John Ferro
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3/24/2023 8:46 AM
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Attached are a few emails concerning Los Padres Forest trail closures/damage from the winter storms. Like all email threads scroll to the bottom and read up…
The bottom line is you should try and contact your Federal congressional reps and ask them to fund $$$ the Forest Service (especially the Los Padres/Angeles) to make repairs necessary due to the winter storm damage.
If you have any time to donate toward volunteer work on local trails please contact Phil Pulley
PHILIP PULLEY for some guidance as how to get involved or just contact your local USFS office.
John A. Ferro, President VCMC
(jaferro@live.com)
From: PHILIP PULLEY
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2023 7:45 PM
To: John Ferro
Subject: Re: Los Padres Forest: CLOSURE REVISION ISSUED
The Los Padres has suffered a lot of damage, mostly from the first big storm of the series in January, Volunteers have been doing surveys and reports in areas that are not
accessible for the Forest Service to give them an accurate assessment of the conditions. I was able to keep them from closing Ballinger by my surveying and reporting on every trail in Ballinger and Deer Park. The FS is very reluctant to allow the general
public to return into the damaged areas. It appears the the Santa Barbara District got hit the hardest from all the photos that are being posted on the Los Padres website.
Contacting our political leaders is one of the best things we can do, along with volunteering to help. We should encourage the politicians to authorize disaster relief funding
for the FS. I takes money to make the needed repairs and the more they have, the sooner repairs will get done.
FYI: The Los Padres has a big hiring workshop going on right now through the 30th. They are looking to up their manpower back to the levels of past years and hopefully return
to being able to actually do some maintenance. So if you know someone who might be interested it would be great to have off-roaders on the inside! Info attached.
On Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 12:38:18 PM PDT, John Ferro <jaferro@live.com> wrote:
We are concerned that these new closures will become permanent. Divide Peak gate now has a large seemingly permanent extension preventing horses,
mountain bikes, and even hikers (can still go under it of course) from walking around it.
Run it around the club and maybe we can put some points to hit on in an email and phone call.
Best,
Scott@CalCoastMotorsports.com
----------------------------------------------
The Los Padres NF releases revision to the January 2023 storm closure.
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Olly olly oxen free! The Los Padres mostly reopens......
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Hello Friends,
The Forest Service released a revised closure order which supersedes the previous January 13 sixty-day closure order.
The new order will open large parts of the forest but some of the trails and roads will remain closed due to damage incurred as part of both the early January floods as well as the early March snow storm. Click the two links below to read the new revised closure
order and to see a list of which areas will remain closed:
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There is a lot to digest as you scroll through the above list of what is open and what remains closed. Here's a few notes
and tidbits that might be helpful:
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• Most of the
frontcountry trails across the Los Padres are now open. Please confirm on the link above for specifics.
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• You might notice that
most of the campgrounds (car camps) remain closed across the forest. This is largely due to the fact that many of the major roads that lead into the forest and to these campgrounds are still
closed. This includes Highway 33, Highway 1 and most of the non-paved Forest Roads. It's going to be a little harder this year finding a campground as we head into Spring Break but there are still some good options out there for car-camping.
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• Many of the roads that lead into the forest remain closed. Unfortunately, some of these roads were open as of two
two weeks ago but had to be closed again due to snow damage from the early March storms.
Some of the roads can be biked/hiked but in some cases we're going to have to get creative connecting trails from where we can now park to where the usual trailhead might be. Call the Forest
Service with questions or we're happy to help too.
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·
Each of the Ranger Districts were in charge of determining which portions within their Districts should be opened and which should remain closed. There's some variation between
the districts but for the most part the majority of the Wilderness areas and trails have been reopened. The exceptions are:
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Portions of the Pine Ridge Trail and the entire Rocky Creek Trail within the Ventana Wilderness.
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The trails within the Machesna and Garcia Wildernesses.
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The Dick Smith Wilderness within the Santa Barbara Ranger District.
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The Santa Cruz Drainage within the San Rafael Wilderness.
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Matilija Wilderness and North Fork Matilija Trail.
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Potrero John within the Sespe Wilderness.
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• Remember that pretty much all of the seasonal gates are currently
closed across the forest and many of the gates that might normally be open are closed due to the recent snow. This includes most of the Mt Pinos Ranger District, which was not part of the January 13 closure. We strongly suggest calling the
local Ranger District office before you head into the forest to get as much information as you can ahead of time.
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The
trails and roads across the forest were hammered by the January storms and then hammered again a few weeks back by the snow. It was a one-two punch of flooding followed by
snow downed trees. Despite all the recent trail
work that has been accomplished since January, the trails are in rough shape. Couple things to consider before heading out onto the trails:
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Be prepared to travel slower than normal. The creek crossings are going to
big, there are going to be downed trees and there are going to be washouts. Be prepared to hike slower than normal or hike-a-bike in places that you might normally be riding.
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You might
encounter a showstopper out there or
something that you can't navigate around. Be ready for that potential when planning your day on the trail and don't be afraid to turn around if you encounter a section of trail that makes you uncomfortable.
Always better to be safe.
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We learned long ago not to predict what is or is not stock passable. Where there's a will, there's a way and some packers seem to have enough will to get just about anywhere.
That being said, this year is different and most of the trails we've seen are far from stock passable. We suggest that if you are hoping to take animals on any of the LP trails, scout them ahead of time on foot to make sure you can make it.
We're not advertising any trails as being stock passable at the moment. Sorry.
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PLEASE PLEASE take photos of any sketchy sections of trail, slides, needed reroutes or any downed trees. It's a good idea to have a friend pose in the photo or place a water
bottle, bike or hiking pole so that there is a scale reference. It would be great to then share the photos and your
trail report on HikeLosPadres, with your local trail group or with the FS - or better yet, all of the above! We can't fix the trails if we don't know what's needing
to be fixed. Your help with trail reports is so important!
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• Last but not least, the
Forest Service will be frequently revising the closure order as trails and roads are fixed and restored. Over the next few months things will be changing quite a bit as the snow melts and
repairs occur. We'll be working with the Forest Service to share information and help get as many areas reopened and as much road access restored as quickly as we collectively can. Be patient but at the same time let's work to make sure the FS knows what areas
should be prioritized to be reopened. This can be accomplished through focused volunteer efforts or sharing information from what people are seeing while in the forest. If you'd like to help, contact your local trail organization or the Forest Service. Let's
be part of the solution, not the problem.....
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A lot to digest but it's good to see that most of the forest is reopening, certainly a step in the right direction. Hopefully
we'll see more access reopened over the coming weeks and months as more work is accomplished.
There is another round of more heavy rain in the forecast for this evening through Wednesday but the weekend weather is
looking pretty good. Enjoy the trails and we should have an epic Los Padres spring and summer ahead of us.
Thanks everyone.....
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VOLUNTEER
The LPFA will be leading a volunteer project this weekend clearing snow-downed oak trees from Sunset Valley Road in
order to help provide vehicle access to NIRA. If that doesn't work then we'll likely be working on the Davy Brown Trail off Fig Mtn. Details are TBD based on how the storm this week impacts the area but we'd love to see you out there helping!
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TRAIL CREW
As we head into the busy Spring season we are looking to add a few more folks to the LPFA Trail Crew. Our Trail Crew
works full time across the Los Padres helping to remove downed trees, clear slides and brush so that the trails stay open.
If interested click below or email directly: INFO@LPForest.org
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Los Padres Forest Association
PO Box 1282 | Goleta, California 93116
805-405-8628 | info@lpforest.org
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