EISPIRATEN

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑
Still, it might save a few like that one gal who died up there recently who was apparently a good student.

HJ

HikeUp wrote: ↑Everything is closed except the stream bed up to the bottom of the lower falls. To enforce this we need a sign every 20 or 30 feet...on both sides of the stream. With velvet ropes strung between the signs. And a net over the top...to catch rocks and keep the good jumpers from jumping over the ropes.

Hikers and climbers have long been going to Eaton Canyon in Altadena, but a dangerous portion of the trail will soon be closed off to the public.

The U.S. Forest Service announced on Wednesday that they will be blocking off a small area known as "Upper Falls," according to CBS Los Angeles. It's a challenging part of the trail even for the most expert-level climbers, yet many try to go through it and are unable to finish it with disastrous results.

Five people have died on the trail (that's nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains) since 2011, and there have been 60 helicopter rescues in 2012. Just last year, a 17-year-old girl fell to her death going to the second set of waterfalls at Eaton Canyon.

“It’s not a designated trail," Nathan Judy of the Angeles National Forest told CBS. "It’s very steep … very dangerous, and we’ve lost a lot of lives up there and because of that we are doing the closure."

Folks (including thrill seekers) are drawn to Upper Falls because of its picturesque views that they see on videos on YouTube, like this one:

[hikeup: see original site for link to video]

“Social media has fueled a lot of the accidents," U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Sherry Rollman told Pasadena Weekly. "Kids see the pictures and videos of people in the pond and they want to go up there. They think it’s not a tough hike, but it is a serious incline to the second falls."

The U.S. Forest Service along with police, fire departments and city officials decided together to close off the upper Eaton Canyon portion. (The lower portion will still be open.) There's been an ongoing discussion on what to do about this dangerous path for years.

However, they are facing some opposition from the Coalition of American Canyoneers (CAC). "We want access to the canyon," William Lawrence, who's on the board of the CAC, told Pasadena Weekly. "If they close it, we will start a fundraiser to hire an attorney to fight the National Forest. We have been using the canyon for 25 years."

Although a date has not been set yet for the closure, once it is closed, folks who try to get in the closed-off area could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to six months in jail.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@laist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Jean Trinh in News on Jun 26, 2014 12:26 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑Yeah, but a 100% closure? C'mon. What about legitimate users like canyoneers? Sounds like surgery with a chainsaw to me. They could be more selective.

HJ

Teejate wrote: ↑http://ktla.com/2014/06/26/popular-dang ... be-closed/

No question in my mind this is the right decision.

12:21 PM 6/26/2014 Signs and threats of fines never stopped fools. The signs will be vandalized or removed by the lawless. In 1976 or 1977 a sheriff stood at the base of what used to be the lowest of the three wood stair cases leading up to the tunnel through Acrophobia Ridge to the right side of the first falls opposite Razor Back Ridge which is on the left side of the first falls. He threatened the arrest of anyone who would try to pass him. That did not work. The Pasadena Department of Water and Power paid to have the stairs, the I beam post and wire cable hand rail between the first and second stairs and the abandoned steel pipeline removed and stuffed the cut pieces of pipeline into the tunnel and sealed both ends of the tunnel with river rock and concrete. The PDWP did this for liability reasons. Soon after this demolition was accomplished, a young man chiseled out enough rocks and concrete on both ends of the tunnel to just allow for a thin and agile person to slip into and out of the tunnel. The only problem was banging your shins on the pieces of pipe inside the tunnel. After the Pinecrest Fire of 1979, Eaton Canyon was vulnerable to mud slides and massive flooding. In the winter of 1979/1980, the mud and debris rose enough on the backside to flow into the opening at the top of the rock and concrete plug of the tunnel entrance that the mud sealed the tunnel forever. After this happened people were going up and over the low spot or notch of Acrophobia Ridge directly above the old tunnel. To go up and over required climbing up a rockslide area to get to the notch. Unless the sheriffs have at least two armed officers from sunup to sundown every day posted at the last bend in the canyon, one on each side of the stream at the base of these two user trails, the problems will persist. I do not believe that the sheriff department or the forestry department have the resources (money) to accomplish this. If the forestry department tries to use dynamite on either trail there could be a lawsuit for damaging the watershed. Let us not forget what happened in Rubio Canyon in 1998 with that dynamite debacle. I hope the entire canyon does not get fenced off just 50 to 100 feet upstream from the bridge at the first water gauging station like the PDWP did before 1975 with 15 to 18 feet high chain link fencing with barbed wire on top. A portion of this is still visible way up the hillside on the right hand side of the canyon when facing upstream. The only other thing besides 12 to 18 hour per day armed guards would be the real expensive helicopter sweep or sheriff rescue trainees in the canyon every day. This is a losing battle. Kevin Jun 26, 2014 @ 12:41PM PDT

outwhere wrote: ↑One of my favorite comments came from some young dude that was being interviewed by a tv news reporter. The reporter asked his opinion of the closure - he thought it was stupid to close off the canyon and then told the reporter 'why don't they just ban vending machines,,, vending machines kill people too'

Not sure if he meant the contents of a vending machine can end up killing people or if a vending machine can tip over and crush someone

HikeUp wrote: ↑Stupidity is not a basic human right.