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Originally posted by FishPOET
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I predicted that the manner in which SBNF went about this would create a scofflaw problem, and it abundantly has come true.
I started on the traditional west side, heading east. The first half the trail is absolutely ruined. The two most fun parts of the trail are now blocked, heinously. The TreadLightly and Leave Only Footprints ethos was shat on by the SBNF. I have seen slash and burn fire emergency firebreaks done with less environmental harm. And they think the OHV crowd is the problem? Fools! Where is the weeping Indian in this story? He sure would not be on SBNF's side on this issue based on what they've done.
With such good examples of land stewardship, the good people of LA have learned their lesson, and responded in kind. The west side of the trail was a trash dump the whole way up. I was disgusted. But at the same time, I was motivated. I quickly filled up my TrashaRoo, and was thinking of planning a Clean Up day...but then I started putting two and two together. I noted that the "Adopted By" sign at the west side was blank. As if the previous club just gave up in disgust at what the SBNF had done. I don't blame them. I then noted that all the blocked routes where fairly heavily traffic'd anyway. A few 4x4 tracks, but mostly motorcycles it appeared to me. Nonetheless, the new bypasses to the heinous blockages are quite prevalent, and ample evidence that SBNF's stewardship and actions do not represent the will of the people.
As I progressed to the east side of the trail, I noted two major items of interest. There weren't any fresh bypasses, and there was virtually no trash.
Since the SBNF did not molest the land on the east side (yet), the trail users treated it with respect and care. It has changed very little in the past 6 to 8 months.
My will to organize a clean up dissolved back into straight out anger at the SBNF. They created the condition the trail is in now. They can clean it up. They apparently have the money. They sure didn't seem shy about blowing half a million dollars in scarring the land. I think they must like it this way. If someone as simple as me can predict this behavior and result, surely they can too. I can't help but think this is all intentional. Screw prop 21. The only thing they do with more money is use it to destroy the land, and take away my rights to enjoy it. Oh, and double their salaries during an economic crisis.
Segment 141, Map 1
People creating a highway of a bypass around a blockage
Immediately adjacent to the blockage, they inexplicably left this ugly, pointless, route open. Obviously, protecting the trail and the environment was not the selection criteria!
They closed the most fun part of the entire Cleghorn route, but as you can see, the Public do not agree. I was actually pretty shocked at the blatant disregard for the closure. I think this is Segment 143, Map 2:
Here is what the east side of Segment 143 looks like:
Immediately after 143, I was totally surprised that they kept this little rutted hill open. Here is a great example of an unnecessary side trail, that has been illegally widened in the past year or two, where erosion is occurring, and trail blockage would actually make perfect sense, but no, they kept it:
I hate LA "culture"
So they spend half a million dollars, and do ZERO trail clean up. Last year the radio antenna blew down, but does SBNF make the owners clean it up? Apparently not? Does the SBNF clean it up using the license and permit fees the collected from the radio tower owners? No of course not. They want volunteers to do it, because SBNF are such good stewards, they deserve our free time and labor.
Coming down the east side of the crestline, I was surprised to find that this might have been a blocked trail? There was no evidence of blockage on the west side....And does the SBNF concern itself with fire threats? Here they actually CREATED a fuel dump for a future fire. It's mind boggling.
Now I get to segment 144, map 2, and I find this. Is it closed, or is it open? I searched the bushes, dug through the dirt vainly looking for a remnant of a trail closure sign. There was none to be found. When I reached the far point where this OHV segment rejoins the main road, there was a group of Jeepers at the bottom of the hill. They told me SBNF removed the signs and opened this segment back up. Who knows? There was certainly no evidence to the contrary. Entire trees had been cleared for the new path, so it looks legit, but I can't tell.
Chicken Corner (segment 145) is definitely closed:
Oddly, the fence at the bottom of Suicide Hill (or whatever it was known as) was gone, and there were a lot of tracks up it. All motorcycle tracks. The fence posts at the top of this short hill climb were still in place.
The big hill on the east side is still open. In fact, after Chicken Corner, everything was still open, and pristine, with no trash that I could find.
The rock ledge at the top of the hill has gotten a bit more challenging though. I need to engage my lockers!
The spacing of the ruts is what creates the difficulty. All four wheels are in holes, up against a vertical ledge
Cool cloud view on top:
The east side is still fun:
Broke my ORO swaybar disconnect on this flex.
Broke the 'axle' of the swaybar clean off:
Field repair:
On the east side trail entrance, the AAT sign post said that the Drifters Jeep Club controlled this trail. Is that true?
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