I went back to Trail Canyon this Sunday to see if any additional work has been done on the trail. The road is closed at Big Tujunga requiring additional hiking along the dirt road to the TH. There is now a sign at the start of the trail warning you that this is an unmaintained trail. There was some flow in the creek but nothing significant. The falls had just a slight sheen of water coming down. All other hiking groups were found prior to the waterfall on the way out and on the way back. The trail going to Old Tom Lucas camp was in better shape then last time. There seems to be more traffic coming in this direction.
From here the trail going to Tom Lucas seemed promising as the lower section also was in better shape then last time with more traffic going through this area. This activity abruptly changed right before you switchback up the side of the canyon. From hereon in the condition was similar to last year. The route was made more difficult due to a combination of more growth and the lack of ribbons that had been located the last time I came through. I had numerous false turns before I finally managed to get to the clearing where the camp is located. Last year I busted through brush to get to the camp, this time the brush was over head and much tougher to get through. Sticking to the "route" was critical but was pretty overgrown and difficult to follow. I continually got turned around or stuck in dead end routes. I made it to the end of the clearing but somehow passed the camp which I knew was slightly off the creek bed. Comfortable with the realization that things had gotten worse rather then better on this upper section of the trail I called it a day.
On the way in I had noticed some interesting discoloration of brown and white on the ground just off the use trail. On the way back I investigated the coloration and realized that it was a deer head relatively fresh smashed into the mud, charming. Aware of the route now I made much better progress down the canyon with it taking me about two hours to get back to the car. The canyon itself is quite beautiful and the upper reaches are completely ignored allowing for some great solitary hiking. I am pretty pessimistic of this trail ever being what it was as it gets such little foot traffic and the work will be quite significant in a remote section of the forest.
