Restored Switchback, one of 22.

Trailwork Parking

On Sunday, February 7, MWBA hosted a trailwork day on Ken Burton trail. With 16 volunteers, we cleared an additional .18 miles of trail. Heavy winds and dry Santa Ana conditions prevented us from using all our power tools, so progress was slower than previous days. With volunteer help from professional trailbuilder Hans Kiefer of Bellfree Contractors, three large drainages were made more sustainable using rock retaining walls, rock armoring and lots of sweat!  Using rock collected on site saved the crew from having to haul in additional materials for wire basket structures. The crew restored several switchbacks, added drainage, and brushed and cleared an additional quarter mile of trail.

On Sunday, February 21st, we had fourteen volunteers come out to continue restoration efforts. The group rode to the end of upper Brown Mountain fire road, then continued down the already-completed section of the trail. Bikes were left at a convenient point, below which it would have been a strenuous climb to ride back out, especially after working on the trail. We hiked down the rest of the way to the work site.

Mitch (MWBA) and Mike McGuire were able to brush an additional .19 miles of trail with the powered tools. As we get down to lower elevations, the brush is getting much thicker, taking more time and effort to clear. The rest of the crew concentrated on outsloping, drainage and re-establishing tread on approximately .14 miles of trail. The total work day included approximately .33 miles of trailwork.

Swamping the first pass with the hedge trimmers

The last third of a mile of the trail will require chainsaws to clear the many fallen oak trees. Steve Messer, CORBA president and trail crew leader, flagged out the last half mile based on GPS tracks of the trail before the fire. Ken Burton passed through a beautiful shaded oak grove before dropping down to the Gabrielino trail and Oakwilde Campground. Sadly, many of those oaks were killed and have fallen across what was the trail. Brush has grown into this relatively flat section of trail, and will require extensive chainsaw work to clear. We plan to go in with the CORBA/MWBA sawyer crew (USFS certified chainsaw operator volunteers) to clear those trees before the next scheduled trailwork day.

Riding previously restored section after a day’s work

With over 1000 volunteer hours, ten workdays, and several additional prep days by CORBA and MWBA trail crew leaders,  we have so far completed or brushed approximately 1.8 miles of the 2.25 mile trail. What’s left is less than a half mile, including extensive chainsaw work. Weather permitting, we’ll be back out there on March 13, 2016.

Completed trail at the top of the switchbacks

Sunday, January 24, 2016 we had another successful day of trail restoration. Anyone driving up the Angeles Crest Highway today, who happened to glance across the Arroyo Seco canyon towards Brown Mountain would have seen ten volunteers spread out along the switchbacks, the upper half of which are now clearly visible once again.

Clearing Brush has been a major component of this project

Scouting the work ahead

Today we concentrated on brushing the next .25 miles of the trail, which included six switchbacks.  Most of this section has held up extremely well, and only a few places will require rock-armoring and/or drainage restoration.  We took the opportunity to scout and flag the next half mile of trail beyond that, identifying the original trail in places where animals and unauthorized trail users–it is still a closed trail–had created unsustainably steep bypasses around heavy brush and a some rock slides.

Our next trailwork days, tentatively scheduled for February 7, and February 21 (with MWBA) we’ll concentrate on tread work for the section we cleared of brush today. There are no major problem spots along this section. We’ll also continue brushing the trail beyond there to re-establish the trail corridor and better see the condition of the tread. In some sections we scouted, the brush was so thick that there was no way through, forcing us either up the slope or down the slope to get around the brush and back on the remnants of trail tread.

Failed switchback #16 will need extensive work

The biggest problem section will be at the 16th switchback. Here the switchback itself has been washed away, and we’ll need to do extensive rock work to make the section sustainable and rideable. Much of the area is soft, loose dirt, and the trail is completely filled with brush, slough and debris. Nothing our dedicated volunteers can’t handle!

All in a day’s work. The hike/ride back out

After today’s work, those volunteers who still had time were treated to lunch at a local restaurant. It is the dedication of these volunteers, many of whom have come out every trailwork day we’ve scheduled, that allows us to keep pushing forward to complete the trail. Major kudos to all of you who have contributed!

Click for a larger view.

The Crew

January 10, 2016 was another extremely productive day for the Ken Burton Trail Restoration project.  With recent storms, it was reassuring to see our of work holding up perfectly well. In fact, the restored sections of Ken Burton fared better than the Upper Brown Mountain fire road, which was rutted and much more rocky than before the storms.

Retaining wall crew at work – Photo by Matt Lay

Once again teaming up with the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association, 21 volunteers were able to do a first-pass cutting brush on 0.3 miles of trail, with tread restoration completed on 0.2 miles of that. Matt Lay, of MWBA led the effort to complete the first wire basket retaining wall. At our last day, the lower retaining wall was completed. The upper wall is almost complete, needing a few more hours of work. There are two more retaining wall sections that will need similar rebuilding.

We were blessed with perfect trailwork conditions. Rain was in the forecast for the night before our event, with most forecasts showing the weather tapering off by morning. That’s exactly what we had: nice damp soil, and cool, comfortable work conditions.

The day before the scheduled trailwork, I took a load of tools up via bob trailer, and did a walk-through video of the section we were to work on. After the trailwork day was completed, I repeated the video walk-through. The before and after videos show what an amazing transformation is possible. The two videos are embedded below.

We also have to thank Pat Phillips, a long-time trailwork volunteer and supporter who helped build the trail in the 90s. He graciously hosted us once again for lunch after the day’s work.

Mount Wilson Bicycling Association will be hosting the next trailwork day on Ken Burton this coming Sunday, January 17. and  CORBA will host again on January 24 (both dates are weather-permitting). We all want to see this trail restored and opened!

Thanks once again to the tremendous volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

Ahead, brush. Behind, a trail.

Progress:

Progress!  (Click for a larger view)

(more…)