Golden Cup Drainage, Big Cienega Trail 3 Washouts Repaired

Looking at Google Earth we could see a large dead tree laying across the drainage channel along the Golden Cup Nature Trail within the Crystal Lake Recreation Area, located within the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains. Because the tree could potentially block the water and debris fill up behind it washing out the trail, the Trailbuilders decided to look at what it looked like in real life and, if it constituted an actual problem, buck it up and remove it from the drainage.

We met at the Forest Service's Gateway Information Center above Azusa along Highway 39 at the base of the mountains, and promptly at 8:00 a.m. we packed up aboard our vehicles and headed North to the Rincon Fire Station where we collected our tools and equipment needed for the day's efforts, and from there we headed further North along Highway 39 to Crystal Lake and the work site.

Joining the the Usual Gang of Idiots, as MAD Magazine likes to call regular contributors to an effort, was a number of Boy Scouts from a local Troop looking for some exercise lending a hand in the local community.

At Golden Cup we had our daily safety review, covering the Job Hazard Analysis where we discussed the flora and fauna that should be avoided in the Angeles National Forest, what tools we would be using and how to use them safely, and we covered the Project Activity Levels for the region which informed us that all chainsaw efforts must stop at 13:00.

After the safety review it was time to get to work!

Having willing helping hands for the day's efforts turned out to result in an exceptionally productive day! While crews bucked up the dead tree truck across the drainage to ensure that it would not back up, the volunteers worked on clearing a stone bridge walk away across the drain further up along the trail, excavating a filling basin so that the coming rains will continue to stay off of the trail, reducing erosion greatly.

When Golden Cup was finished, we packed back in to our vehicles and headed to Mount Hawkins Road above the Deer Flats Group Campground, and parked at the trailhead for Big Cienega where the week previously the Trailbuilders had discovered 3 major washouts of the trail along ravines that had been scrubbed down through torrential rains a month before.

Looking at the first washout and examining the effort to fix it, we thought that maybe we would be able to repair the first washout and then run out of time, leaving the other two for another day. Instead the effort went very quickly, very smooth and organized. When the first washout was repaired, we moved on to the next, and when that was done it was time to fix the third and most difficult washout.

The third washout was the worse, the water speed and quantity that had come down here was the worse, and it was this washout that required building a four foot high retaining wall with rocks carefully selected, stacked, and positioned to retain soil for the tread that was brought in by volunteers to re-establish the trail.

After trail work on Golden Cup and after repairing all three washouts on Big Cienega, we were faced with a rare phenomena: We had an hour left to spare! Instead of starting a third project for the day we decided to quit early and head back down the mountain, drop our tools and equipment off at the Rincon Fire Station, then we were done!

It ended up being a very good day. While there was rain and heavy fog in the cities below, working above 6000 feet we had sunny skies, and while it was a little cold, doing heavy work fixed that!