The huge rut in front of the Sweco is filled in behind it.

On Wednesday, California State Parks staff started the rejuvenation process of Guadalasca Trail in Pt Mugu State Park (Sycamore Canyon). They’re running a Sweco (mini bulldozer) down the trail, pulling down the berm on the outside and filling in the huge rut that runs almost the length of the trail.This is part of a process that was started in late 2011 and CORBA has been helping with over various trailwork days.

State Parks will be running the Sweco down to the point where it is to be eventually rerouted, just below the second lowest switchback, about 1.1 miles from the top of the singletrack section.

On Saturday, the 30 people or so who have signed up for trailwork will be knocking down any loose berm left behind, removing rocks and filling in any big holes.

I rode from the top down to where the work had progressed at the time, about 200 yards or so. The trail is currently pretty rough and somewhat loose. If you’re looking for a really good workout, try riding up this trail once the work is complete!

The loose rough conditions are temporary. Slowly the trail will be packed down as people ride it (mostly downhill, I expect) and eventually it will be in great shape. Some people will be upset at it’s current state, but this trail really needs the ruts fixed, and when it recovers, it will be much more fun to ride than it is now. In some places the rut is so deep I can’t ride in it without banging my pedals on the side. The result is that people ride up the edges, widening the trail on both sides. That may be easy to do now, but it makes for a really wide and ugly scar on the hillside, and the trail edges won’t be viable for riding once the vegetation that was removed by the Springs Fire a month ago grows back.

Wood Canyon Vista Trail (Backbone) was Sweco’d two years ago and has been in really good shape for over a year now, and is in fantastic shape now, especially after the trailwork we did there last week.

But be warned, unless you want an extreme challenge, I suggest you avoid trying to climb Guadalasca until it’s been packed down a bit. Even riding down it will be more challenge than some people will welcome!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 14th, 2013 at 9:39 am and is filed under Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Hazards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.