Santa Ana's trail conditions(Harding/Maple Springs/HJ/Trabuco Rd Update)

Here's an update I received from a couple WS members on some of the trails up in the Santa Ana's:

Holy Jim: Holy Jim is in great shape. the stream is very full though and don't bother trying to stay dry.

Upper Holy Jim: In great shape considering. Ruts and debris in the usual places

Joplin: Joplin is messed up bad. The ruts are taller.

STT: Santiago truck is OK from Old Camp to Rose.

Rose Canyon aka Lower Joplin: Rose Canyon is Jacked at the bottom.

Another report on the Silverado Motorway: As for Motorway, It's rideable all the way down to the big mudslide from a year ago. The slide has gotten bigger but is still passable though a clean up is in order. The really bad section is the sharp right hand turn just below the mudslide. The stream has eroded the trail away to slope down and to the right into the streambed. The road is gone all the way down to bedrock. There are a couple bad one foot deep ruts about a quarter mile down from the top, that first rocky section just above the reroute that will need to be cleaned. As well as the rocky sections in the middle that have just gotten worse.

Thanks for the update. It gives everyone a better idea of what needs to be done and the amount of people it will take. Ya, that section seems to slide every year for the past 2 years. The WS will be out doing some repairs soon. Keep an eye out on this thread and the calendar for trail work after the upcoming storm passes next week. Thanks again to everyone for the updates.

 

"Joplin: Joplin is messed up bad. The ruts are taller."

Gene, so with Joplin, is it just rut's that have gotten worse, becuase if that's the case, I'd say it faired pretty well. I was worried about more downed trees in the same area as last year, and possibly more slides.

 

I got the update from Ned and all he mentioned was "ruts" and no mention of any down trees. Maybe the year we had the all that snow plus last year, all the trees that were subject to fall already fell.

I'm sure with the upcoming rains in the next few months, we may see some more downed trees, but so far most trails seem ok.

We're heading up to check on WHT and Trabcuo on Thurs morning. I'll post updates as I get them from others. Thanks again for clearing Maple Springs.

 

FYI - the storm coming through today is going to be MUCH different from the storm last week. Storm last week was tropical - high snow and warm weather. Storm today is a cold front - expect snow levels down to 2500 feet and high winds and dropping temps in the afternoon as the front moves through. This is NOT a storm to be caught biking high in the mountains.

 

Awesome that a bunch of dudes decided to hike back into the canyon just to steal the wheels off a truck.

 

I have some friends who rode up STT and then up Joplin to Harding. Joplin looked messed up.

 

On the way up to Santiago Peak yesterday we talked to three hikers that had come up Joplin and they also said that it was in bad shape. No fallen trees put a lot of exposed sharp rocks and a couple slides. I stoped at the trail head and you could hear the water coming down the canyon.

 

After storms I like to go up Skyline out of Corona. Yesterday there was only one short muddy area that was easily skirted. Most of it gets lots of sun, so it dries relatively quickly.

 

Here's a picture of the "thieves" in the act:



I talked to them for a couple minutes, and their story sounded credible, but just in case, I took this picture from a distance. 8-[

 

Strange that they'd take the wheels and leave the truck on rocks, unless it's an insurance play.

 

They probably figured if they didn't take their wheels, someone else would and perhaps they wanted to prevent anyone from hot wiring the truck and offroading it to death in the creek. Dunno.

 

I am planning on riding Coal Canyon, then heading across the main divide to Motorway, then coming up Blackstar and back down Motorway on Friday. If anyone is interested, be ready to not take any breaks.

I will report back on the conditions of Coal Canyon because it seems that nobody has done so yet.

 

FWIW: We rode Maple to Four Corners yesterday. A couple water crossings were just deep enough to get your feet wet, but otherwise there were no issues for bikes or hikers, thanks to those who cleared the downed trees (THANK YOU!). Lots of loose rocks and new ruts on the dirt made it a little more interesting than usual. The paved section is the biggest mess, with sections that are a singletrack of pavement through a field of loose shale, logs, etc. There is also one mud & rock flow covering the entire road for about 20 yards or so that was kind of fun to ride over. It also looks like the integrity of the paved road is compromised in a few spots. So the strangely good news there is that it seems likely that the hikers & mtbers may have Maple to ourselves, with no four-wheelers, for a while.

 

Thanks. We just had more rain here and if you know Black Star, it's the type of soil that will cake onto your wheels making it impossible to ride. Pretty muddy there still. Here is a pic from post #3:

 

Much as I need to ride Blackstar for CC training, it's gotta be so saturated already, and that clay is so damn sticky & heavy that I'm not going near it for at least 5 days after any upcoming storms.

 

Went up Joplin today and took some pictures. The creek looks more like it belongs in the Sierra rather than OC (taken just above Old Camp):



There were some major downed trees; I pulled a large branch off of one and was able to go under them:



The ruts were really nasty, as the hikers reported (about 1/3 mile below Main Divide):

 

Wow! At what point does a rut become a canyon or river bed? :?: That thing takes up the entire "trail". #-o

 

good to know...may bring extras... socks, gloves, jerseys....

 

This looks like where I took out the tree last year, and looks exactly what I was worried about with the other trees on that slope.



I'm on vacation next week, I know where I'm going to spend some time. :lol:

 

Fallen trees and debris are so much better than mud!