EISPIRATEN

Every place you mention I avoid like the plague, because I pretty much consider them as much. Don't you hike to Hoegee's? And I believe you've mentioned frequenting Monrovia Canyon, whose entrance is lined with houses. Shouldn't such a place be full of the plague as well? The entrance to Monrovia C...

Permitting Vulcan's operations in Fish Canyon serves a human need far more important than the need for another poison-oak filled canyon mouth in the front range. Besides, there are much better examples of private development in the Gabes. How about the city of Wrightwood? I love using Wrightwood as...

Without private enterprises building roads, houses, and business operations throughout the mountains, we would still be chafing our hides on multi-day mule rides along old Indian trails, simply to reach the top of the front range. The way we use the wilderness today is a direct result of private de...

The best way to manage land is for the government to get the hell out of the way of private individuals and organizations interested in developing the land. The lack of private land holdings in the Gabes results in a lack of government interest and ability to protect the land from natural and human...

15% for project planning and management is actually very low ... much more efficient than the generally accepted 18-20% in the private sector. Private contractors also usually add a 10 - 15% contingency to estimated project costs, which means that projects that finish "on budget" are actua...

I still think this whole national monument thing is a bunch of bullshit. The original intent of those campaigning to get the San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area established was to have the management of the San Gabriels taken away from the Forest Service. The Forest Service's structure, ...

A member of our group had called the ranger station in Baldy Village a couple of days before to ask about conditions. They gave him a ridiculous description of needing snowshoes at Icechouse Saddle to avoid postholing in 3' of snow. Luckily we ignored their advice and didn't carry along our snowsho...

Hiked up to Idlehour trail camp yesterday. The water is flowing hard enough to make white water in some spots. You can hear the roar of the stream long before you get to the camp.

You're going to have a difficult time finding a place with an expansive view that isn't at high altitude.

Don't forget Chris Kasten's hand-drawn maps of the Chantry Flats area at http://www.canyoncartography.com.

I was there on a weekend this last January and every single spot was taken. I don't know if November is the same, but the cold weather certainly didn't do anything to discourage campers last January.

I always wondered why you couldn't do surveillance flights at night using FLIR. It would be pretty easy to spot people that way. You could probably distinguish legitimate campers from "farmers" by seeing people present in the same remote area over several flights.

Received this email from Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations. Thought I would forward the warning. All: In past years, we would normally be talking about the Marijuana season winding down about this time. Unfortunately, this year we have continued to receive reports of suspicious activ...

That's a good guess, I think.

West Fork is paved all the way to Cogswell Dam and the round trip is more than 14 miles, but the rest of the description fits. Something about the change to dirt is making me think the West Fork isn't what he's looking for.

It's not closed

I was working in San Gabriel Canyon the day that the flash floods struck Mt. Baldy - August 3, 2014. The flash flood was roaring down the East Fork. We were told to take a run to Heaton Flat and see if we could see anyone stranded on the other side of the river, or in the middle and if we found anyt...

Don't trust the Forest Service to keep their Web site up to date. There are things on there that are over a year old and haven't been updated yet.

The closure order for the Old Baldy Trail expired August 20, 2015.

Thanks for the pics, especially the poppies. I'm a native plant nerd and it's cool to see some wild poppies that are unlikely to have been genetically contaminated by the poppies ubiquitous in seed packs now a days. I just may head up there to get a seed pod this spring.

I've run into more bears hiking in Monrovia than I have in all the rest of the Angeles and Sequioa NF combined, if that helps quantify things a bit.

Good to know. Wish I could find a good wide brimmed blaze orange hiking hat. HJ I'm not sure who came up with the idea of using orange for something as important as avoiding being shot at, but it was a horrible decision. Orange is bright to 90% of the male population, but to the other 10% who have ...

It seems next to impossible to even manage graffiti removal and trash pickup from picnic areas as it is The sad thing is, when you learn the actual recreation budget on the Angeles you will be amazed that they do what they do. The entire budget for the Recreation unit on San Gabriel River Ranger Di...

I don't know what it is, but I eyeball it almost every time I drive by there for the last dozen years or so. Please let us know what you find if you go exploring.

Stop in the cafe and say hi to Mark and shorty and the gang. They're all pretty nice.

Lacking the necessary motivation to search for a better route to the road, I said, "Screw it!", and plowed through fifty feet of the devil's vine before landing on the safety of the fire road, where I promptly smeared dirt all over my bare legs and arms and even my face and neck. We'll se...

I thought it was interesting to see this stuff blooming all over since it's been so dry and hot. The drought tolerance of rabbit brush is pretty amazing. There are a few native plants that still look great after four years of serious drought and record heat. I don't know how they can sit out there ...

Im not one of those commentators who ignores the fact that they forced the FS to spend forest money on monument paperwork....money that would have been used towards the East Fork this past year....money earmarked to do cleanups were cancelled because the budget was used to push around paperwork. I'...

I can't tell from your post, but by "land grabbers" are you referring to people who feel as though they have some "right" to use public land however they see fit regardless of how the public would like to see it used?

The problem isn't as much with the sedimentation of the stream as WHEN and for how long. Storm events are brief and the sediment load quickly returns to normal after the storm has passed. Historically, significant flooding events that produce increased sediment loads are relatively rare, with years ...

Anyone who has driven GMR at night knows that there are a lot of crazy and dangerous drivers on that road at night. It is a popular route for motorcycles and people who imagine themselves as "drifters" to race up and down, sometimes in convoys of a half-dozen or more vehicles crossing the ...

Thanks for the info. How was the trail after the first camp? I haven't been that way in almost ten years. I keep meaning to check out the trail condition from Smith Saddle down to the second camp, but the heat keeps foiling my plans.