Today (8/30/2010) I was riding Whiting when I encountered some OC Park employees getting out of their truck. They were at the base of Mustard and nice enough to say hi and ask me about my day. I jokingly asked if they were here to remove all of the sand. They said that they were actually going to be widening the first part of Whiting in the next 6 months so that Mules (ATV rescue vehicles) could get through. They said that they would have to widen the trail to 6 feet. Although I understand the need to help people out I question to what extent that they will go. Is Cactus next? Will they just close off all of the singletrack since Mules can't get through? I called the ranger station today to ask for the details on the document for the widening (the website OC Parks website provides a contact number). I left a message for the ranger but he never called back. Does anyone else have information on this? Is there anything that we can do as a mountain bike community to prevent Whiting into turning into one large fire road? *Update 8/31/2010 Ev returned my call today. I will write up what he said in a new post below.
Thanks for posting this. Keep trying to contact the Ranger. His name is Everardo Mena. I've heard that the park wants Mules to be able to navigate Borrego, Cactus and Sleepy Hollow trails. But I've also heard they only need a trail thats four feet wide. IMO, four feet is starting to get marginal as a singletrack. At six feet, I think you could drive a truck on it. The recent work on Cactus (about a month and a half ago) was done for the Mules, but didn't take into account dry conditions or existing berms. I'd like to see mountain bikers more involved in the process so the trails retain their singletrack feel, and continue to be hardpack, with the turns banked and bermed. I would recommend that anyone who likes the trails in Whiting share their thoughts with the Ranger. The number is 949-923-2244.
Did they get a new Mule and now they want some place to drive it? Does that match whatever document guides trails at Whiting? I don't think Sleepy Hollow could be 4 or 6 feet wide without serious work.
Did they really think this through? If I'm seriously injured on bumpy singletrack I would rather be carried out on a stretcher by walking rescue personnel instead of being bounced around on a vehicle. The vehicle can wait on the nearest fire road. Also, 6 feet might not be wide enough if they have to turn aound instead of driving backwards.
You guys must be confused, there is not even 100 ft of single track in Whiting. The whole place is already 6ft wide.
Whiting has already turned into a joke and Santiago Oaks is well on its way. Single track seems to be on its way out in OC. They might as well start paving the trails
Wow this is terrible news. IMO there should be "arterials" within the park, putting motorized help within walking distance down any of the single tracks. At Whiting I'd like that to be just Mustard/Dreaded. Borrego may not be singletrack, but it's a fairly natural trail. Pushing out to 6', or even 4' consistently, is going to ruin a number of it's features. Same goes for Sleepy, Cow Trail and Live Oak.
Whiting Road, Dreaded Hill, and Santiago Ranch Road from the Stables, both would support either side of all the single track in that park. They don't drive a mule up Borrego now. No need to take the long way to get to you. When was the last time you rode Cactus? It's in fairly good shape considering the time of year... 'DH on a dune' - try riding some other DH in the area...not even close. Agree with you they are fun - but you really need to get out more and explore...there are some great trails out in our area!
As it stands right now. The Fire Department pretty much uses the Helicopters and "drops" in crews to pick up the injured people. Yes they are using the Mules more and more and have been basically using them as transport of the rescue workers as close to the scene as possible. They have not been using the Mules to transport anyone. The Ranger trucks get used for that. To not get long winded here, but basically if you are injured enough to have someone call 911 then you are going to have to wait atleast 16mins for the helicopter and probably atleast that long for the guys to hike into you. Would you want to not have that time saved by getting the Mules closer??? OK now that I am off my information-response soapbox, I agree they should not have to make the trails wider just for the mules, they have other equiptment at their disposal (Helicopter) and they are going to transport you off the hill in that anyway.
No.......they need to remove the concrete K-Rails installed at the back entrance off of Santiago Canyon so they can access that point of entry in the event of an emergency.
+1 on this. I once had the experience of being seriously injured on a motocross track. They put me on a backboard and carried me about a hundred yards to a truck. No problem. Then the truck had to drive about a mile or so of choppy, sometimes washboard dirt road to get to pavement. Big problem! Very painful! If I'm seriously hurt on a singletrack somewhere, I think I'd hope that I'm either carried out, airlifted out, or just buried next to the trail! edit: As we've discussed at times in the past, I think you can also make a strong case that narrow singletrack is actually a much safer trail in certain areas since speeds and traffic volume generally stay lower.
I'd also like to point out the opportunity to even BECOME seriously injured on Borego is just about nil. I'm guessing the Mule access is for fat locals suffering a stroke while "exploring the wilderness" next to Ralph's.
Ev called me today. Turns out he is a new Ranger at Whiting and has only been there for 5 weeks. The good news is that he is a mountain biker! He called me on his time off and said that he also keeps up to date using socaltrailriders.org. Ev says that there is currently no documentation on what they are going to do. He said that they will probably widen the gated marshy entrance of Borrego to get the Mules in. From that point on it only needs to be 4 feet wide which it is in most of the spots. He also brought up the recent trail work where they cut back some weeds. I remember hiking that day with my daughter and seeing them do this. The two man made bridges will also be removed since they are illegal. This may require them to level out those areas so no bridge is needed. The detour will probably be permanent. They will probably not touch Cactus or Sleepy Hollow for any widening. He is aware of the sand but we did not discuss that any further. Overall I was very happy with the conversation. He seemed like he really cared about what the Mountain Bike community thought of Whiting and was open to further discussions. There is also a weekend ranger who rides as well (can't recall his name). Hopefully together they can protect Whiting from turning into a fire road. Did I mention the chair lift at the bottom of Mustard? Just kidding.
Dudes and Dudettes... does noone realize that Hiking and MTBing is dangerous? Perhaps even more so that eating eggs over easy at your local restaurant!! Why must we always assume that stupidity triumphs over reasonableness? It reminds me of the 70's show that triumphed the saying If you can't do the time, then don't do the crime. [youtube]wQeVIJ8e_z8[/youtube]
Thanks for taking the time to contact the ranger and let us know. No documentation? So, they just wing it? I thought bureaucracies loved documentation and couldn't do a single thing without it. I remember Whiting w/o the bridges and would prefer they stay. How did they get there if they are illegal? I assumed they were done by OC Parks. I think they also need to but a boardwalk in thru the marshy area to connect to the trail under Portola to Outback. I often ride up from my house and that part bites. Have to ride up the hill to the parking lot only to ride back down to about 25 yards from where I was. They probably won't do that because it would hurt the parking revenue.