducted safety and tool talks. Began the work about .4 miles up the trail (where we finished work at the last work event). One brush trimmer (operated by a SMMTC volunteer) preceded the student volunteers on the trail, cutting the heavier brush and other growth. The other volunteers followed and cleaned up cuttings, removed slough and smoothed the eroded tread. Drainage on the trail is effective so we did not need to clean or install any drains. Completed work and hiked back to the trail head. Completed the students required paperwork and conducted a gift raffle (handed out five gifts). Student volunteers hiked back to the parking lot. Total volunteer hours: 26 Volunteers x 6 hours = 156 hours Feet of trail serviced: 1,050 Read More |
| 2019.04.05 | Event #: [635] SMMTC Outreach - Anne gave a presentation to an Aerospace company in El Segundo. Read More |
| 2019.04.04 | Event #: [675] Trail Days Prep - Trail Days Prep by Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2019.03.31 | Event #: [636] Record Keeping & Scheduling - Hours for record keeping and scheduling of events. Read More |
| 2019.03.30 | Event #: [630] Saddle Creek Trail, Malibu Creek SP - This was a joint effort with the Sierra Club Task Force. Brushing and lopping were the order of the day. Vegetation was encroaching upon the trail at many locations. Grass, Poison Oak, Mountain Mahogany, Sage Brush were among the plants we removed or trimmed. Low hanging ceanothus (often dead and beginning to fall onto the trail) were cut down to allow equestrians to travel through without ducking. Lots of Poison Oak was removed – we did our best to remove the plants waiting to catch you not paying attention. Tread was repaired and slough removed. Our group of 12 worked 6 hours each for 72 hours and cleared about 2000 feet of trail. Read More |
| 2019.03.28 | Event #: [674] Trail Days Prep - Trail Days Prep by Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2019.03.27 | Event #: [627] Latigo BBT - This was a routine trail maintenance project. The objective of this project was to repair damage resulting from the Woolsey Fire and winter rains. There were 6 volunteers present. Removed two downed trees on the trail. Removed the worst of the slough on the trail. Filled some trenches in the tread. Repaired/restored 4 drains. Met up with the NPS crew on the far side of the canyon. Under their direction, we helped to realign a short section of trail. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail serviced: 3,200 Read More |
| 2019.03.23 | Event #: [626] Backbone Trail, Etz Meloy - We had a large group of volunteers for today's work plus Mike Zenan from NPS trail crew. We spent a considerable amount of time repairing damage to several sections of the trail where a bulldozer cut a fire break during the Woolsey fire. This involved lots of tread work restoring the trail especially so bikers could ride more safely. We smoothed the tread all along the dozer path. We installed two major water drains. Once this was complete we turned the crew's attention to light brush cutting, weeding and widening the trail with McCleods. The trail had the usual slide material coming down as a result of the recent rains. We cleared about 0.35 mile of trail starting from the east end where it joins with Etz Meloy working our way down towards Yerba Buena Rd. This leaves about 0.15 mile of trail left to work on the lower portion. It's mostly light brushing and tread work. There's no major issues with this lower part of trail and we don't expect to come back to finish it anytime soon. Crew size: 18 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 108 Total feet of trail worked: 1900 Read More |
| 2019.03.16 | Event #: [628] COSCA Spring Work Day - This was COSCA's Spring Trail Work Day, which for many years the Trails Councils crew leaders have organized and led. Over about 3/10ths of a mile, the trail was vanished by the rains -where the trail used to be is now a flood plain-, so we moved the trail uphill. This basically meant building a brand-new trail uphill from where it used to be. Over another 6/10ths of a mile, we redefined the trail so it can be found and followed, and widened and improved it where needed. Total Volunteer Hours: 54 people x 4 hours = 216 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4, 752 Read More |
| 2019.03.14 | Event #: [673] Trail Days Prep - Trail Days Prep by Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2019.03.13 | Event #: [629] COSCA Spring Work Day Trail Survey - Trail Survey and Flagging prior to the volunteers showing up. Read More |
| 2019.03.09 | Event #: [625] Fireline Trail, Point Mugu State Park - This was a trail work day with students from the Environmental Studies class at CSUCI. A total of 20 students and 10 Trails Council volunteers participated in this event. 7:30 AM SMMTC volunteers meet at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead. Jerry Mitcham dropped me off at CSUCI to meet the bus chartered by SMMTC to carry the students from the school to trailhead. Students arrived and signed in. Bus arrived at the Sycamore Canyon trailhead. From there I led the students to the stream crossing on Sycamore Canyon Rd. I crossed the stream, precariously stepping on drift logs, and some students followed me. Others chose to ride one of the two trucks that were waiting to take the students across the stream. Arrived at the trail. I gave them a safety talk distributed the tools, and assigned the student to crew leaders. Everyone proceeded up the trail to commence work. Work consisted primarily of fixing ruts on the trail, clearing slough and vegetation grown in order to restore trail width. We also cleaned/restored 4 drains and built 3 new drains. We were able to complete a half mile of trail. That is a very successful day by any measure. Total Volunteer Hours: 30 people x 6 hours = 186 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2, 640 [Six Hours added for JKross] Read More |
| 2019.02.27 | Event #: [622] Upper Sycamore Reroute - Upper Sycamore Canyon in Point Mugu State Park. Todays work consisted of building a reroute of the trail which was washed out by the recent rains. It involved building a rock wall about 2 ft high by 20 ft long along the bottom portion of the reroute. This will help prevent erosion when the creek rises from heavy rains in the future. In building the reroute we dug a 20% grade straight into an 8 ft vertical dirt and rocky bluff. This new trail joins up with the existing trail at the top of the bluff and is some 30 ft long from top to bottom. We also repaired a short section of trail at the next creek crossing which was damaged by the high water. Hours worked: 6 Crew size: 9 Total hours: 54 Read More |
| 2019.02.23 | Event #: [623] Chamberlain trail, Point Mugu SP - This was a trail work day with trail runners. A total of 27 runners participated, as well as 10 Trails Council volunteers SMMTC volunteers meet at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead. SMMTC volunteers reconvene at Danielson Campground SMMTC volunteers meets runners at the junction of Old Boney and Chamberlain trails. Dale Skinner of State Parks drove the tools up to the work site on a Gator. After picking up a tool and a safety talk, runners were organized into groups of 6 to 8 and assigned to TC crew leaders. Crews start up the hill to the work areas. The trail runners put in an excellent effort and performed quality work on the trail. They went all the way up to Chamberlain Rock. Maintenance accomplished consisted of filling in ruts on the trail to restore the bench, clearing slough to re-establish trail width, cutting into the hillside to widen the trail where needed, sawing hazardous branches, and cleaning and putting in new drains. A total of 6 drains were cleaned and 4 new drains were built. We stopped work and hiked back to the Gator to drop off the tools Some runners ran back, SMMTC volunteers and some runners hiked back to Danielson Campground. Two trucks took runners to the entrance gate at the top of the hill and went back to get the SMMTC volunteers, then drove out of the park. SMMTC volunteers were back to their vehicles at the Wendy and Potrero trail head Total Volunteer Hours: 37 people x 8 hours = 296 hours Feet of trail maintained: 6, 652 Read More |
| 2019.02.20 | Event #: [621] Upper Zuma - BBT - Work consisted entirely of filling in a large ditch with various sizes of rocks and gravelly dirt. The ditch (created by the recent heavy rains after the Woosley fire) eroded across the trail some 15 ft long, 3 ft deep and 2 ft wide. We built a rock wall on the down side of the ditch up to level with the trail and backfilled with various sizes of rocks and gravel. Once this task was completed we conducted a trail assessment of the BBT heading west from the juncture with the Zuma Ridge Rd. for about one mile thru the old Schwarzenegger section. The trail has no hazardous sections but needs some tread work. Hikers will have no problems hiking this area. Hours worked: 5 Crew size: 5 Total hours: 25 Read More |
| 2019.02.14 | Event #: [672] Trail Days Prep - Trail Days Prep by Barb Thomas Read More |
| 2019.02.10 | Event #: [624] Fossil Trail - Cut and removed large Oak tree that fallen across the trail. Read More |
| 2019.02.09 | Event #: [620] BBT Near Kanan Road - Worked on the BBT at Kanan Road. Meet with NPS staff, receive hard hats and assemble suspension system. Provide safety talk for first time volunteers. Walk to trailhead lateral connector. Proceed north along trail to creek crossing and observe trail conditions following overnight rains. Remove rocks, smooth tread, and repair erosion where needed. Work back south towards parking area. Half of group goes with NPS staff towards Newton Falls to repair badly eroded trail. Other half cleans up trash (broken bottles, cans and detritus from road above. General tread maintenance and slough removal. NPS staff use chain saw to remove fallen trees across the trail. Improve and widen tread. 11 volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Total distance maintained = 3500 feet. Read More |
| 2019.01.26 | Event #: [619] La Jolla Valley - Worked in La Jolla Valley. Cleared brush using 2 brush cutters and hand tools. Cleared trail toward the old pond and beyond. Cleared 2000 feet of trail. We had 10 volunteers and worked six hours for a total of 60 hours. Read More |
| 2019.01.19 | Event #: [617] Piuma Ridge trail, Malibu Creek SP - Worked the Backbone Trail where it crosses Piuma Road. Distribute sign-in sheet and tools. Use loppers to clear brush along trail. Remove slough and improve tread. Clean/create drains/diversions to get water off the trail. Remove fallen tree blocking trail near the California Wildlife Center. General tread maintenance and brush clearance. Hike back to Piuma Road, cross over, and assess trail conditions to Dark Canyon creek crossing. Clear brush, improve and widen tread. 11 volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours (see sign-in sheet) Total distance maintained = 2500 feet. Read More |
| 2019.01.16 | Event #: [618] Scheduling Meeting - Winter/Spring Scheduling meeting Read More |
| 2019.01.10 | Event #: [616] Sandstone Peak - This was an unscheduled trail damage assessment project. The SMMTC trail crew has conducted four work days on this section of the BBT during the last month. This work included the repair and installation of 61 drainage features. This assessment was to survey the work done over the last few weeks to see how these features performed during the recent rain. There were 4 volunteers present. Met at the Sandstone Peak parking lot. We hiked up the trail to the steps leading to Sandstone Peak. We found that some (illegal) hikers had removed the materials that had been installed to keep users off of the damaged steps. The trail realignment we had installed was not being used. We reinstalled the materials to block the steps and made the new trail more obvious. We then hiked back sown the trail inspecting the drainage features to determine their effectiveness. We did minor repair to one drain. All other drainage features are working as intended. Completed the hike at the parking lot. Project complete. Total volunteer hours: 4 Volunteers x 6 hours = 24 hours Feet of trail serviced: 7, 400 Read More |
| 2019.01.05 | Event #: [615] Sandstone Peak Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. This section of the Backbone Trail was heavily impacted by the Woolsey fire a few weeks ago. This was the fourth in a series of work days to assist NPS with remediation efforts on this section of the trail. The objective today was to complete this project. There were 16 volunteers present. Met at the Sandstone Peak parking lot. Began work. Hiked up the trail to point where we left of off on the last trip (approximately 0.5 mile). The NPS leader had previously flagged the locations where she wanted drains cleaned or installed. We began working our way downhill working at all the flagged areas. In addition, we cleaned some drains which were not flagged. We also installed three new drains which were not flagged, but were needed. We all, we cleaned/installed 14 drains. This will prevent future damage to three existing washouts on the trail. Stopped work and hiked back to the trail head. Arrived at the parking lot, just as the rain began. Not only completed today's event, but completed the overall project. This trail is in terrible condition. The tread has been neglected for several years and there is much erosion in need off attention. While our work was significant, at best, it only slows the derogation of the trail. The trail needs major attention (with heavy equipment) to restore it to NPS trail standards. Total volunteer hours: 16 Volunteers x 6 hours = 96 hours Feet of trail serviced: 2, 600 Read More |
| 2018.12.29 | Event #: [614] Sandstone Peak Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. This section of the Backbone Trail was heavily impacted by the Woolsey fire a few weeks ago. This was the third in a series of work days to assist NPS with remediation efforts on this section of the trail. There were 10 volunteers present. Hiked up the trail to point where we left of off on the last trip (approximately 1.0 mile). The NPS leader had previously flagged the locations where she wanted drains cleaned or installed. We began working our way downhill working at all the flagged areas. We cleaned/installed 10 drains. At the last location, we uncovered the intake end of an old culvert. We installed new drainage features to direct water into the culvert. This will prevent future damage to three existing washouts on the trail. This trail is in terrible condition. The tread has been neglected for several years and there is much erosion in need of attention. There are many more drains to be serviced - this was the third of several trips required just to try to improve the drainage. While our work is significant, at best, it only slows the derogation of the trail. The trail needs major attention (with heavy equipment) to restore it to NPS trail standards. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours Feet of trail serviced: 2,600 Read More |
| 2018.12.22 | Event #: [611] Sandstone Peak - Work consisted entirely of clearing and installing new water drains (some 13 total). This work is considered vital to help prevent further erosion of the trail after the Woolsey fire when more winter rains come. We expect lots of silt and debris from rains to create further damage in the near future. Work will continue here as time permits. Two of our crew hiked down the Chamberlain trail on the Backbone to assess trail conditions. They will submit a separate report but reported that the trail is mostly clear but will be subject to severe erosion and debris slides when more rain comes. The entire trail corridor from the Sandstone Peak parking down to the trail juncture of Chamberlain and Old Boney was burned. Feet worked: 1000 Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 48 Read More |
| 2018.12.19 | Event #: [613] Sandstone Peak Trail - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. This section of the Backbone Trail was heavily impacted by the Woolsey fire a few weeks ago. The objective of today's project was to assist NPS with remediation efforts on this section of the trail. There were 5 volunteers and two NPS staff present. Met at the Sandstone Peak parking lot. Began work. Hiked up the trail to the stairs which lead up to the peak (1.5 mi). On the way, the NPS leader flagged many drains to be cleaned or installed. The stairs were heavily damaged by the fire. We remove the mains of the timbers and hardware and moved them a safe distance away. Under the direction of the NPS leader, we cut in a small new, temporary trail which circumvents the area of the stairs and provides a safe access to the peak. After lunch, we began the hike back toward the parking lot. Beginning at the top of the trail, we began to clean out or install the flagged drains. We managed to service several drains on the way down. Arrived at the parking lot. Completed project. This trail is in terrible condition. The tread has been neglected for several years and there is much erosion in need off attention. There are many more drains to be serviced – this is the first of several trips require just to try to improve the drainage. While our work is significant, at best, it only slows the derogation of the trail. The trail needs major attention to restore it to NPS trail standards. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 6 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail serviced: 1,050 Read More |
| 2018.12.15 | Event #: [610] La Jolla Valley Loop - La Jolla Valley Loop Trail; We brushed about 3/8ths of a mile of this trail from the La Jolla Valley Fire Road towards the connection with the trail going to the pond. Two Brush cutters, a weed whip, and a few Mcleods were used to bring the trail back to its normal width. Thick with Deerweed, Bush Mallow and grass, vegetation was encroaching on the trail. Additional work will be required to complete the brushing of this particular trail. Read More |
| 2018.12.08 | Event #: [609] Leo Carrillo State Park - This was an outing with the students from CSUCI. 10 students attended this trailwork event. In addition, 8 of SMMTC's regular volunteers participated. I split the group of students into 2 groups of 5, Dave Edwards led one of the groups of five students and two regular volunteers up the Nicholas Flats trail. The other 5 students and 4 regular volunteers proceeded with me up the Willow Creek trail. In addition, Jason from State Parks escorted us and he came with me on the Willow Creek trail. Proceeded to the trails. The rocks and debris we had identified last Monday had mostly been washed off the trail by the rain. Instead, we found a lot of slough and silt built up on the trail and we focused on trail clean-up. On the Willow Creek, we built up 4 washouts with rocks, added 3 new drains and restored 3 others. Also, we filled in a long rut near the top. On the Nicholas Flats, Dave and his crew added 5 new drains and restored 25. At 11:30 we took a lunch break, we led the students to the top of the hill and had lunch while enjoying the magnificent 360 degree view. We resumed work at 12:15 and headed out shortly after 1:30. We were back at the cars and departed at 2:30. Total Volunteer Hours: 18 Volunteers x 6 hours = 108 hours Feet of trail maintained: 11,035 Read More |
| 2018.12.03 | Event #: [608] Leo Carrillo Trails Post Fire Assessment - This was a special trail damage assessment hike. The objective was to hike the Nicholas Flats (lower 1 mile) and Willow Creek trails to assess potential damage and general condition of the trails following the recent Woolsey Fire. We Began the hike at the Nicholas Flats trail head at Leo Carrillo State Park and hiked to the junction with the Willow Creek trail, then back to the beginning, a total of 2.2 miles. There were 3 volunteers present. Generally, this section of trail is in fair condition. All though the Willow Creek trail has no specific, dangerous conditions, one must use caution while walking in areas where minor slides have occurred. Met at the Rancho Potrero parking lot. Carpooled to Leo Carrillo State park Campground. Began hike at the Nicholas Flats trail head. Hiked up the hill to the junction with the Willow Creek Trail. This entire area was burned. However, the trail is in pretty good condition. All the drains need cleaning and there is a lot of light debris littering the trail. The trail is easily passable with no hazardous conditions. At the junction of the Willow Creek Trail, we headed downhill. This entire slope also burned. There are no specific hazardous spots, but there is a lot of slough and light debris on most of the trail. The footing is somewhat treacherous, so one must be very careful not to trip or slip. The lower part of the trail, where it parallels PCH is in very good condition. Completed the hike at the Nicholas Flats Trail head. Returned to the meeting place. Completed project. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 3 hours = 9 hours Feet of trail surveyed: 11, 600 (2.2 miles) Read More |
| 2018.12.01 | Event #: [606] Upper Sycamore Post Fire Assessment - This was a special trail damage assessment hike. The objective was to hike the Blue Canyon and the western end of the Old Boney Trails to assess potential damage and general condition of the trails following the recent Woolsey Fire. We Began the hike at the BBT trail head at Danielson Campground and hiked to the Old Boney trail, then west, back to Sycamore Canyon Road, a total of 5.2 miles. There were 3 volunteers present. Generally, this section of trail is in fair condition. Completely passable with no safety hazards present. We entered the burn area at.5 mile. The effects of the fire increased as we headed south to the junction with the Old Boney Trail. There were several large trees which had fallen, but the fire crews had already cut them and cleared the trail. There is only minor clean-up and tread work remaining to be done. At the junction of the Old Boney, we headed west toward the junction with the Chamberlain trail. The effects of the fire continued to worsen as we proceeded. Once we passed the first two stream crossing, we entered the “moonscape” environment. The slope on both sides of the trail have been completely consumed with only the ceanothus skeletons remaining. There were numerous light, burned limbs and tree trunks on the trail, which we cleared as we proceeded. Even though the trail is now clear, areas on this section of trail have always had slides and erosion problems, which will fair even worse with the winter rains. The two trail signs at the Chamberlain junction were destroyed. The entire slope to the south, up towards Chamberlain Rock has completely burned. We did not hike up the Chamberlain Trail but is safe to assume that there will be lots of cleanup needed. From the Chamberlain Junction westward, all the way down to Sycamore Canyon Road, the trail was bulldozed to create a fuel break/fire road, 15 to 20 feet wide. This creates a pretty stark landscape since this area was almost completely burned off. There will be no need for lopping in this area for a long time, however there w Read More |
| 2018.12.01 | Event #: [607] Serrano Canyon Post Fire Assessment - Today's objective was to assess fire and wind damage to the trails after the recent fires as well as to evaluate drainage and general conditions in anticipation of the rain season. We began at the Serrano Canyon trailhead and hiked up the canyon. Then proceeded on the Serrano Loop trail through Serrano Valley and continued to the Old Boney trail, then made our way down the Old Boney (Toe Stubber) to Sycamore Canyon road and then back to the Serrano Canyon tail. The Serrano Canyon trail is in good condition and did not suffer any fire damage. About 0.5 miles in, there was a large tree blocking the trail, about 8" in diameter with lots of branches. We were able to cut enough branches with our hand saws to make the trail passable. At 1 mile we ran into another large tree across the trail, also with a trunk roughly 8" in diameter. Again we cut enough branches to make the trail passable. And at 1.4 miles, yet again another large tree blocked the trail, and once more we were able to cut enough branches to make the trail passable. The Serrano Valley Loop trail's southern leg, 2.4 miles from the trailhead, is badly in need of brushing. We didn't see any signs of fire until we got close to the top of Serrano Valley loop trail. At that point, the Serrano Valley trail coming in from Serrano Valley road has been bulldozed by the firefighters to cut a 10 feet wide - wider in some parts - fire break all the way down the Toe Stubber to Sycamore Canyon road. Additional Survey Information: An inspection of the Fireline trail and the Scenic trail from the Sycamore Canyon fireroad did not show any fire damage on either of those two trails. Total Volunteer Hours: 3 Volunteers x 6.5 hours = 19.5 hours Feet of trail surveyed: 43, 824 (8.3 miles) Read More |
| 2018.11.28 | Event #: [605] Fire Assessment - MCSP - Rode with state park employee and escorted to trail head at Corral Canyon. Escort required due to fire closure of road to public. Began hike to assess fire damage to Mesa Peak fire road down to Piuma parking lot along Malibu Canyon Road. Feet worked: N/A Crew size: 2 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 12 Comments: This section of trail covers about 5.7 miles. We performed an assessment of trail conditions after the recent Woolsey fire. A fire crew apparently worked the entire fire road portion smoothing the road with a dozer. There were 3 downed trees/limbs on the edge of the road which need clearing at some point but isn't a priority at this time. The first tree is about one mile from Tapia. The other two trees are about 1.7 miles from Tapia. We hand sawed several limbs of one of the trees which were blocking the edge of the road. Apparently a fire crew chain sawed other trees and cleared from road. Otherwise the road portion of Mesa Peak is in great condition. Likewise the trail portion where it leaves the road going down to Tapia is in good condition and needs no work at this time. Unfortunately the kiosk at the trail head at Corral Canyon was destroyed by the fire and needs replacing. The picnic table was not damaged. Read More |
| 2018.11.17 | Event #: [604] Rogers Road Bypass, Topanga SP - Arrive at Trippet Ranch parking lot. Sign-in and carpool to trailhead on Temescal Canyon fire road just south of Cathedral Rocks. Distribute tools and hike to the end of the connector trail where it merges with the original route. Begin brushing/lopping, removal of slough, and tread repair. Some sawing of branches required to improve trail width for future project access. Continue brushing/lopping, removal of slough, and tread repair. Stop work and return to vehicles for drive back to Trippet Ranch. Return to Trippet Ranch. Read More |
| 2018.11.03 | Event #: [603] Mishe Mokwa trail, Circle X Ranch, NPS - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the Mishe Mokwa Trail. We had worked on this trail three weeks ago. Today's objective was to continue working from where we left off last time and go forward as far as we could. There were 9 volunteers present. Met at the Mishe Mokwa parking lot on Yerba Buena Road. Conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately one mile to the worksite. Began work. Work was primarily lopping. However, we did some slough removal and widened the trail in short sections. Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place... Completed the day's project. Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 6 hours = 54 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,530 Read More |
| 2018.11.01 | Event #: [602] Camp 13 Trail - This was an unscheduled, special trail maintenance/restoration project. About two years ago, we did some extensive trail maintenance to correct erosion and related issues on the Camp 13 Trail. This work involved closing off two “short-cut trails from the Camp 13 Trail downhill into the campground. While these trails started in an area already eroded, hiker use has greatly increased the ongoing damage. Part of our remediation attempt was to plant some prickly pear in the eroded area to reduce the erosion and to discourage human use of the area. The prickly pear we planted were not properly prepared prior to planting so, did not survive. A few months ago, I collected some new cutting from the area, potted and tended to them. They were now ready for transplanting. The objective today was to transplant these new cuttings to the damaged area. There were 2 volunteers present. Planted seven cutting in the target, eroded areas and three others in nearby eroded areas. Watered each plant. Read More |
| 2018.10.27 | Event #: [612] Malibu Lagoon - Brushing and tread work along various trails in Malibu Lagoon State Beach Park. Sierra Club Task Force partnered with us for this event. Read More |
| 2018.10.20 | Event #: [601] COSCA Trail Day - We provided crew leaders for COSCA. Seventy-two volunteers guided by flags placed on a slope cut a bench for a new trail. An enormous amount of dirt and rocks were moved with nothing more than Mcleods and picks. One more effort will be required to complete this task. Read More |
| 2018.10.13 | Event #: [600] Upper Sycamore Canyon - John removed a fallen oak tree that had blocked the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. Read More |
| 2018.10.10 | Event #: [599] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu SP - Point Mugu State Park. La Jolla Valey. Cleared brush using 1 brush cutter and hand tools. Cleared 1320 feet of trail. Read More |
| 2018.10.06 | Event #: [598] Mishe Mokwa trail, NPS - Mishe Mokwa Trail. We started work at the trail juncture where the BBT connects to the Sandstone Peak trail. Work consisted mostly of brushing using loppers and hand saws. We cleaned 5 drains. Performed major tread work on a short section. We still have about 1.2 miles of brushing left to Split Rock. Worked ended. Arrived back at the parking area. Feet worked: 4000 ft Crew size: 9 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 54 Read More |
| 2018.09.29 | Event #: [597] La Jolla Canyon trail, Point Mugu SP - La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu State Park. This was a joint project with BSA Troop 730. Four Eagle Scouts from this troop refurbished this camp after the recent Springs fire and the troop has committed to maintaining the camp as an ongoing effort. Thirteen Scouts and leaders worked with ten SMMTC volunteers to complete the effort. We divided into two groups with one group working in the group camp area and the other the individual campsite area. Each team used a brush cutter and McLeods to complete the cleanup effort. The camp is now back in excellent shape. 23 volunteers @6 hours = 138 hours Read More |
| 2018.09.26 | Event #: [592] Upper Zuma Cyn - This was an unscheduled event to finish brushing and lopping on the Backbone Trail in Upper Zuma Canyon. We had visited this are on September 8, 2018. There was one lone SMMTC volunteer. Prepared tools and hiked to the bridge. Began brushing Wild Rose bushes growing out into the bridge and trail. Removed overhead branches from trail corridor that would be an obstruction for equestrians. Trimmed lots of Ceanothus and Laurel Sumac crowding the trail. Removed mustard plants and non-native grasses where they were growing out into the trail corridor. The trail is in good condition and the re-route we did has firmed up and looks like it has always been there! Temperatures hit 96 degrees when I finished at 3 PM. Volunteer hours: 1 volunteers @ 8 hours = 8 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1600 Read More |
| 2018.09.22 | Event #: [591] Paramount Ranch Trails, NPS - The SMMTC provided crew leaders for this event. Lopping and tread work was performed on several trails in the area. Several drains were also cleared and at least two were reestablished. The event was lightly attended (due to the heat) but the trails looked a lot better after we were done. Read More |
| 2018.09.19 | Event #: [590] La Jolla Valley, Point Mugu SP - La Jolla Valley Trails, Point Mugu State Park. Cleared brush using two gas-powered brush cutters and hand tools. Seven volunteers. Cleared 1600' of trail. Read More |
| 2018.09.15 | Event #: [589] BBT, Solstice Canyon, NPS - The Trails Council trail crew worked on the BBT - Upper Solstice Canyon, as previously planned. We drove two vehicles in on the Newton Motorway to the spot where the BBT crosses the road. From there we descended into Solstice Canyon. We performed minor lopping, cleaned out several silted up drains, cleared two small slides and filled about 80 feet of trenches in the trail. We only made it about.5 mile down the trail, not quite reaching the bottom where the trail levels out. More work needed on this section of trail. Read More |
| 2018.09.08 | Event #: [587] BBT, Upper Zuma Canyon, NPS - Started work at the entrance from the pull out on Kanan Road juts north of the trail head parking. We did some dried mustard removal for about 100 feet. Ran into an area where the trail tread was being pushed to the downhill side of the trail. Noted that the large amount of slough and trees overgrowing the trail were forcing hikers and bikers to the outside edge. Removed about 3 feet of slough from uphill side of trail and then cut back overgrown trees. We effectively moved the trail 3 feet to the uphill side for about 400 feet of trail. This same scenario needs to be repeated for several additional areas down the trail. Due to the excessive heat (100 degrees) we terminated our efforts at 12: 30 Read More |
| 2018.09.01 | Event #: [588] Grotto Trail, NPS - Met troop at Circle-X group camp, assembly, trail safety talk, divided into patrols to split up the trail work. One TC volunteer joined each patrol, along with troop leaders. Troop has a lot of trail experience, so they were serious about the work, very professional and aware of those working around them. Worked the trail from camp down to the grassy dry creek Brushing, widening trail by removal of duff from upper slopes. Some overhead shrub work with hand saws, some cutting through grasses. Regroup at dry creek to finish work, with 10 of the scouts hiking back up to the camp to help carry out the tools.Total volunteer hours: 35 volunteers x 3.5 hours = 122.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~2700 Read More |
| 2018.09.01 | Event #: [593] Reporting and Scheduling - Reporting and Scheduling Read More |
| 2018.08.22 | Event #: [586] Downed Trees Hondo Canyon - At 8a.m., a group of 3 with a chain saw started down the BBT at the Saddle Peak road access to the Fossil Ridge trail. This group cleared four areas where small trees were blocking the trail, and also cleared many trees that presented a hazard. Another group arrived at Greenleaf Canyon road, off of Topanga Blvd. and took out a large tree blocking the BBT. This second group then moved to Old Topanga and hiked in about ½ mile to take out two very large branches blocking the trail Both groups completed the day's assignment and we proceeded back to TOTC. Total Volunteer Hours: 9 Volunteers x 6 hours = 54 hours Miles cleared of fallen and low hanging trees: ~4 miles Read More |
| 2018.08.16 | Event #: [585] Scheduling Meeting - Annual Scheduling meeting for Trail work September 2018 thru January 2019. Representatives from CORBA and the Sierra Club Task Force were also in attendance. Read More |
| 2018.08.16 | Event #: [596] Reporting and Scheduling - Reporting and Scheduling Read More |
| 2018.08.11 | Event #: [584] Lower Piuma - We cleared a short section of the Backbone trail starting at the trailhead along Piuma Rd. up to the wildlife sanctuary. Work consisted of using a chain saw to clear two large tree limbs blocking the trail. We also used a hedge trimmer to clear tall grass and weeds. The crew followed with McCleods raking the trail clean. Worked ended. Arrived back at parking area. Feet worked: 1000 ft Crew size: 11 Hours worked: 4 Total hours: 44 Read More |
| 2018.08.01 | Event #: [583] Backbone Trail Improvements - This was a scheduled multi-day, eagle scout project. This is the second of four subproject in the Trails Council's plan to provide improvements to 12 Backbone Trailheads. This project was in Topanga and Will Rogers Historic State Parks and involved the installation of three display kiosks. The eagle scout candidate organizes the project, provides fellow scouts for labor and purchases some minor hardware and equipment for the project. The Trails Council purchases the large expense items, provides coordination with the park service(s) and provides on-site supervision. August 1, 2018 Today we had two SMMTC volunteers, one scouting adult and three boy scouts. Drove to Malibu Creek State Park where the materials (kiosks and picnic tables were stored). Unpacked the materials from the pallet and loaded the materials required for Thursday's tasks in the truck. August 2, 2018 Today's task was to install the legs for one display kiosk at the Backbone Trail trailhead at Will Rogers State Historic Park. Today we had one SMMTC volunteer, two scouting adults and three boy scouts. Drove to Will Rogers State Historic Park. Unloaded tools and materials from the truck. Began digging the holes for the two legs of the kiosk. The ground in this area was very compacted soil making the digging very difficult. Positioned the legs in the holes and poured concrete in the holes. It is necessary to keep the upper part of the kiosk, laying in a horsional position while the concrete hardens. Waited one hour for the concrete to harden. Once the concrete hardened, detached the upper portion of the kiosk and set it aside, off the trail. August 3, 2018 Today's task was to install the upper part of the kiosk and attach a Backbone Trail sign. Today we had two SMMTC volunteers, one scouting adult and four boy scouts. Drove to Will Rogers State Historic Park. Arrived at Will Rogers State Historic Park. Attached the Backbone Trail sign, attached the roof and installed the upper part of the kiosk Drove to the D Read More |
| 2018.07.21 | Event #: [582] Upper Zuma - This was an unscheduled event to remove a downed tree which was blocking the Backbone Trail in Upper Zuma Canyon. There were three SMMTC volunteers. Met at the parking lot at Kanan and Agoura Roads. Drove to the trailhead on Kanan Dume Road. Prepared tools and hiked.5 miles to the site of the downed tree. Cut up the tree using the chainsaw. Removed debris from the trail. Hiked back to the trailhead. Loaded tools and returned to the meeting place. Completed project. Volunteer hours: 3 volunteers @ 2 hours = 6 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2018.07.14 | Event #: [577] Trail Work Reporting - Scheduling, reporting of trail work activities. Read More |
| 2018.06.30 | Event #: [570] Santa Ynez Trail - Trail brushing, tread work. Joint workday with Sierra Club followed by end-of-season BBQ Met at Topanga SP, Trippet lot. Hikes 0.5 miles down into Santa Ynez canyon to reach worksite and worked back up clearing significant brush and clearing a number of stairs on the trail of brush and backfilling. Completed work and hiked back to Nature Center for awesome BBQ. Joined by Ruth Gerson, SMMTC and Ron and Mary Ann Webster, TC. Bill Vanderberg received the Sierra Club Volunteer of the Year award. Total volunteer hours: 5 volunteers x 4.0 hours = 20.0 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~400 Read More |
| 2018.06.23 | Event #: [569] La Jolla Valley, PMSP - Trail brushing, minor tread work Met at Wendy trailhead and drove to La Jolla Canyon. Hiked while using weed trimmers and brush cutters, trimmed and opened 0.72 miles of trail. In places, there was very heavy brush, nearly covering the trail. Opened up 2 drains. Total volunteer hours: 8 volunteers x 6.0 hours = 48.0 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~3800 Read More |
| 2018.06.20 | Event #: [568] Saddle Peak, NPS - Held a scheduled workday on Saddle Peak. We had four SMMTC volunteers. We used the “cut and paint” technique, using Pathfinder II. There was not a large number of plants. Plants didn't seem to be this spring's seedling but more mature plants. About 25 percent of these plants had seed pods. We stripped the seed pods from the plants, then treated the plants. Used a total of 88 oz of Pathfinder II. We have 12-13 surviving oak trees that are 3'-7' high. Finished work and hiked/drove back to the meeting place. Completed the day's project. Total volunteer hours: 4 Volunteers x 6 hours = 24 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2018.06.16 | Event #: [581] Westlake Village YMCA Trails - Though official start up time was 8 a.m., as soon as people arrived they were assigned to a crew and crews got going as soon as they had sufficient people. So by 7: 30 we had two crews already on their way. We continued building the trail where we had left off on May 26. The hillside is steep in most areas, so cutting the bench meant removing a lot of dirt. We had 4 crews headed by TC crew leaders, each with 10 to 15 people. John Kross and two of the rangers jumped ahead of everyone to a section that required a bit more attention. Also, Dave Edward worked on an washout that needed special attention and he armored the outside edge of the trail with rocks. In total we had 58 volunteers, 5 rangers, and 6 TC crew members We were treated to a catered lunch of tri-tip, pulled pork BBQ and chicken BBQ with beans, mac & cheese, salads, etc. Total feet of trail built: 1, 960 – Hours per TC crew member: 4.75 Total hours SMMTC: 6 x 4.75 = 28.5 Read More |
| 2018.06.14 | Event #: [579] Trail Work Survey - Survey and flagging of a trail for an upcoming event Read More |
| 2018.06.13 | Event #: [580] COSCA Trail Work - Bill Dinino and John Kross supervised a group of 10 volunteers from SAGE Publishing, Thousand Oaks, in a trail building project for the Conejo Recreation and Parks District. The project consisted of widening a trail we built just last October as well as filling in a set of box steps so the steps can be finished. At noon we stopped work for the day and were treated to Jersey Mike's subway sandwiches and refreshments. Total feet of trail built: 96 Total Hours SMMTC: 2 x 4 = 8 Read More |
| 2018.06.09 | Event #: [565] Lower Zuma Canyon trails, NPS - Zuma Canyon Trails. We employed two hedge trimmers and one weed whacker cutting back brush and weeds. Four crew members followed behind raking and clearing the trail. Feet worked: 4500 ft Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 42 Read More |
| 2018.06.02 | Event #: [566] National Trails Day - This was the National Trail Day event with National Park Service. There were many volunteers including 13 SMMTC volunteers. The volunteers were split up into crews and dispatched to work on the Phantom, Lookout and Chaparral trails. Met at the parking lot at Malibu Creek State Park. Volunteers were split up into three different crews and sent to assigned trails. Generally, the work was mostly brushing and light tread work. Crews completed work and returned to the parking lot for a NPS provided lunch. Completed project. Volunteer hours: 13 volunteers @ 3 hours = 39 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2, 600 (est) Read More |
| 2018.05.26 | Event #: [567] COSCA Work Day - This was a little-publicized event, but we still got 24 hearty volunteers. With 12 Trails Council members, we had a total of 36 volunteers. The project consisted of building a brand-new trail. Because of the steepness of the hillside, we had to remove a lot of dirt in order to cut in the bench. We worked until 11: 30. In the course of the morning, we completed 4/10ths of a mile of trail, 2, 112 linear feet. At the end of the trail work day, the COSCA rangers treated everyone to lunch. By about 12: 30 everyone adjourned, hopefully, to reunite on June 16, when there will be a bigger Spring Trail Work Day. Read More |
| 2018.05.24 | Event #: [578] Trail Survey - Survey and flagging of a trail for an upcoming event Read More |
| 2018.05.23 | Event #: [563] La Jolla Valley Loop, Point Mugu State Park - La Jolla Valley Loop. Shuttled into Sycamore Canyon, up and over Hell Hill and down to work area. Cleared brush using 2 brush cutters, 1 weed whip and hand tools. Cleared 4200' of trail. 12 volunteers x 6 hours 72 hours Read More |
| 2018.05.20 | Event #: [564] Channel Islands - Santa Rosa - This was a scheduled volunteer work project on Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park. This was the second trip to the Channel Islands this year. The objective of this trip was to perform trail maintenance on the three main trails: Cherry Canyon, Torrey Pines, and Lobo Canyon. Read More |
| 2018.05.19 | Event #: [562] Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu SP - Annual Newbury Park Boy Scout Trail Work event in Serrano Canyon. Eighteen adults and 25 Scouts. Team #1: Brushed trail from start to quarry 5000 feet Team #2: built two stone steps and created out slope on top of hill. Team #3: Built stone wall and created crossing for drainage. Moved trail slightly up hill. Team #4: Hiked to end if trail and surveyed trees hanging over trail. On return removed overhanging branches as needed. Read More |
| 2018.05.19 | Event #: [576] Trail Work Reporting - Scheduling, reporting of trail work activities. Read More |
| 2018.04.28 | Event #: [560] Trail Days - This was the 37th annual Trail Days event. As in the past several years, the event was held in Point Mugu State Park. The campout and BBQ dinner were held at the Danielson Group Campground and volunteers performed trail maintenance on several trails in the area. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Total Volunteers: 133 Total Volunteer hours: 499 Total Feet of Trail maintained: 17,882 (3.9 Mi.) Read More |
| 2018.04.28 | Event #: [573] Trail Days - Non Trailwork Hours - Hours worked by Barb, Carlyn & Diane during Trail Days 2018 Read More |
| 2018.04.27 | Event #: [561] Hidden Pond Trail - Work was performed by the Bank of America Native American Professional Employee Network. Work consisted of brushing and lopping. Read More |
| 2018.04.25 | Event #: [559] Upper Sycamore - Removed 18 inch diameter tree completely blocking trail. Removed myriad other smaller trees and bushes encroaching on trail. Total 1000 feet of trail maintained. Read More |
| 2018.04.24 | Event #: [572] Trail Days - Barb - Hours worked by Barb in preparation for Trail Days 2018 Read More |
| 2018.04.21 | Event #: [558] ADA Trail Leo Carillo State Park - Leo Carrillo State Park, Camp 13 Trail. This was a scheduled trail maintenance project, with student volunteers from CSUCI. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the Camp 13 Trail. There were 8 SMMTC volunteers and 5 CSUCI Student volunteers present. SMMTC volunteers met early. Two volunteers started work early and began brushing the trail with two gas powered brush trimmers. Met student volunteers. Conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked short distance to the trail head and began work. The student and remaining SMMTC volunteers primary task was to pick up the cuttings left by the power tools and perform any necessary lopping. Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place... Completed the days project. Total volunteer hours: 13 Volunteers x 6 hours = 78 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,600 Read More |
| 2018.04.21 | Event #: [575] Trail Work Reporting - Scheduling, reporting of trail work activities. Read More |
| 2018.04.14 | Event #: [556] BBT, Newton Canyon - BBT, Newton Canyon. Began working at trail head just off Latigo Rd. heading west. Work consisted almost entirely of brushing utilizing a hedge trimmer/chain saw combo and a weed whacker. Two new water drains were installed. Our SMMTC crew partnered with CORBA. Worked ended. Arrived back at parking area. Feet worked: 2500 Crew size: 12 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 72 Read More |
| 2018.04.11 | Event #: [555] Hidden Pond trail, Point Mugu State Park - Our third trip to the Fossil Trail in Point Mugu State Park this season. Our crew continued brushing trail using hedge trimmer and hand tools nearly all the way to the junction with the Old Boney Trail. Our focus was on brush that was encroaching upon the trail. Read More |
| 2018.04.10 | Event #: [557] Channel Islands - Scorpion - This was a scheduled volunteer work project on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park. Since our scheduled March trip to Santa Cruz had to be cancelled due to the weather, this was our first trip to the Channel Islands this year. The primary objective of this trip was to perform both corrective and preventative maintenance on various trails in and around Scorpion Canyon. Four SMMTC volunteers were on the project. Volunteer Hours: 4 Volunteers X 7 = 28 Total hours Feet of Trail maintained: 2,100 (.4 Mi) Project Totals: Feet of trail maintained: 12,670 (2.4 Mi.) Total Volunteer Hours: 4 volunteers X 27 hours = 108 hours Individual Volunteer Hours: Jerry Mitcham: 27 Hours Anne Russell 27 Hours John Kross 27 Hours Bill Dinino 27 Hours Read More |
| 2018.04.07 | Event #: [553] Malibu Springs trail, NPS - This was a joint project with the Sierra Club Santa Monica Mountains Task Force and students from USC. We met at the Malibu Springs trailhead, had a safety talk and distributed the tools before proceeding up the trail. This trail gets little use and was overgrown with tall grasses and brush. Two brush cutters led the way, with crews behind them raking the cuttings and also lopping any branches that either hung low on the trail or were growing onto the trail. This is a hiker/equestrian trail, and care was taken to cut low hanging branches in order to get the 10 clearance required for equestrians. Before the students arrived, Jerry Mitcham led a couple of people to cut and treat several Spanish broom plants. Trails Council and USC volunteers worked on the lower part of the trail, covering 0.6 miles. Sierra Club Task Force began their work 1.9 miles up the trail and covered 0.2 miles. At 1:30 we stopped cutting and finished cleaning up the trail At 2:30 everyone departed. Number of volunteers: Trails Council: 9 USC: 9 Sierra Club: 7 Number of volunteer hours: 102 including the Sierra Club: 150 Feet of trail: TC/USC: 3,168; SC: 1056 Total: 4224 Read More |
| 2018.04.05 | Event #: [554] Serrano Trail - Tree Removal - Cut and remove 3 large trees that were laying across the trail Moved a large rock that somehow had ended up right in the middle of the trail. Cut up and removed a log jam that was damming the creek and diverting water onto the trail. Surveyed work to be done with boy scouts in May. Surveyed condition of steps and considered possible restore/rebuild/modify options. Read More |
| 2018.03.31 | Event #: [571] Upper Solstice Cyn - Trail brushing, minor tread work . Met at Corral Canyon parking lot and hiked down to the end of the “meadow” to begin trail work. Using brush cutters, cleared trail, being careful along the area of endangered plant species to not disturb the soil. Much of the clearing was overhead brush. Brushing and fixing the rocks in a stream crossing. Total volunteer hours: 7 volunteers x 6.0 hours = 42.0 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~2500 Read More |
| 2018.03.24 | Event #: [552] Saddle Peak Trail - Hiked about a mile to begin work on the Saddle Peak trail where we left off last time. This is the third work day this year for this section of trail starting from the juncture with the spur trail off of Stunt Rd. and working up toward Saddle Peak. Todays work was mostly brushing using a gas powered trimmer. We still have about 500 ft. of trail to brush just below the big rocks near the top. We filled in a minor trench with rock steps just above the first set of rock steps going up through the pass. Worked ended. Arrived back at parking area. Feet worked: 1600 Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 42 Read More |
| 2018.03.17 | Event #: [551] BBT, Mishe Mokwa trail, Circle X Ranch, NPS - Mishe Mokwa Trail. Tread work and light trimming from Split Rock towards Sandstone Peak Trail. Cleared and repaired eight drains, built a rock wall and repaired lots of tread. Three new drains were added. Trail was muddy in places and damp overall. This worked in our favor as moved a fair amount of dirt to channel run off. Read More |
| 2018.03.14 | Event #: [550] Fossil Trail, Point Mugu State Park - Fossil Trail Point Mugu State Park. Continue brushing trail using hedge trimmer and hand tools. One crew built a rock wall at the first creek crossing. Johns fingernail was a casualty of this effort one finger remained in place as a rock was lowered into its place. Ouch! Another crew worked the upper stretches of the trail while a third crew worked with the brush trimmer on the lower half. There was one small stretch of trail that remains. We had a nice sized crew today: 12 volunteers; 66 Hours of Labor; 2,400 of trail groomed. Read More |
| 2018.03.07 | Event #: [549] Saddle Peak trail, NPS - This was a rain make-up day for the event canceled March 3rd. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the section of the BBT from the Stunt Road Connector uphill toward Saddle Peak. We worked on this section of trail a month ago; today we continued from where we left off on the last trip. There were 7 volunteers. Met at the dirt pull out on Stunt Road near the connector trail head. Conducted safety and tool talks. Hiked approximately six tenths of a mile to the worksite. Began work. Used the gas powered brush cutter to cut back the smaller brush encroaching on the trail. Used loppers, pole saw and hand saws to cut back larger brush and overhanging limbs. Cleaned our 16 drains. Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place... Completed the days project. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,600 Read More |
| 2018.03.01 | Event #: [595] Reporting and Scheduling - Reporting and Scheduling Read More |
| 2018.02.24 | Event #: [548] Canyon View trail, NPS - Canyon View Trail near Circle-X. We had 7 volunteers and completed 2400 feet of trail. Our efforts were concentrated primarily on brushing the trail to an 8 foot wide corridor. Additionally we worked on the tread in several places where minor washout had occurred, cleaned three drains and did a minor trail reroute to avoid a washout. Weather was perfect temp and sunny. Read More |
| 2018.02.24 | Event #: [574] Trail Work Reporting - Scheduling, reporting of trail work activities. Read More |
| 2018.02.17 | Event #: [547] Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park - Began work on the Old Santa Susana Stagecoach Road consisting entirely of brushing. We brushed along the outside edge of the road exposing a corridor of some 3 to 6 ft wide next to the mostly rocky road bed.
This newly cleared corridor next to the road will eventually provide an alternative to hiking on the rocky road bed. It will take several more outings to finish brushing along the road. Worked ended.
Arrived back at parking area. Feet worked: 1500 Crew size: 6 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 36 Read More |
| 2018.02.14 | Event #: [546] Fossil trail, Point Mugu State Park - Fossil Trail in Point Mugu State Park. Cleaned out all existing drains to be ready for the next deluge. Widened trail using brush cutter to remove vegetation on sides. Used hand tools to remove branches and trunks of a large size. Estimated length of trail maintained = 2400. Read More |
| 2018.02.10 | Event #: [545] BBT, Hondo Canyon Trail (lower) - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the lower section of the Hondo Canyon section of the BBT. The trail had been previously surveyed. There were a total of 22 volunteers (including one minor) including 11 volunteers from the UCS Outfitters Club. Met at the dirt pull out on Old Topanga Canyon Road. Conducted safety and tool talks. Began work at the trail head. Began work. Used loppers, pole saw and hand saws to cut back larger brush and overhanging limbs. The level of work required varied light to moderate brushing in some areas none at all in others. Cleaned out 16 drains. Total volunteer hours: 22 Volunteers x 6 hours = 132 hours Feet of trail maintained: 5,000 Read More |
| 2018.02.07 | Event #: [544] Sycamore Canyon - Downed Trees - We met at the Sycamore Canyon trailhead day parking area. At 8:30 we shuttled to the trailhead and hiked ~2/10 miles to the first tree, a small tree. After we cleared it we continued another 1 and 2/10 miles to a very large oak tree laying across the trail. Each cut had to be made from two sides because our chain saw was not long enough to go through the entire diameter of the trunk. At 10:30 we were finished cutting, moving the huge chunks off of the trail (with the help of a pry bar), and clearing all the smaller branches, some of them 6 inches in diameter, that we had to cut before getting to the main trunk. We proceeded to shuttle back to the parking area to end our day. Number of volunteers: 3 Number of volunteer hours: 6 Feet of trail: N/A Read More |
| 2018.02.03 | Event #: [543] BBT, Mishe Mokwa trail, Circle X Ranch, NPS - We met at the Mishe Mokwa trailhead at 8:30 A. M. and hiked 2.5 miles to our work area. The canopy was thick and literally coming down on the trail. We cut the overhanging branches and took out the dead trees with hand saws and loppers. We also restored two drains. At 1:30 P. M. we proceed to hike out, and were back to our cars by 2:30 Number of volunteers: 9 Number of volunteer hours: 54 Feet of trail: 1584 Read More |
| 2018.01.27 | Event #: [541] BBT Trail Saddle Peak Connector - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the section of the BBT from the Stunt Road Connector uphill toward Saddle Peak. The trail had been previously surveyed. There were 10 volunteers present (nine adults and one minor (who worked very hard)). Hiked approximately two tenths of a mile to the worksite. Began work. Used the gas powered brush cutter to cut back the smaller brush encroaching on the trail. Used loppers, pole saw and hand saws to cut back larger brush and overhanging limbs. Cleaned our 21 drains. Total volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,100 Read More |
| 2018.01.20 | Event #: [539] Old Cabin Trail - We met at the Wendy/Potrero Road trailhead and promptly at 8:30 shuttled into Point Mugu State Park. From the water tank on Big Sycamore Canyon road at the end of NPS property we hiked one mile to the top of the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail, and began to brush using two gas powered brush cutters. Along the way we took a short detour and brushed the Waterfall trail down to the creek. More outings will be needed but we made good progress. Feet worked: 2700 Crew size: 8 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 48. At 1:30 PM we proceeded to hike out, then shuttled back to the cars. We got to the cars shortly after 2:30 PM. Read More |
| 2018.01.17 | Event #: [540] Toe Stubber - Cleared encroaching brush using two brush cutters. Removed heavier vegetation using hand tools. Maintained 1320 of trail. Read More |
| 2018.01.16 | Event #: [538] Scheduling Meeting - First Trail Work Scheduling Meeting of 2018. Met for two hours and planned work events. Read More |
| 2018.01.13 | Event #: [537] BBT Kanan Towards Latigo - This project was a joint project with CORBA. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the section of the BBT East of the Kanan Dume Road Trailhead. The trail had been previously surveyed and flagged. There were 19 volunteers present. Met at the parking lot at the Kanan Dume Road trailhead. Conducted safety and tool talk. Hiked approximately one tenth of a mile to the worksite. Began work above the tunnel. At the worksite, conducted tool talk and safety briefing. We used the gas powered brush cutter to trim brush alongside the trail. The heavier brush and overhanging limbs were lopped by hand. Cleaned out 44 drains and constructed 16 new drains. Total volunteer hours: 19 Volunteers x 6 hours = 114 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4,700 Read More |
| 2018.01.07 | Event #: [536] Topanga School Trails - This was a scheduled trail maintenance project. The objective was routine trail maintenance on the section of the BBT near the Topanga School. There were seven volunteers present.. Met on Topanga School Road, near the Topanga School. Conducted safety and tool talk. Hiked approximately one tenth of a mile to the worksite. Began work. Cut up and removed three downed, dead trees. Cleaned out a few drains. Cut back brush and cleared debris from the trail. Completed work on the eastern section of the trail. Moved to the lower section of trail below the water tank. Repaired one serious erosion problem. Began clearing brush along the trail. Removed and treated a small patch of Spanish broom growing alongside the trail.. Completed work. Hiked out back to the meeting place. Completed the days project. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: 500 Read More |
| 2018.01.03 | Event #: [542] Blue Canyon - We met at the Wendy trailhead at 8:30 and shuttled down to the Danielson ranch house. The first tree we took out, a good size sycamore, was at the very beginning of the trail. We took out a total of 4 trees. The sycamore, the biggest of them, was the easiest because the trunk was laying across the trail. The others, where branches completely blocked the trail, were a lot more work. More cuts, more cuttings to move off the trail. At 11:30 we proceed to hike out, then shuttled back to the Wendy trailhead, and were back at our cars by 12:30 Number of volunteers: 4 Number of volunteer hours: 16 Feet of trail: N/A Read More |
| 2017.12.30 | Event #: [535] Blue Canyon - Utilized Brush Cutter and Weed Whip to work on 1,600 feet of trail. Cleared several drains along the way. Worked up to the last drainage crossing before Chamberlain Trail. Note: Need to return to complete work up to Chamberlain trail. Read More |
| 2017.12.16 | Event #: [534] Hidden Valley Overlook trail, NPS Rancho Sierra Vista - Our main effort was clearing the trail of brush and weeds using two gas powered brush cutters. We also cleaned 9 water drains and installed one new one. The trail is now completely cleared. Feet worked: 4000 Crew size: 7 Hours worked: 6 Total hours: 42 Read More |
| 2017.12.02 | Event #: [532] Old Boney Trail - Nine volunteers working with two brush cutters cleared nearly a half mile of trail. The trail corridor was returned to its eight foot width. Several drains were cleared and returned to full utilization. Two small slides were worked on to replace tread that had been buried. Read More |
| 2017.12.02 | Event #: [533] BBT Kiosk Projects - This was the third workday of an Eagle Scout project to implement the first sub project of the TH Improvements Project. This workday resulted in the completion of installation of fixtures at the Coral Canyon, Ray Miller and Danielson Ranch Backbone Trail trailheads. The previous two workdays of this subproject installed the legs for thedisplay kiosks at each trailhead. Today's tasks were to complete the assembly of the kiosk, add a "Backbone Trail" sign and attach the kiosk to the previously installed legs. There were two SMMTC volunteers (plus one adult scout member) and four minor boy scouts present. Arrived at the Coral Canyon trailhead. Began work. Attached the pre-assembled roof and added the custom made "Backbone Trail" sign to the Kiosk. Stood the kiosk upright and attached to the legs. Carpooled/caravanned to the Ray Miller BBT trailhead in La Jolla Canyon. Arrived at the Ray Miller Coral Canyon trailhead. Began work. Attached the pre-assembled roof and added the custom made "Backbone Trail" sign to the Kiosk. Stood the kiosk upright and attached to the legs. Carpooled/caravanned through Sycamore Canyon to the BBT trailhead at the Danielson Ranch Group Campground in Sycamore Canyon. Arrived at Danielson Ranch Group Campground. Began work. Attached the pre-assembled roof and added the custom made "Backbone Trail" sign to the Kiosk. Stood the kiosk upright and attached to the legs.. Total volunteer hours: 3 Volunteers x 6 hours = 18 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2017.12.01 | Event #: [594] Reporting and Scheduling - Reporting and Scheduling Read More |
| 2017.11.28 | Event #: [527] Upper Sycamore Trail - This was the eighth and final of several, special trail workdays to restore the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. The primary objective of the project was to construct a large retaining wall to support a new and wider trail tread. The primary tasks for this work day were to install some drainage structures to protect the newly construed wall. There were five SMMTC volunteers present. Hiked approximately one mile to the worksite. Began work. Installed a low wall as a water diversion at the top of the newly constructed retaining wall. Also installed a large dip swale to drain water off the trail above the newly constructed trail tread. Backfilled behind the wall with rocks and dirt. Completed work. Gathered all tools which had been stashed near the work site and hiked out. Read More |
| 2017.11.25 | Event #: [531] BBT - Upper Solstice Canyon Trail - Arrive at trailhead. Distribute sign-in sheet and tools. Describe and view trail conditions. Begin trail maintenance activities which included constructing an inside drain and filling-in a long and deep erosional trench. Brush cutter and lopping. Tread maintenance. 4 volunteers x 6 hours = 24 hours Note: Greg Sweel worked an additional 2 hours for pre-evaluation of trail conditions. Total distance maintained = 500 feet. Read More |
| 2017.11.18 | Event #: [526] BBT Kiosk Projects - This was the first of four sub projects/ Eagle Projects in the BBT TH Improvement Effort The effort occurred over three days as follows: Day1 (j Mitcham, B Dydyk) 1 hour Load trucks with tools and table and Kiosk parts Day2 ( J Mitcham, B Dydyk, S Horvath, L Stark) 9 hours Install picnic table at Corral Canyon TH Dig holes, in rock, for kiosk legs and cement legs into ground. Day 3 ( J Mitcham, B Dydyk, S Horvath,M Marangola, B Kuo, R Wolf, H Petcher) 7.5 hrs Install kiosk legs at Ray Miller TH and at Danielson Hours per person: J Mitcham 17.5 B Dydyk 17.5 S Horvath 16.5 L Stark 9.0 M Marangola 7.5 B Kuo 7.5 R Wolf 7.5 H Petcher 7.5 In addition to the above adult effort we estimate that there were 187 hours of effort from the Boy Scouts. Read More |
| 2017.11.18 | Event #: [530] Circle X Ranch - Trail brushing, tread work. Met at trailhead. Hiked in to just above the creek crossing. Cleared brush (lots of grass), removed partially downed trees and blocked social trail. Reconstructed tread in several areas, continuing with brush work and tread work to the Oak grove. Blocked a second social trail at the Oak grove. Worked back out from the Oak grove toward the trail head continuing with brush work and minor tread work. Total volunteer hours: 5 volunteers x 6.5 hours = 32.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~2100 Read More |
| 2017.11.16 | Event #: [528] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - Today was the 7th special trailwork day to restore the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail. We continued working on construction of the wall, which is now nearly complete. Leveling the trail is also proceeding nicely. We worked until 1:30, collected our tools, hiked out and shuttled back. Read More |
| 2017.11.14 | Event #: [525] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - Continuation of work on the Upper Sycamore trail in Pt. Mugu State Park. Rocks were added to retaining wall and area was groomed for the next event. Six hearty volunteers were on hand to support this effort. Read More |
| 2017.11.11 | Event #: [529] Malibu Creek SP - Rehabilitation of trail, joint activity with CORBA and Girlz Gone Riding. Met at Reagan Ranch parking lot for shuttle into MSCP through back gate on Crags rd. Parked adjacent to MASH site and hike @ 0.2 miles to work site. Cleared brush, removed partially downed trees along route. Removed large to medium rocks that were embedded into the trail at various sections. Reconstructed tread in 2 areas, consisting of reinforcing the trail edge with rock and covering with dirt to create a path wide enough for safe use. Reworked tread, widening trail as needed along work segment. Hiked out of worksite and shuttled back to Regan ranch parking lot. Total volunteer hours: 24 volunteers x 4 hours = 96 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~2500 Read More |
| 2017.11.09 | Event #: [521] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - This was the fifth of several special trail workdays to restore the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. The primary tasks for this work day was to continue construction of the retaining wall and to begin the restoration of the trail tread. Th Hiked approximately one mile to the worksite. Began work. Continued working on construction of the wall. Began the leveling and smoothing of the trail tread above the lower portion of the wall. Continued working on the trail tread and backfilled behind the wall with rocks and dirt. Completed work. Read More |
| 2017.11.07 | Event #: [520] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - We met at the Wendy trailhead at 8:30 and shuttled into Point Mugu State Park, and then from the Upper Sycamore trail trailhead we hiked ~1 miles to the work area. The project for today was to continue the restoration/rebuilding of a section of said trail. We worked on the retaining wall. We have made a lot of progress on building this wall and hopefully will be able to complete the work in another 3 to 4 outings. We had a new volunteer, Rex Levi, who was enthusiastic and full of energy. He made a difference. Read More |
| 2017.11.04 | Event #: [519] Nicholas Flat Trail - This was a scheduled, special project to host student volunteers from California State University Channel Islands. The objective of this project was to complete work started on the Willow Creek and Nicholas Flats Trails in October. There were 20 student volunteers and 6 SMMTC volunteers present. Split into two work crews. One crew worked on the Willow Creek Trail starting from the bottom of the hill and working up to the junction with the Nicholas Flats trail. The second and larger, crew worked on the Nicholas Flats Trail starting at the leave off point on the last work day and working downhill. The work was general trail maintenance tasks, lopping, chopping weeds and cleaning drains. Total volunteer hours: 26 Volunteers x 6 hours = 156 hours Feet of trail maintained: 4,200 Read More |
| 2017.11.02 | Event #: [522] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - Work continued on construction of a retaining wall. We have finished 2 1/2 rows of base rocks. When finished the wall will be about 28 feet long, 4 feet wide and will vary in height from 2 to 6 feet. Several more rocks were "mined" from the steep solid rock drainage above the work site. Read More |
| 2017.10.31 | Event #: [523] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - Work continued on construction of a retaining wall. Build first two rows of rock wall about 25 feet long Gathered additional material for next outing. Read More |
| 2017.10.28 | Event #: [517] BBT - Mishe Mokwa trail, Circle X Ranch, NPS - Worked on a segment of trail nearly two miles from parking area. Our crew of eight began brushing and fixing tread. Five water diversions were either created or restored. Additional work will be performed in the next few weeks. Read More |
| 2017.10.27 | Event #: [524] Deerleg Trail - Cleared brushy spot where large tree had fallen across the trail. Read More |
| 2017.10.26 | Event #: [518] Upper Sycamore Cyn Trail - This was the first of several special trail workdays to restore the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. The trail crew installed some temporary repairs, which were suitable for hikers, but did not resolve the hazardous conditions for equestrians. Several special, weekday, workdays have been added to the regular weekly trail maintenance schedule to accomplish this project. The major part of the project involves the construction of a large, dry masonry, retaining wall. Rocks and soil will then be used to backfill behind the wall to develop a smooth, unobstructed trail tread. Additional tasks will be to install drains and other improvements above the damaged area to reduce future water runoff from damaging the trail. When completed, the project will result in a trail which will be safer and provide a more pleasant trail experience for all trail users. The primary tasks for this work day was to clear fallen trees/limbs and other debris from the work area. In addition, many, large rocks were stockpiled for the next phase of the project. There were six volunteers present. Began work. Cut down and removed several small, dead trees. Cut up and removed several downed trees and large limbs from the work area. Lopped back the live, new growth. Removed organic material and other debris from the work area. Began to dig out the footing for the future retaining wall. Collected and stockpiled many large rocks to be used in the wall. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 5 hours = 30 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2017.10.21 | Event #: [515] COSCA Fall Work Day - Excellent day of trail work. It was a lot of digging and we moved a lot of dirt. In several areas, in order to cut a bench we ended up with a 3 to 5 foot vertical cut on the uphill side. The total length of trail was 0.67, we finished one-half of that and left the rest in various degrees of completion, from near-ready to just-started. Volunteers: We had a total of 193 volunteers, and most of those ended up in one of our crews. To all crew leaders, a shout-out to you for a job well done! Read More |
| 2017.10.19 | Event #: [514] Upper Sycamore Site Survey - Trail survey of washout in Upper SycamoreCanyon. Read More |
| 2017.10.15 | Event #: [513] Thousand Oaks Street Faire - Setting up this morning we tied, taped and weighed down everything , and everything held up just fine. There were moments of winds, but none of the gusts that were predicted. I took four gallon jugs filled with water and hung them at each corner of the canopy. The photo boards were tied to legs of the canopy (no easels) and the banner was secured with the clamps and also tied with twine to the top of the legs of the canopy. Given the fact that we didn't get high gusts of wind perhaps it was overkill, but as the old adage goes, "better safe than sorry". I stayed until 10:30a.m. then left. I called Dave Edward and after a brief chat told him I'd join him before 3. I was there at 2:45. The reason I decided to do that is because neither Dave nor Jon have ever taken down our outreach setup and are not familiar with it. Also where to put the stuff inside the storage unit. So when the time came we loaded everything into my truck and since neither Dave nor I were looking forward to going to the storage unit in the late afternoon heat I said I would take the stuff to storage tomorrow. Read More |
| 2017.10.14 | Event #: [516] Leo Carrillo State Park - This was the first Fall Semester 2017 outing with students from CSUCI. Sixteen students and two additional volunteers participated. Our crew of five regulars made for a total of 23 volunteers. The work consisted of brushing the trail on both sides, clearing the slough along the hill side in order to bring the trail to the original width, and sawing or lopping branches sticking onto the trail. There was also a washout that had substantially pinched the trail and a crew under the direction of Dave Edwards was able to widen the trail back to its original width. With that size crew we were able to finish the Willow Creek trail, so we started down the Nicholas Flats trail. The Nicholas Flats trail is going to need probably two more outings (with our regular crew). Greg Sweel, with a crew, took on the lower part of the trail while the rest moved up. Total Volunteer Hours: 23 volunteers 6 hours = 138 Hours Total Feet of trail Maintained: 4,324 Read More |
| 2017.10.11 | Event #: [512] BBT Ray Miller trail, Point Mugu SP - Completed work on the Ray Miller Trail - Pt. Mugu State Park. Cleared trail of encroaching, dead mustard and tarweed. Used brushcutter and hand tools. Cleared heavier brush using hand tool. Feet of trail maintained: 3200 feet 30 Person Hours Read More |
| 2017.10.04 | Event #: [511] Lookout Trail - Work was on a 40 ft section of the Lookout trail in Malibu Creek State Park. Work involved building a rock retaining wall at the site of a minor slide. This wall was about 12 long by 3 ft high and should help prevent further erosion. We also cleared brush which was overhanging the trail and pushing hikers and equestrians to the outside edge, creating a dangerous pass through. We also widened the trail substantially by picking soft sandstone from the inside edge of trail. The trail along this section is now about 4 ft wide or wider and allows for safe passage. Read More |
| 2017.09.30 | Event #: [509] BBT - Mishe Mokwa National Public Lands Day - This was the annual National Public Lands Day trail maintenance event. Routine trail maintenance; lopping, cleaning drains and correcting erosion damage was performed. There were 18 volunteers present. Met at the Mishe Mokwa parking lot on Yerba Buena Road. Conducted tool talk and safety briefings. Broke up into 3 crews. One crew worked eastward from the parking lot on the BBT. Crew two worked on the BBT/Mishe Mokwa connector trail and the third crew worked on the badly damaged section on trail near the trailhead. All sections of the trail were brushed and numerous drains were cleaned of accumulated silt. The badly eroded and trenched section near the trail head was improved. This section of trail was not completely repaired. It still needs lots of work. It may become a special project next year. Stopped work and hiked back to the parking lot. Completed the project. Drove to Circle X Ranch for an NPS hosted lunch. Total volunteer hours: 18 Volunteers x 4.5 hours = 81 hours Feet of trail maintained: 3,690 Read More |
| 2017.09.27 | Event #: [510] Invasive Plant Removal, Saddle Peak - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform Spanish Broom removal on Saddle Peak. There were 7 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Hiked. 5 mile up the BBT to the work site. On the eastern slope of the peak, we treated approximately 1 acre of infested area using the cut and paint technique. Finished the broom treatment. Spend the rest of the morning cleaning out the drains on the nearby BBT. Finished work and hiked/drove back to the meeting place. Completed the days project. Total volunteer hours: 7 Volunteers x 3.5 hours = 24.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2017.09.23 | Event #: [508] BBT Ray Miller trail, Point Mugu SP - Volunteers arrive, sign-in and carpool to Danielson Ranch (Big Sycamore Canyon). Distribute gloves and tools. Safety talk. Split into teams to support 2 hedge trimmers. Begin working where trail maintence left off last Saturday (intersection of Blue/Boney). Two SMMTC crew leaders took 3 volunteers each to support and clean-up after. Remaining 2 volunteers went ahead to clear thick brush and lopping. Used hedge trimmers to clear grasses and low brush along trail corridor. Supporting teams followed and cleared cut vegetation and loose rocks. Lunch break. Stopped work. Resumed work. Stopped work for the day. Returned to Danielson Ranch for carpool back to Wendy. Returned tools and gloves. End of work day. Feet of trail maintained = 2,600 Feet (GPS 0.54 miles) Volunteer hours: 10 Volunteers x 6 hours = 60 Hours Total Volunteer hours = 60 Hours Read More |
| 2017.09.16 | Event #: [507] Toe Stubber - - Cleared trail of dead tarweed and mustard, bush mallow, and other weeds encroaching on the trail. - Trimmed back sycamores and laurel sumac. - Restored 3 water bars. - Realigned the Blue Canyon trail along the last creek toward the top, removed/cut back mule fat. - Removed unnecessary water dam. Seven volunteers met at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead. Two trucks shuttled everyone down Sycamore Canyon. One truck with two volunteers proceeded to the Toe Stubber to work on that trail while the rest shuttled to the Danielson Group Campground to work on the BlueCanyon trail. Total Volunteer Hours: 7 volunteers 6 hours = 42 Hours Total Feet of trail Maintained: 2,851 Read More |
| 2017.09.14 | Event #: [506] Ray Miller Trail - Cleared trail of encroaching, dead mustard and tarweed. Used brushcutters, one from top end of trail and one from bottom end. Cleared heavier brush using hand tools. Feet of trail maintained: 1760 feet 12 Person Hours Read More |
| 2017.09.13 | Event #: [505] Ray Miller Trail - Cleared trail of encroaching, dead mustard and tarweed. Used two brushcutters, one from top end of trail and one from bottom end. Cleared heavier brush using hand tools. Feet of trail maintained: 6800 feet Labor = 60 Person Hours Read More |
| 2017.08.24 | Event #: [504] Santa Barbara Island - This was a special volunteer work project on Santa Barbara Island in Channel Islands National Park. This project was preceded by two earlier assessment trips. The primary objective of this trip was to perform both corrective and preventative trail maintenance on the Landing Cove Trail. This trail is 650 long and has about a 150 foot elevation gain. The trail includes over 170 steps. The trail has never had good drainage features installed and has had minimal maintenance over the years. The poor drainage has resulted in severe damage. The Island has been closed to visitors for almost two years due to damage to the boat landing and the Landing Cove Trail. Read More |
| 2017.08.03 | Event #: [503] Santa Barbara Island Trail Assessment - This was an unscheduled event. This was a follow-up to the damage assessment conducted on April 5, 2017. The main purpose of this trip was to survey the site with the park archeologist. We also reviewed the work needed and updated the earlier assessment. The Park staff is interested in repairing the damage to the trail to improve safety prior to repair of the landing and also for any visitors landing from private boats. While the repairs are not an immediate concern, they would like to have the trail repaired ahead of the landing repairs. Read More |
| 2017.07.29 | Event #: [502] Upper Sycamore - On Saturday July 29 we had a special trail work day to take out two branches of a very large oak tree that fell on Old Boney trail, past the waterfall, past the switchbacks. Read More |
| 2017.07.19 | Event #: [501] Upper Sycamore - We had 5 people and worked 5 hours for 25 total hours for State Park. Report: Work consisted of weed whacking and minor brushing. We cleared about 2200 feet of trail. This completes work on the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail except for about a 300 ft section which has minor weed issues. Read More |
| 2017.07.06 | Event #: [500] Upper Sycamore - We cleared about 1200 ft of the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail using a weed whacker followed by hand saws and loppers. We also chain-sawed a 15 inch diameter tree leaning across the trail. One more outing will suffice in clearing the rest of the trail. We had a crew of 5 working 6 hours for a total of 30 hours. Read More |
| 2017.06.28 | Event #: [499] Saddle Creek Trail - Special project. We used two brush cutters to clear tall weeds from the trail. We started near the bottom of the Saddle Creek trail and worked up, clearing about 3000 ft. of trail. This leaves maybe 1/4 mile still very weedy. But the trail is very hike-able. We worked 6 hours with 7 persons for 42 total hours. Read More |
| 2017.06.17 | Event #: [497] BBT Saddle Creek - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event. The object of this project was to cut back the vegetation on the badly overgrown sections of the trail. The plan was to begin work at the upper end of the trail and work downhill, then hiking down to Piuma Road when work was complete. We were using 4 power tools. There were 10 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the dirt pull out near the BBT on Piuma Road. Loaded tools in one truck and carpooled to the BBT connector tail on Stunt Road. Hiked in about one mile before beginning work. The trail in this area was badly overgrown with black mustard, thistle and sage. We used two weed whackers and two brush trimmers to cut back the overgrowth, widening the trail corridor significantly. Six crewmembers followed the power tools to clear the cutting from the trail. We changed operators on the power tools frequently. After clearing approximately .7 mile of trail we stopped work and began the hike back to the meeting place. Read More |
| 2017.06.15 | Event #: [496] Serrano Canyon - With the help of two persons from The Ranch at Malibu, we finished clearing the Serrano Canyon trail up to the valley and then through the valley almost to the intersection with the Serrano Ranch trail. We cleared about 2000 ft of trail. The trail is now completely cleared from Sycamore Canyon road trail head up to the valley and beyond. 5 persons from SMMTC @ 6 hours = 30 hrs total 2 persons from The Ranch at Malibu = 12 hrs total Read More |
| 2017.06.14 | Event #: [498] Saddle Peak Spanish Broom - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform Spanish Broom removal on Saddle Peak. There were 6 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Two volunteers hiked to the peak, while the other four road in the vehicle. On the peak, we treated approximately 3 acres of infested area using the “cut and paint” technique. As expected, there was a significant amount of broom in the area, but still at an easily manageable level. We treated the flat area on top of the peak as well as the lower level and alongside the road leading in from the property line. There is still broom to be treated on the southern and eastern slopes and in the meadow above the large water tank... .Finished work and hiked/drove back to the meeting place. Completed the day's project. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 6 hours = 36 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2017.06.07 | Event #: [495] Serrano Canyon Trail - Continued work on Serrano Canyon Trail. Our team made good progress and ran out of time near the ascent into Serrano Valley. One more trip will be required to complete the removal of overgrown brush from this trail. Cleared trail of heavy brush using brush cutter and 2 weed whips. We were joined by four representatives of the Ranch. These guys made a big difference in moving the amount of cleared trail forward. Three Good Sam/Camping World employees also assisted in the clearing of the abundant overgrowth of brush crowding the trail. Feet of trail maintained: 3700 feet 66 Person Hours Read More |
| 2017.06.03 | Event #: [494] National Trails Day - National Trails Day. We provide crew leaders for this annual NPS event. Dave Edwards had a crew of 10 counting John Kross and myself. We worked the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail. It was entirely clearing weeds and brush. We worked about 1500 feet of trail. Greg Sweel, Chris Morneau, Jon Van Gorder from the Trails Council, plus Mike Zenan, Nellie and another from NPS, and three other volunteers. This crew completed 0.15 mile of trail by brushing and drain clean-outs. Read More |
| 2017.06.01 | Event #: [493] Los Liones Trail - This was a special project day at Los Leones with personnel from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center/Global Positioning Systems, a subordinate unit of Air Force Space Command located at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo. Work was mostly light brushing and clearing weeds. About 3500 feet of trail was cleared. Read More |
| 2017.05.27 | Event #: [492] BBT, Triunfo Pass Segment - Did our best to remove overgrown brush from the trail with hand tools. This would have been better with the gas powered brush trimmer. We worked from Mile Marker 8 towards Mishe Mokwa trail. An additional event will be required to return the trail to its 4 foot width. Read More |
| 2017.05.20 | Event #: [491] Serrano Canyon, Point Mugu SP - SMMTC crew leaders met and proceeded to TH and began weed wacking and brushing Scouts and adult leaders met at parking area and hiked to TH. Divided into teams and received safety briefing. One team started at TH and second team moved down the trail and both teams cleared cuttings and groomed trail. Teams worked their way down the trail leapfrogging as needed. A third team repaired a stream crossing washout. Read More |
| 2017.05.17 | Event #: [489] Upper Sycamore Trail - Special outing to remove two oak trees and a sycamore tree that were reported by Norm Simmons and Jon Sheldon (a Sierra Club hiker) 8:30 a.m. Four volunteers met at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead and shuttled to the Upper Sycamore Canyon trailhead by the bridge at the bottom of the asphalt grade. From there volunteers hiked ~1.5 miles to the furthest fallen trees, a very large sycamore and large oak tree that was brought down by the sycamore. Read More |
| 2017.05.04 | Event #: [483] Wilderness First Aid Training - Second Day of Two day Wilderness First Aid Training. Read More |
| 2017.05.03 | Event #: [482] Wilderness First Aid Training - Trail Crew members attended a Wilderness First Aid Training along with Park Rangers from COSCA. Read More |
| 2017.04.30 | Event #: [488] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - 36th Annual Trail Days Volunteers began to arrive and sign in. Ten SMMTC volunteers were on hand to organize and supervise the trail maintenance activities. Crew leaders and volunteers were shuttled to the trail head. Volunteers were organized into two crews, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows Crew #1: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. 13 volunteers. Crew #1 Lopped and chopped light brush from alongside the trail to reestablish the four foot width. Groomed the tread to improve drainage. Total volunteer hours: (13 volunteers x 3 hours) = 39 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,580 feet Crew #2: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. 7 Volunteers. Crew #2 Hiked in approximately 1 mile to the work site. The crew realigned approximately 80 of trail where the previous had been completely washed out. The new alignments took the trail out of the stream bed and up a new ramp to the old trail on the other side. Cleared heavy weeds and light brush on 200 feet of trail. Total volunteer hours: (7 volunteers x 3 hours) = 21 hours Feet of trail maintained: 280 feet Total volunteer hours for Sunday: 60 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,860 Read More |
| 2017.04.29 | Event #: [487] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - This was the 36th annual Trail Days event. Volunteers began to arrive and sign in. Ten SMMTC volunteers were on hand to organize and supervise the trail maintenance activities. Volunteers were organized into several crews. Crews were shuttled to various trail heads, assigned crew leaders and issued tools. The crewleaders conducted tool talk and safety briefings to their respective crews. Four crews were shuttled, by vans to their work sites at the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. One crew consisting of CORBA and MBU members was shuttled to the Wood Canyon Vista Trail Head. The Sierra Club crew shuttled to the Coyote Trail. The trails, crews and work accomplishments were as follows: Crew #1: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail; 8 volunteers. Crew #1 Realigned an eighty foot section of trail around a massive washout. This involved clearing a downed tree, creating a new tread across the stream bed and building a new ramp out of the steam. Removed overgrowth from about 550 feet of badly overgrown trail and repaired one minor cross drainage. Total volunteer hours: (8 volunteers x 6 hours) = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 630 Crew #2: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail. 8 volunteers. Crew #2 Chopped heavy weeds and growth along trail, widening the tread. Filled a trench and installed one armored drain.. Total volunteer hours: (8 volunteers x 6 hours) = 48 hours Feet of trail maintained: 790 Crew #3: Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail; 11 volunteers. Crew #3 Constructed a new trail steam crossing. Created tread across the streambed and built a new ramp out or the creek. Filled a trench and repaired the tread across a new drainage. Chopped heavy weeds and growth along trail, widening the tread. Total volunteer hours: (11 volunteers x 6 hours) = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,230 Crew #4: Sycamore Canyon Trail; 9 volunteers. Crew #4 Filled a large trench and established a new tread through badley eroded streambed and large rocks. Chopped heavy weeds and lopped brush to widen trail. Read More |
| 2017.04.28 | Event #: [486] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - Began work with four SMMTC volunteers. Two volunteers drove to the Malibu Sector Office on PCH and weed whacked the parking lot (this work was preparation for the Backbone Trek next week. The other two volunteers performed tool maintenance at Danielson Ca Read More |
| 2017.04.27 | Event #: [485] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - Four SMMTC Crewleaders met at Danielson Campground to begin planning and preparations for Trail Days. Began work. Hauled additional tools from the storage unit in Newbury Park. Four volunteers hiked the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail performing assessment an Read More |
| 2017.04.26 | Event #: [484] Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days, Sycamore Canyon, Point Mugu SP - This was the 36th annual Trail Days event. Several SMMTC crew leaders met and camped in the campground a few days ahead of time to make preparation for the main event to be held on the week end. Hauled in tools and setup camp. Read More |
| 2017.04.22 | Event #: [480] Grasslands connector trail, Malibu Creek SP - This was a regularly scheduled trail maintenance event. The Trails council was supporting the State Parks and SM Foundation in an Earth Day Event. Trail Maintenance was just one of several activities available for volunteers. There were approximately 40 trail volunteers, including three CSUCI volunteers and six SMMTC crewleaders. Met at the parking lot in Malibu Cree State Park. Over a hundred volunteers were present. After initial announcements, the volunteer were divided into different groups for different activities. Forty volunteers were designated for trail work. The volunteers and SMMTC crew leaders hiked approximately .5 mile the the work site. The State Parks staff had previously cut a new bench for a new section of trail approximately .25 miles long. Today's volunteers were tasked to groom the new bench. This included sloping the inside bank and out sloping the tread. Completed work hiked back to the meeting place. Completed event. State Parks provided lunch. Total volunteer hours: 13 volunteers x 3.5 = 45.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,320 ft. Read More |
| 2017.04.19 | Event #: [479] Yearling Trail - Trail maintenance outing at the request of the Conejo Valley Runners. In all 10 runners participated. Volunteers met at the main parking area, at the Reagan ranch. The following work was completed: - Filled in trenches along the first 3/10ths of the trail. - Moved trail above the trench for a total of 50 feet - Leveled and smoothed bench for a total of 60 feet Total Volunteer Hours: 12 volunteers × 2.5 hours = 30 Hours Feet of trail Maintained: 528 feet Read More |
| 2017.04.18 | Event #: [490] CHIS Santa Cruz Island - This was our annual trip to the Prisoners Harbor area of Santa Cruz island to work on the Del Norte Trail. The primary objective of this trip was to perform trail maintenance on the that section of the Del Norte Trail between Navy road and the Del Norte Campground, We would also work on the campground and on the Montanon Ridge Trail at the end of Navy Road. We were a crew of four SMMTC volunteers. Project Totals: Feet of trail maintained: 11,620 (2.2 Mi.) Total Volunteer Hours: 4 volunteers X 24.5 hours = 98 hours Individual Volunteer Hours: Jerry Mitcham: 24.5 Hours Anne Russell 24.5 Hours Israel Ulloa 24.5 Hours John Seltzer 24.5 Hours Read More |
| 2017.04.15 | Event #: [481] BBT - Upper Zuma Canyon - Poison Oak removal, brushing, tread work, removal of rocks and tripping hazards from trail. Removed overhead branches using pole saws and hand saws. 2600 feet of maintained trail. 14 volunteers x 5 hours = 70 hours. Read More |
| 2017.04.12 | Event #: [478] Phantom trail, Malibu Creek SP - Weed Whipped 300 yds. Of trail Cleaned out 15 water diversions Rebuilt trail over one earth-slide Removed trees overhanging trail Removed brush encroaching on trail Feet of trail maintained: 3000 feet Read More |
| 2017.04.08 | Event #: [477] T.O. Outreach - SMMTC set up and staffed an information booth at the annual Thousand Oaks Arbor/Earth Day Celebration at the Thousand Oaks Community Park. Three SMMTC volunteers staffed the booth Read More |
| 2017.04.05 | Event #: [476] Trail Assessment - This was an unscheduled event. In response to concerns of the Channel Islands National Park staff, one SMMTC volunteer traveled to Santa Barbara Island to perform a trail damage assessment in preparation for a future SMMTC trail crew maintenance trip to the island. The island is currently closed to visitors (except for those landing from private boats), due to extensive storm damage to the landing pier. The winter rains have also damaged the trail from the landing up to the Ranger Station/Campground. The Park staff is interested in repairing the damage to the trail to improve safety prior to repair of the landing and also for any visitors landing from private boats. While the repairs are not an immediate concern, they would like to have the trail repaired ahead of the landing repairs. Read More |
| 2017.04.01 | Event #: [475] BBT, Trancas Canyon Rd., NPS - This was a regularly scheduled trail maintenance event. This section of trail is the last land acquisition to complete the Backbone Trail. At the time of acquisition, there was minimal work done to convert the existing social trail into a maintained trail. It still needs additional work to bring it up to the BBT standard.. There were thirteen volunteers present; nine SMMTC volunteers and four CSUCI volunteers. Met at the Yellow Gate on Encinal Canyon. We carpooled/caravanned to the trail head. Conducted toll talk and safety briefings. Began work at the trail head working in an easterly direction. We chopped weeds and light brush along the trail to create a four foot tread. We did minor lopping, mainly to increase overhead clearance for the equestrians. We cleaned out several drains and installed several new drains. Filled a short stretch of trench in the trail. Total volunteer hours: 13 volunteers x 6 = 78 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,000 ft. Read More |
| 2017.03.29 | Event #: [474] Paramount Ranch - This was a Farmers Insurance team building event sponsored by National Parks Service. Volunteers met at Paramount Ranch, next to the entrance to Western Town. The Farmers Insurance team was split into 3 crews, led by Dave Edwards, Jerry Mitcham, and John Kross. After distributing tools and safety talk, we proceeded to the Medea Creek loop trail to commence trailwork. Each crew worked on a different leg of this trail. In all, crews cleared weeds and brush to bring the trail to min. 4 feet wide bench, filled in trenches, did light lopping, and cleaned out 8 drains. Work completed, everyone hiked out. Total Volunteer Hours: 36 volunteers 2 hours = 72 Hours Feet of trail Maintained: 2,620 feet Read More |
| 2017.03.25 | Event #: [473] Upper Sycamore Canyon - Work on the Upper Sycamore Canyon trail in PMSP was done at two sites. Both were the site of extensive damage from the recent rains. At the first site we cut in a trail on the side of a washed-out vertical creek bank which was about 7 feet high and 30 feet long. We took out a large clump of laurel sumac in the middle of the trail. Also several rocks strewn across the creek which made for an uneven crossing were cleared to make for a smooth trail. We improved access into and out of the creek crossing on both sides. Several small trees and some brush were removed. At the second site we also improved access into and out of a washed-out creek crossing. We removed several small trees to allow for temporary access to the main trail. Several more work sessions are required to fully restore the trail to a hikeable condition. About 200 feet of trail was worked. Read More |
| 2017.03.18 | Event #: [472] COSCA Spring Trail Work Days - Annual Spring Trail Work event during which Trails Council crew leaders survey and flag work areas prior to the event and lead crews on the day of the event. Volunteers met at the Conejo Canyons trailhead on Conejo Center Drive. After registration, at 8a.m. volunteers were divided into teams that ranged between 6 and 14 people, were assigned their tools, and hiked to their designated work area. The following work was completed: Team 1: Filled-in severely eroded ~50 foot section of trail Built rock wall and improved drainage to prevent future erosion Team 2: Cut in trail re-route to get around a very muddy creek area ~400 feet Team 3: Brushed, removed slough, widened bench in places in order to bring trail back to min. 4 feet of bench width (this is an equestrian trail) ~800 feet Team 4: Filled in trenched areas, cut in or restored 8 water bars ~1,500 feet Additional work accomplished Filled in deep trench at the junction of Hawk Cny trail and Hawk Cny fire road ~20 feet Work completed, everyone hiked back for a lunch provided by COSCA rangers. Total Volunteer Hours: 65 volunteers 4 hours = 260 Hours Feet of trail Maintained: 2,770 feet Read More |
| 2017.03.15 | Event #: [469] Phantom trail, Malibu Creek SP - Rebuilt 6 water drains Filled ruts, flattened trail and installed out-slope Cleared slough from inside and widened trail. Read More |
| 2017.03.10 | Event #: [470] Santa Cruz Islands - This was a scheduled volunteer work project on Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National park. Since our scheduled February trip to Santa Cruz had to be cancelled due to the weather, this was our first trip to the Channel Islands this year. The primary objective of this trip was to perform both corrective and preventative trail maintenance as a result of damage inflicted by early rain storms this year. Two SMMTC volunteers had visited the Island earlier this month to assess the damage. Project Totals: Feet of trail maintained: 5,596 (1.06 Mi.) Total Volunteer Hours: 4 volunteers X 24 hours = 96 Individual Volunteer Hours: Jerry Mitcham: 24 Hours Dave Edwards 24 Hours John Reyes 24 Hours Don Brusselars 24 Hours Read More |
| 2017.03.04 | Event #: [468] Nicholas Flat trail, Leo Carrillo State Park - This was a scheduled joint project with students from CSUCI. The object of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Nicholas Flats Trail. We havent worked on this section of trail in at least 3 years, so there was much work to be done. There were 6 CSUCI Students and 14 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the Leo Carrillo State Park day use parking lot. Three of the SMMTC volunteers, Greg Sweel, John Kross and Barry Dydyk. Began brushing the trail using the power brush trimmers. Other volunteers waited at the meeting place for the students. Students arrive. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Began work at the trail head, across the street. We split into two crews. The students and some crewleaders began by clearing the brush cuttings left behind by the earlier workers. The remaining SMMTC volunteers proceeded up the trail ahead of the brush cutter to begin tread work on the upper part of the trail. By the end of the work day, the combined crews had maintained about a quarter mile of trail. Clearing brush, cleaning drains, installing new drains and filling the trenches in the tread. Total volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 7 = 21 hours 17 Volunteers x 6 = 102 hours Total hours = 123 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,320 Read More |
| 2017.03.02 | Event #: [471] Santa Cruz Islands - In response to concerns of the Santa Cruz Island park rangers, two volunteers traveled to Scorpion Canyon to perform a trail damage assessment in preparation for our scheduled maintenance trip later in the month. Read More |
| 2017.02.25 | Event #: [467] Blue Canyon Trail - This was an outing with the Coyote Trail Runners. In total 9 trail runners and 9 SMMTC regular volunteers participated. Volunteers met at the Wendy and Potrero trailhead. The runners ran in. The rest shuttled. The following work was completed: - Rerouted stream away from the trail on several locations in order to recover/restore the trail - Removed blockage along creek to allow the water to run back on the creek instead of running on the trail - Extensively restored sections of the trail badly rutted - Realigned the trail on several locations - Deep and steep trenches, about 4 feet deep and 10 across, were ramped and the trail restored - Cleared a land slide that pinched the trail, making it difficult to get by Work completed, we regrouped at Danielson campground. Loaded up tools. Total Volunteer Hours: 18 volunteers × 6 hours = 108 Hours Feet of trail Maintained: 3,168 feet Read More |
| 2017.02.23 | Event #: [465] Upper Sycamore - Assessment of storm damage in Upper Sycamore Canyon of Pt. Mugu State Park. Lots of work to be done. Trail nearly impassable in three spots. Read More |
| 2017.02.22 | Event #: [466] Chumash Trail - widened tread, rebuilt 24 drains and built 2 sets of stairs dug into tread Read More |
| 2017.02.11 | Event #: [464] BBT, Saddle Creek Trail, Malibu Creek SP - We worked on the Saddle Creek trail in Malibu Creek SP. We cleared 2 small trees blocking the trail near the trailhead on Piuma Rd. We repaired a section of trail about 3/8 mile in where a slide occured. The slide covered some 30 ft of trail. One large inside drain was completely reworked. We brushed the trail sporadically for about 3/4 mile beginning about 1 1/4 in from the trailhead. About 4000 feet of trail was worked. A large tree fell across the trail in Dark Canyon and will require clearing with a chain saw at a later date. Read More |
| 2017.02.08 | Event #: [463] Trails in Sycamore Can - Cleared two trees from Toe Stubber, three trees in Blue Canyon and two trees on the Old Boney Trail. Read More |
| 2017.02.04 | Event #: [461] Nicholas Flat Ridgeline Trail, Leo Carrillo SP. - This was a scheduled trail maintenance event. The object of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Ridgeline Trail. There were 11 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the trailhead on Decker Road. Conducted tool talk and safety briefing. Hiked one mile to the worksite. . Began work. The trail in this area was badly overgrown and the tread eroded. We used the chain saw to cut back the overgrowth, widening the trail corridor significantly. We added many new drains to prevent future erosion. .Completed work - began hike back to meeting place.. Arrived at meeting place. Completed event. Total volunteer hours: 11 Volunteers x 6 hours = 66 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,580 Read More |
| 2017.01.31 | Event #: [460] Downed Trees La Jolla Canyon - Cleared three trees on La Jolla Canyon Loop. Scouted out several other downed trees in Blue Canyon and Old Boney Trail. Read More |
| 2017.01.28 | Event #: [459] Gizmo Peak Trail - Rehabilitation of trail, joint activity with Sierra Club. Addition of carsonite signs with Dale Skinner, State Parks Met at end of Reseda parking lot. Crew drove or hiked in approximately 1 mile to trail head. TC crew started at the bottom and SC crew started at the top of the trail. Goal was to widen trail, repair tread, and brush trail. The trail had significantly narrowed over time, in places only 12 inches wide. Trail widening included making significant cuts into hillsides and rock faces to try to widen to 3 feet, removal of duff and debris, and knocking down berms. Fill from the hillsides was used to repair tread. Brush was cut back to arm's length from the trail. Brush was used to block social trails going straight uphill that had created significant erosion and denuding of the slope. We repaired one switchback with an awkward slope, significantly widening it and changing the slope to make it safer. Two crew members joined Dale to place carsonite signs on this and other trails, rejoining the main crew at lunch. Lunch break. Resumed work, continuing with work described above. Finished work and hiked or drove back to parking lot Total volunteer hours: 10 volunteers x 6 hours = 60 hours Feet of trail maintained: 800 Read More |
| 2017.01.25 | Event #: [462] Saddle Peak Restoration - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform Spanish Broom removal on Saddle Peak. There were 5 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the BBT trail head on Stunt Road. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Hiked up to the meadow above the water tank. Treated approximately one acre of infested area using the “cut and paint” technique. There was not a lot a broom in this area. Upon completion of broom treatment, we performed some trail maintenance on the BBT. Removed some fallen limbs cross the trail and cleaned all the drains.. .Finished work and hiked back to the trailhead. Total volunteer hours: 5 Volunteers x 3 hours = 15 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,500 Read More |
| 2017.01.18 | Event #: [458] Upper Sycamore Canyon - Removed downed tree on Hidden Pond Trail. Removed 4 downed trees on Blue Canyon Trail. Removed 4 downed trees and lopped bushes encroaching on Upper Sycamore Trail. Built and remove sediment from 33 water diversions on Fossil Trail. Feet of trail maintained: 7000 feet Total Volunteer hours: 60.0 hours Read More |
| 2017.01.14 | Event #: [457] Canyon View Trail, NPS - This was a scheduled project. The object of this project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Canyon View Trail. There were 11 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the Sandstone Peak parking lot. Held tool talk and safety briefings. Began work at the trail head, across the street. Generally, the trail was in good condition. The maintenance tasks performed were light lopping and slough removal. Read More |
| 2017.01.05 | Event #: [455] Scheduling Meeting - Planning and scheduling meeting for work events thru June. Read More |
| 2017.01.04 | Event #: [456] Staircase Beach Access - This was a scheduled, special project. The object of this project was to mitigate a potential erosion problem on and near the Staircase Beach Access Trail. We worked on this trail last fall, filling trenches, building two retaining walls and widening of the trail. Shortly after or work, there was a small brush fire near the trail. In fighting the fire, the fire crew cut a fire break on the slope near the trail, leaving a completely bare strip of slope. Not only did the firebreak leave an area susceptible to massive erosion, it also drained directly onto the trail creating a future serious erosion problem on the trail. Our objective today was to install some waddles on the slope and to install a drain near the bottom of the firebreak to divert water away from the trail. State Parks supported this project by purchasing the materials required. There were 6 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the beach parking lot, near the firebreak. Two, twenty-five foot waddles had been dropped off nearby. We cut the waddles in half and began installing them across the firebreak. Other crew members began building an armored drain near the bottom of the firebreak. A State Parks employee arrives with two additional waddles. We installed the new waddles with the others. Total volunteer hours: 6 Volunteers x 3 hours = 18 hours Feet of trail maintained: NA Read More |
| 2017.01.03 | Event #: [454] Old Cabin Trail - Removed cluster of trees, vines and bushes that were overhanging trail causing hazardous conditions. Read More |
| 2016.12.17 | Event #: [452] BBT Trail near Triunfo Lookout - This was a follow-on trail maintenance project. About 2 more work days are needed to complete the work. Volunteers met at the pullout near mile marker 8 on Yerba Buena road. We worked on the Backbone trail toward the Mishe Mokwa trailhead. The following Read More |
| 2016.12.14 | Event #: [451] Camp 13 Trail - This was a scheduled, special project. The object of this project was to correct an erosion problem on the Camp 13 Trail. We worked on this trail last spring, repairing two large “blow outs” in the side of the trail, by installing retaining walls. How Read More |
| 2016.12.10 | Event #: [450] Tri Peaks Trail - Met at Sandstone Peak parking area and hiked to Tri Peaks trailhead after loading gator with tools. Primary activity was brushing the trail in heavily overgrown areas. Due to long hike we extended our day by one hour. Supported by two State Park employee Read More |
| 2016.12.07 | Event #: [449] Old Boney Trail - Built two major water diversions Filled out-trenches with dirt. Removed brush from work areas with mcleods,rogue hoes, shovels, buckets, loppers. pole saw and gator to haul dirt and tamp down dirt fill. Feet of trail maintained: 200 feet Total Volunt Read More |
| 2016.12.03 | Event #: [448] Backbone Trail - Musch Trail - Work was on the Musch trail in Topanga State Park. We started work at the trail head at Eagle Junction. The Sierra Club Task Force joined in our effort. We cleaned and/or installed some 26 water drains. Other work mostly consisted of brushing and wide Read More |
| 2016.11.30 | Event #: [453] Grotto Trail - This was a scheduled project. The object of the project was to correct an erosion problem on the Grotto Trail resulting from work we did last year. There were 6 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the day Grotto Trail tral head at Circle X Ranch Campground. Read More |
| 2016.11.19 | Event #: [447] Scenic Trail - This was a scheduled project with students of CSUCI. The object of the project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the Scenic Trail. There were 17 CSUCI students and 9 SMMTC volunteers present. Met at the day use parking lot of the Sycamore Canyon Campground. Held introductions, project briefing, tool talk and safety briefing. Hiked to the trailhead. Began work. Work was exclusively tread work to repair the extensive erosion that has occurred on this trail. We installed 9 new drains and cleaned out several existing drains. On the upper portion of the trail, we installed several check dams in the existing large trench in the trail. On the lower portion of the trail we moved in a large amount of soil to fill the large trench. Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 26 Volunteers x 5 hours = 130 hours Feet of trail maintained: 350 Read More |
| 2016.11.12 | Event #: [446] Backbone Trail - Triunfo Pass segment - Six volunteers performed brushing, tread work, removal of rocks from trail and cut overhead branches. A power hedge trimmer made quick work of brush encroaching on the trail. Several branches that fallen across the trail were removed from the trail and drains were cleared. 1600 feet of trail were improved upon. Read More |
| 2016.11.05 | Event #: [445] Lake Vista Trail - Eleven volunteers performed brushing, tread work, removal of rocks from trail and cut overhead branches. Two pole saws and four per hedge trimmer made quick work of brush and branches obstructing the trail. Several branches that fallen across the trail were removed from the trail and drains were cleared. 2600 feet of trail were worked on. Read More |
| 2016.11.02 | Event #: [444] Saddle Peak - Held a scheduled work day on Saddle Peak. We had six SMMTC volunteers. The objective for the day was Plant new oak trees (replacements for earlier plantings that have died), and to treat new broom growth on the peak. The crew met at the dirt pull-out and then drove to the peak. We planted four new trees using cocoons which we have never used before. The cocoons require a much larger hole that the traditional planting method. The ground on Saddle Peak is very rocky meaning our task was very labor intensive. In addition there was a learning curve which slowed us down a bit. It took four us about three hours to plant the four trees, After the tree planting we used the cut and paint technique to treat new broom growth 2:00 PM Completed work. Treated approximately 1 acres. Read More |
| 2016.10.25 | Event #: [443] Danielson Fire Raod - We managed to clear the Danielson Road at the major washout to 7 feet wide. We also cut in a new water drain just above this spot. This ensures that the Gator can get by this spot and haul our tools, etc. to the work site on Dec 7 Read More |
| 2016.10.22 | Event #: [442] Staircase Beach - This was a follow-on trail maintenance project. The work needed is now complete. A total of 17 CSUCI student volunteers were present, in addition to 6 SMMTC regular volunteers and crew leaders.. Volunteers met at the parking area for the Staircase Beach. We split into 4 groups and proceeded to the trailwork areas. The following work was completed: - Widened 100 feet of the lower section of the trail - Built two rock walls to fix washouts on the lower section of the trail - Lopped and brushed 100 feet around the middle section of the trail - Filled, with road base, ditches in the first 180 feet of trail Total Volunteer Hours: 23 volunteers @ 6 hours = 138 Hours Feet of trail Maintained: 380 feet + 2 rock walls Read More |
| 2016.10.16 | Event #: [441] Thousand Oaks Street Fair - Community Outreach at the Thousand Oaks Street Fair. Read More |
| 2016.10.15 | Event #: [440] COSCA - This was the annual Conejo Open Space fall trail day event. The project was in the Western Plateau Area and covered several trails in the area. There were approximately 150 community volunteers, including 15 SMMTC volunteers. Collaborated with the COSCA Rangers and held briefings on the project. There were three general areas to work. Screamer Trail, the largest effort was to cut in a 0.5 mile new section of trail, requiring 6 crews. The Hill Canyon Connector Trail, a section of old road to be converted to single track trail requiring 3 crews. Lastly the Hawk Canyon Connector Trail a new connector trail to be cut in requiring 3 crews. Formed the volunteers into crews of ten and dispatched them to the work areas. For the “Screamer Trail”. the route had already been brushed. The volunteers cut about 0.4 mile of new bench, removing many stumps in the process. The “Hill Canyon Connector Trail” crews removed much brush, smoothed tread and installed several drains. The “Hawk Canyon Connector Trail” crews, cut in 0.1 mile of new bench, removed vegetation and smoothed the tread for 0.2 miles. Total volunteer hours: 15 Volunteers x 5 hours = 75hours Feet of trail maintained: 5,800 Read More |
| 2016.10.12 | Event #: [439] Phantom Trail - Widened trail removing brush from uphill side, removing slough and rocks from uphill side, sloping trail to outside to ensure water doesn't collect on trail. 800 Feet Read More |
| 2016.10.08 | Event #: [438] Phantom Trail - Work was on the Phantom trail beginning about 1/2 mile from trail head at end of Liberty Canyon Rd. Work consisted entirely of tread work, mostly widening the trail, fixing old water drains and adding some new ones. We repaired or fixed 13 water drains. About 2000 feet of trail was worked. This was a Red Flag day which prevented us from weed whipping several very weedy sections. The Phantom trail needs lots of work from one end to the other, particularly the middle one mile or so of the 2.8 mile trail. Read More |
| 2016.10.01 | Event #: [437] Sostomo Trail - Met at locked gate and drove to designated parking. Hiked 2.3 miles to work area. Upper 1000 feet of trail was very rutted due to poor drainage. We repaired existing inside drain where possible and built four new drains to take water off the trail. Brushed trail to 6 foot width and cleared sluff to provide a four foot tread. Due to condition of trail we only completed 1000 feet of trail maintenance. Read More |
| 2016.09.24 | Event #: [436] NPS Public Lands Day - This was the annual National Public Lands Day. The Trails Council supported State and National Parks in organizing and executing the event. There were 9 SMMTC volunteers and numerous other community volunteers present. 8:30 AM Met at Malibu Creek State Park. Coordinated with park officials to establish crew assignments and leaders. The trail council was assigned two crews to work on the Chaparral Trail. . 9:30 AM Community volunteers arrived. After sign in, volunteers were assigned to crew leaders. The Trails Council volunteers hiked to the trailhead. We picked up tools at the trail head. One crew began work at the eastern end of the trial, the other crew started at the western end of the trail. Conducted tool talk and safety briefing at eh trailheads. State Parks personnel had already brushed the trail, so we only had to do tread work. Many established drains were cleaned out and several new drains constructed. Trenched sections of the trail were filled in throughout the trail. 11:30 AM Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place. 12:00 PM NPS provided lunch for all volunteers. (Trails Council provided funds to the park service to purchase the lunches) Total volunteer hours: 9 Volunteers x 3.5 hours = 31.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: 2,100 Read More |
| 2016.09.21 | Event #: [434] Etz Meloy Bypass - Rebuilt three switchbacks including inside drains. Blocked numerous use trails with old discarded brush. Widened stretch of trail removing rocks and sloped to outside to remove water. Removed brush overhanging trail. Feet of trail maintained: 1320 feet Total Volunteer hours: 50.0 personhours Read More |
| 2016.09.19 | Event #: [433] Los Liones Trail - Dave and John provided Crew leader support ofr several groups of UCLA students at the Los Liones Trail. We worked 4 hours. My crew of 11 did brushing and John's crew of 10 cut in new water drains. There was a total of 128 UCLA volunteers. It was their 8th annual UCLA Volunteer Day. The remainder of students spent their time dragging brush to a roadside dumpster. Read More |
| 2016.09.17 | Event #: [429] BBT Near Yerba Buena Road - This was a scheduled project with the UC Outfitters Club of USC. The object of the project was to perform routine trail maintenance on the BBT. There were 8 UC students and 12 SMMTC volunteers present. 8:30 AM Met at the large dirt pull out at the 9.0 mile marker on Yerba Buena Road. Held introductions, project briefing, tool talk and safety briefing. 8:45 AM Began work. We accessed the trail about 0.1 mile from the Yerba Buena trailhead. We performed light lopping, removed slough, roots/stumps and cleaned the drains at the four switchbacks. 2:00 PM Completed work. Hiked back to the meeting place. Total volunteer hours: 20 Volunteers x 6 hours = 120 hours Feet of trail maintained: 1,580 Read More |
| 2016.09.10 | Event #: [430] Pepperdine Step Forward Day - SMMTC volunteers arrive and discuss trail condition, division of tasks, and students. Meet Pepperdine students, sign-in, distribute gloves and tools. Safety talk. Split into 2 groups and hike in to work area and begin work. Two SMMTC crew leaders took 3 students and worked on the eastern portion. Three SMMTC crew leaders took 7 students and worked on the western portion. The eastern crew lopped brush. The western crew improved the trail tread, lopped brush, and cleaned 4 water diversions. Both groups meet and combine work. Stopped work and proceed back to parking area. Return tools and gloves. End of work day. Read More |
| 2016.09.03 | Event #: [431] Malibu Sector HQ Stairs - Met at Malibu Sector HQ parking lot. Widened the trail to the first turn: removing and bagging invasive ice plant and significant dog excrement, excavating hillside to widen trail bed and shoulder, filling in eroded sections. Rework of next segment of trail to remove deeply cut drainage from the trail. Cleared brush from hillside and excavated to create outside drainage down to the outside edge of the ~ 30 foot drop to the beach. Filled in the badly eroded trail with excavations brought by wheelbarrow down from the top and from roadbase supplied by State Parks. Replaced worn, short railroad ties and created new railroad tie steps on steep curve to mitigate erosion and to divert hikers away from the drop off. Total volunteer hours: 7 volunteers x 6 hours = 42 hours Feet of trail maintained: ~400, 5 steps created Read More |
