Where the bench used to be 10/2008

At the top of the Horse Trail just where it connects to the Toll Road there used to be a bench.  It was one of a series of benches installed by a Boy Scout doing his Eagle Project some time in the late 1990’s.  About a year ago the bench at the top of the horse trail vanished.  It was almost certainly taken by vandals and was eventually pushed over one of the nearby cliffs just to see it fall.

The missing bench in 2005

Someone with access to really good aerial imaging technology might be able to spot where in the brush the bench has come to rest.  Then a group with mountain rescue skills might be able to attempt to recover it as a training exercise.  I’m going to send this to some people at JPL and Caltech to see if I can get something going on the locating part of the equation.  If you know anybody in one of the local Search and Rescue Teams maybe they would be interested in the recovery part.

If all else fails maybe we can raise some money and replace it.  After the long steep climb up the Horse Trail the bench was a welcome respite.  I’m happy to report that the other four benches are still in place higher up the Toll Road toward Henninger Flats.

If you have hiked to Henninger Flats recently you know that the drinking fountain near the museum isn’t working.

The broken drinking fountain

On my hike up there last week I complained and was told where there is a faucet.  I believe that for safety reasons it should be public knowledge and so I’m sharing the information with you.

As you hike down the trail into the flats the drinking fountain, that isn’t working, is on the left and there is a green building on the right.

see the green building on the right hand side of the trail

walk clockwise around to the right

Go clockwise around the building and in the back you will find a large faucet with potable water.

The faucet that could save a life

Refill your bottles and get back on the trail.  Excellent news.

be sure to turn it off completely

I hiked up to Henninger Flats last week and spoke to a Ranger named Jose.  The information he had was that the grading on the trail has begun and is expected to be completed by April.  The contractor is the same person who has regraded the trail for years.  He is going to subcontract the re-building of the road past the big slide.

I predict that they will get the road re-opened to the slide but that the FEMA money will not be enough to finish it across the slide and work will stop again.  I hope that I’m wrong.

According to a phone call I received last week work has begun on reopening the toll road.  According to the call (I have forgotten the callers name and lost my note) they have started work from the top of the road down toward the bridge.  I just spoke to Ranger Moore at the Henninger Flats Fire Station and he confirmed that they have started on the trail from Mount Wilson down to Henninger.  Ranger Moore spoke to the fellow doing the work and he said that after they get to Henninger they ar going to start from the bottom of the trail and work up.  It wasn’t clear how they intend to get the road past the big slide near the bridge.

Mike Antonovich and his staff should be planning a ceremonial ribbon cutting to claim credit for getting the toll road reopened.

I plan to hike up there next  week and get some pictures.

The LA County Board of Supervisors will vote on August 12 to take the money that the City of Pasadena got from FEMA to repair the trail through the big slide. The county will then hire JHR Construction to do the actual work. The approval should be perfunctory but this would be an excellent time to email Supervisor Mike Antonovich and express your gratitude that they are finally doing this work.

Here is the full text of the resolution

I have emailed Mike Antonovich’s staff to ask if there is a need for speakers in support of the resolution. Stay tuned.

Here is a link to a Pasadena Star News article dated July 18 that confirms that the City of Pasadena has voted to take the money from FEMA and give it to the county to repair the Toll Road.

The article has a good map of the area in question and is factually correct as far as I know.  I think that the Sierra Madre fire in April got the fire departments attention.  They suddenly realized that they need vehicular access to the foothills and they would be accused of negligence if they didn’t reopen the toll road.

The article quotes Bernard Melekian “If it were just about getting the trail back to hikers we probably wouldn’t be acting, because I think they can still get up there without any problems.”  He is completely wrong about this but we are getting the result we want so all is forgiven.

Julie Sheer of the LA times wrote a story about the slide and the efforts to reopen it on Saturday June 14, 2008. It is a good story in that it is factually correct and shows a bit of the frustration of hikers who are waiting for the road to reopen. But it fails to say who is responsible for the delays and seems, in the end, to accept that this is just the way things are. The article doesn’t mention at all the fire danger created by the lack of access. Are governments always this unresponsive?

According to my contact in Supervisor Zev Yaroslavski’s office: “Approval for FEMA allocation to fix the fire trail will soon be coming to the Board.   It sounds like the trail will be cleared.”

I’m not sure what “soon” means but at least we have some people talking about the issue.

I received a correction email from Pasadena City Councilperson Steve Haderlein.  Pasadena has already allocated $1,500,000 in their capital budget for the Toll Road repair.  This Link will take you to the pdf of the budget.  On page 37 of the document is the information about the Toll Road.

So Thank you to Steve Haderlein for getting it through the City of Pasadena and an apology for getting the information wrong on my previous post.

Progress is being Made. 

You can help contact Supervisor Antonovich and ask for his help at the county level.

Trying to get a Government to do anything is sure to make you cynical.

Over the weekend there was a news story about Congressman Adam Schiff and expanding the “Rim of the Valley National Recreation Area.” About the same time I received a campaign mailer from Supervisor Antonovich extolling among other things his “enhancing county parks and trails.”

I think that these are well meaning people and organizations. However the evidence that I have is that the claims they make about enhancing recreational opportunities are not aligned with reality. It has been three years since the slide closed the Mt Wilson Toll Road and there still isn’t even a plan in place to reopen it. Both of these politicians have been in office for all three years so there is not a timing excuse.

ReOpening the Old Mt Wilson Toll Road is important for Safety, Recreation, Environmental and Fire Fighting purposes. It is easy to claim to care about our beautiful mountains. But reopening this the most important access route to them is the real measure of caring.  You can send them an email.

Talk is Cheap!

Actions Speak Louder than Words!