Archive for the ‘Trail Building and Restoration’ Category

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Help CORBA with the restoration of Upper Guadalasca in Pt. Mugu State Park

Friday, September 27th, 2024

CORBA volunteers working on Lower Guadalasca in 2022

Guadalasca is a great mountain biking trail, so when California State Parks asked us to help fix it’s worst problems, we readily agreed.

Upper Guadalasca Trail in Sycamore Canyon (Pt. Mugu State Park) has been deteriorating since 2015 when it last had crews work on it. California State Parks is planning to fix the ruts and build drains to prevent them from re-forming. They have asked CORBA to help in this effort by clearing away some of the weeds that are overgrowing the trail. There is a lot of work to be done!

We are planning a number of work days to cut back the vegetation. Fortunately most of it is tall grass and light chaparral so the work should go quite quickly.

So far, events are being planned for Sunday September 29, Wednesday October 2 and Friday October 4, starting at 7:30 and ending at 2:30, with a half-hour break for lunch (plus whatever other breaks volunteers would like to take). We’ll ride down from the top of the park, and return to parking by 2:30.

We hope you’ll be able to help with the restoration of this great trail! We’ll need you to register for these events online so we’ll know how many people to prepare for. You can register online with “Golden Opportunities” (you’ll need to create an account the first time you use this system). Full details like what you’ll need and where to meet will be found on Golden when you register.

Individual events will be cancelled the day before (at the latest) for inclement weather or an insufficient number of volunteers.

We hope to see you there!

Posted in California State Parks, Conejo Valley, Special Announcement, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | No Comments »

Backbone Trail Bridge Repair Fund

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020

With generous support from REI, CORBA has put $10,000 towards the National Park Service recovery efforts to rebuild bridges on the Backbone Trail that were burned in the Woolsey Fire.

In the wake of the Woolsey Fire, three bridges along the Backbone National Recreation trail were destroyed. It was some time before the National Park Service was able to assess the remaining abutments and determine when it would begin to replace the bridges. There have been many higher priority recovery efforts underway.  Knowing people were eager to get back on the trails, the Backbone trail was reopened with temporary stream crossings where the bridges once spanned. These are meant as temporary measures until the bridges are rebuilt and opened.

Steve Messer and Charlotte Parry, of SAMO Fund

Steve Messer and Charlotte Parry, of SAMO Fund

REI allowed CORBA to coordinate our fundraising with the Santa Monica Mountains Fund. The SAMO Fund also received a grant from REI.  REI’s Vote with your Purchase campaign added to that fund to benefit all trail users in recovering the Backbone trail to pre-fire conditions.

Combined, those funds from REI, CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund are being used to leverage additional revenue streams to meet the bridge replacement costs. The National Park Service is hoping to have the remaining funding in place, and the bridges under construction this year. While the grant was funded last summer, it has taken time for the NPS to get to this stage.

The remaining grant funding has supported volunteer work days, trailwork tool repair and replacement for the benefit of trails. We also thank the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council, and the Conejo Open Space foundation, with whom CORBA volunteers have partnered on a number of projects in the fire-ravaged Santa Monica Mountains and Conejo Valleys over the past year.

We appreciate the ongoing support from REI and thank them for efforts.

 

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Posted in Santa Susana Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration | 1 Comment »

Trail Construction by SCV Trail Users

Thursday, January 30th, 2020

New trail!

CORBA is proud to have the Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users (SCVTU) out furthuring CORBA’s mission, by advocating for new trails, and doing trail maintenance and construction in the Santa Clarita Valley.   SCVTU became a committee of CORBA in 2017, and have been making great strides in advocacy and volunteerism.

Currently, they are building out a new trail network at East Walker Ranch and Golden Valley Ranch. These two properties were acquired by the City to preserve as open space. They have an existing network of old ranch roads, but few singletrack options. The ranch roads are also unsustainably steep in some places, and don’t provide the trail experience that most people look for when hiking or mountain biking. The City has seen the need for new trails to accommodate their growing population, and we’re happy to help.

The trail network will eventually connect SCV neighborhoods to the Placerita Canyon nature center, the Angeles National Forest, and to other open spaces managed by the City.

On Sunday, January 26, 2020, more than two dozen volunteers worked on the latest addition to the trail network, garnering some great media coverage from SCV Signal, a local newspaper.

The work is supported by a generous grant from REI, which allowed the committee to acquire tools, support and engage volunteers, and bring in additional expertise to facilitate construction. REI is so invested that a volunteer work day for REI employees was held last year. Another is being planned for later this year.

It was especially rewarding for members of the Santa Clarita Composite Mountain Bike team, who race in the SoCal High School Mountain biking league. Team members and coaches were there to build the trail in the morning, then rode it in the afternoon.

We thank REI, all the volunteers who have given so much to the SCV community, and to our committee members who have led the effort. You should thank them too.

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Posted in Santa Clarita Valley, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Summary of Backbone Trail restoration held on November 16, 2019

Sunday, November 17th, 2019

The Backbone Trail between Mulholland Hwy and Etz Meloy Mtwy saw about 20 volunteers from CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council on Saturday to prepare the trail for upcoming winter rains. The area had burned during the Woolsey Fire a year ago that consumed all the chaparral on the hillside, and there was no brush overgrowing the trail. We focused on building rock retaining walls to support the outside of the trail where water would flow down from above and cross the trail. We also cleaned out drains that had been silted up.

CSUCI students clean out a drain at a switchback.

Three first-time volunteers from CalState Channel Islands joined the CORBA crew in building rock walls and digging out drains. They did a great job!

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help. You can view more photos in our photo gallery of this event.

Posted in Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Summary of the Conejo Fall Trail Work Day held October 19 in the Conejo Canyons Open Space

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019

Digging to make a drain starts when the vegetation is all gone.

About 80 open space enthusiasts came out to help fix up the trails in the Conejo Canyons in preparation for winter rains. Volunteers came from various organizations such as the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council (SMMTC), CORBA, the El Camino Real charter high school mountain bike team, various Meetup groups and others. The CORBA crew added drains to natural dips in the Hill Canyon Trail so they wouldn’t become muddy bogs when it rains. The other folks hiked up the Canyon Overlook Trail to fill in ruts and remove loose rocks. At noon, the volunteers were rewarded with a taco lunch and prize give-away to thank them for their hard work and generosity in donating their time to open space improvement. COSF, COSCA and the other organizations would like to give a hearty thank-you to all the volunteers!

View some of the workers in our photo gallery!

Posted in Conejo Valley, High School League, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | 2 Comments »

Help restore trails in the Conejo Canyons during the 2019 Fall Trail Work Day on October 19

Thursday, October 3rd, 2019

Join CORBA, SMMTC, COSCA and other volunteer groups to work on the Conejo Open Space trails in Thousand Oaks.

This year we’ll be repairing and doing preventative maintenance on trails in the Conejo Canyons / Western Plateau area that were damaged last November by the Hill Fire and then subsequent winter rains.

We’ll also be celebrating the re-opening of the Hill Canyon Bridge that was severely damaged by the Hill Fire.

There will be a thank you lunch and prize drawings at noon after the work. This is a great event with lots of like-minded folks to help out. If you use the trails in Thousand Oaks, come out and help build and maintain them! No prior experience is necessary and all volunteers work at their own pace, taking plenty of time to rest and chat with other trail enthusiasts!

This annual Conejo Valley event always helps to put some very sweet trails into good shape. Be sure to stay afterwards for the free lunch and prize give-away.

Registration starts at 7:30 am on Saturday October 19 at the Santa Rosa Valley Park (use this Google Map to find your way), and crews assemble and head to the work sites at 8:00 am.

Please help us by signing up online in advance to we’ll know how many people to prepare for – Thanks!

Things to bring:

• work gloves
• long pants and long sleeved shirt
• water, snack
• sunglasses and sunblock

Tools and instructions on how to use them safely will be provided. There will be a free thank-you lunch and prize give-away afterwards from noon until about 2:00 pm.

Remember to sign up online!

Posted in Conejo Valley, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Summary of SMM Trail Days held April 26-28 in Pt Mugu State Park

Tuesday, April 30th, 2019

In places, the Two Foxes Trail is almost completely closed off by overgrowing brush.

The turnout this year for the 2019 Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days was probably the largest ever! The event was hosted by the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council (SMMTC). Volunteers came from that organization, CORBA, the Sierra Club, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, high schools, various Meetup groups, and more! There were tents scattered all over the campground on Friday and Saturday night as people took advantage of the free camping and meals to go with their volunteer work.

There were about 170 volunteers on Saturday. The vast majority went to fix up the Blue Canyon Trail that had been hit hard by rainstorms and overgrowing brush. In some places you couldn’t even tell where the trail had been. The workers made quick work of restoring the 0.8-mile-long trail and were back at the campground well before 2:30.

CORBA president Steve Messer uses a hedge trimmer to make quick work of the overgrowing brush on the Two Foxes Trail.

The 7 members of the CORBA crew headed to the very overgrown Two Foxes Trail, a favorite of mountain bikers. The two crew leaders wielded gas-powered hedge trimmers to quickly cut down the overgrowth while the rest picked up the clippings and moved them off the trail. We got about 2/3 of the 1.25-mile-long trail cleared on Saturday. On Sunday we returned to the section we missed, this time with 6 volunteers and only one hedge trimmer, and cleared out the remainder of the trail. Now you don’t have to worry about ducking the brush and you can see much further to tell if you’re going to overtake or meet someone coming the other way, and the trail is much more fun and safer for it! We got back to the campground just about the expected time of noon.

On Sunday, there were 70 volunteers, more than double the usual number! The non-CORBA group all when to fix up the Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail.

All crew leaders reported that everyone did a great job, especially the high school kids and the scouting groups. Thanks to everyone for their fantastic support of our trails!

You can view more photos of the volunteers at our 2019 SMM Trail Days photo gallery.

The Saturday barbecue dinner.

Posted in Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Crags Rd trailwork summary from April 20.

Monday, April 22nd, 2019

This past Saturday, about 40 volunteers gathered at the M*A*S*H site in Malibu Creek State Park to fix up the Crags Rd trail section fondly known as the “Rock Garden” or “Creek of Doom” just before you arrive at the M*A*S*H site from the main entrance to the park on Malibu Canyon Rd.

Smoothing out the tread to fill in between the rocks sticking up.

Volunteers hailed from CORBA, the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council, Girlz Gone Riding and the Mountain Bike Unit.

Overall the trail was in pretty good shape after the Woolsey Fire burned all the hillside brush in November and then winter rains flooded everything, but there were a few very serious problems that we needed to address. The worst was a 3-foot culvert that was uprooted and deposited in the middle of the trail, blocking it, and leaving a deep rut where it had been. Also, a large oak tree was uprooted and fell across the trail.

The serious issues were dealt with as best we could with hand tools, and the whole trail was generally brushed to widen it, the tread was smoothed and debris was removed. Overall we restored about a half-mile of trail in 4.25 hours, including lunch (subway sandwiches provided by CORBA) and shuttling to and from the work site.

Thanks to all the volunteers who worked hard and did such a great job of restoring this trail in record time! You can view the rest of the photos in the Crags Rd trailwork photo gallery.

Posted in GirlzGoneRiding, MBU, Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Crags Road Trail Restoration and lunch in MCSP on April 20, 2019

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Crags Road, also known as “The Rock Garden” or “The Creek of Doom,” suffered major blows this winter, first by the Woolsey Fire that decimated the hillsides, then rainstorms that tore the trail up pretty badly and covered parts with rock slides. We worked on this section not far from the M*A*S*H site in November 2017 (see photo above) and now we’re going back to fix it again.

This is a combined project between California State Parks, the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council, CORBA and Girlz Gone Riding.

All tools will be provided, as well as instructions on how to use them safely and effectively, by experienced trail crew leaders. No experience needed – everyone works at a rate they’re comfortable with and takes lots of breaks. Bring a snack to eat on the trail; CORBA will provide lunch after the event for those who sign up here.

Wear sturdy hiking boots with good lugs, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, sunglasses, sunblock and a hat, and bring water, snacks. Bring work gloves if you have them. We have a few pairs we can loan to people without.

You can learn more about trail restoration work here http://corbamtb.com/programs/trail-crew.shtml and here http://smmtc.org/trailwork/voltips.php

Parents/guardians are responsible for minors at all times, and they must constantly and directly supervise children under 14. Children must be over 7-years old to attend. Please leave your four-legged friends at home!

Online signup is requested to help us plan the number of tools and the amount of lunch food we’ll need. Sign up at our Meetup page for this event https://www.meetup.com/CORBAmtb/events/259311989/

Map: http://tinyurl.com/3q6z8bm

Posted in GirlzGoneRiding, Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

Trail Days 2019: We Need Your Help to Restore Sycamore Canyon Trails April 26, 27, 28!

Friday, April 12th, 2019

The organizers request you register online for this event at their website: https://www.smmtc.org/machform/view.php?id=11102&element_4_4=California by April 22, especially if you plan to join us for the Saturday BBQ dinner and/or camp overnight.

Complete info from the organizers: https://www.smmtc.org/maint/traildays.php

For the 38th year running, we have an opportunity to work at rebuilding the trails and then BBQ and camp at Danielson Ranch in Sycamore Canyon. It is opened annually for the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Days! This is a unique opportunity to work on the trails that we enjoy so much in Sycamore Canyon, and the event is followed by a BBQ dinner and prizes (see photo), with free camping on Friday and/or Saturday night. This is hands down the best day to get in some trail maintenance work! Camping is optional; you may leave with the escort after the BBQ.

This event is for Saturday only! There is another event for Sunday trailwork. Feel free to sign up for both!

Schedule at a glance

Friday night April 26 – arrive for overnight camping (optional). Bagels and hot beverages supplied Saturday morning for campers.

Saturday April 27 – Trailwork, barbecue dinner, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch. Optional overnight camping. Bagels and hot beverages supplied Sunday morning for campers.

Sunday April 28 – Trailwork, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch.

You can volunteer to help out on Saturday, Sunday, or both.

BRING: LUNCHES, BEVERAGES, SNACKS AND WATER. Tools and instruction on using them are provided.
WEAR: Gloves, hat, long pants, protective clothing, and work boots or sturdy shoes.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration is required for the activities shown below, and appreciated by April 22th!
TRAILWORK: Saturday and/or Sunday. Help with trail restoration on one or both days!
CAMPING: Free camping Friday and/or Saturday nights for volunteers at the Danielson Multi-use Area located under the sycamores and oaks in the heart of Point Mugu State Park. Bring your own gear.
DINNER: Sat. Night Barbecue Free FOR VOLUNTEERS. Bring appetizers and beverages.
PRIZES: Thank-you prize give-aways will be held Saturday after dinner and Sunday after trailwork.
VEHICLE ACCESS: You will be able to caravan into and out of the park by vehicle only at these few designated times:

ARRIVE

Friday – 5 pm and 7 pm
Saturday – 7:30 am and 4:30 pm
Sunday – 7:30 am

DEPART

Saturday – 4 pm and 9 pm
Sunday – 8 am and 2:30 pm

DIRECTIONS: Take the 101 Freeway to Wendy in Newbury Park; drive south to Potrero Road, turn right; at Reino bear left to NPS service road (first driveway). Cars will be escorted into and out of the park only at designated times shown above. DON’T BE LATE or you won’t be able to drive in.

MAP: http://bit.ly/1jvTBZP

Posted in Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew | Comments Closed

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