Archive for November, 2010

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Calabasas planning workshops on Las Virgenes Trail Nov 3 & 6

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

from the October Newsletter of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation

The purchase of “Firehouse Hill” has eliminated a major obstacle to completion of the Las Virgenes Trail, which could some day create a system of bike trails and footpaths along Las Virgenes Creek from Ahmanson Ranch all the way to Malibu Creek State Park, enabling citizens – and especially our children – to walk or ride their bicycles from their homes in Malibu Canyon, Mont Calabasas, Las Virgenes Village, and Deer Springs to Albertson’s, AE Wright, and De Anza Park without having to ride or walk in traffic.

The Las Virgenes Trail will get us out from behind the wheel of our cars, reducing traffic and emissions while giving our kids the badly needed exercise of walking or riding their bikes to school every day along the wooded banks of our local creek.

Calabasas plans to begin the process of planning for the segment of the Las Virgenes Trail from Agoura Road to De Anza Park in two Community Visioning Workshops on the following dates and locations. Children are welcome to attend.

- Wednesday, November 3rd from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the Calabasas Library
- Saturday, November 6th at the Agoura Hills – Calabasas Community Center

For questions, call Senior Planner Geoffrey Starns at (818)224-1706

Posted in Advocacy, Santa Monica Mountains | No Comments »

Working on the Los Robles Trail West, CORBA’s adopted trail

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Ruts on the trail where a new rolling dip was built

CORBA’s adopted trail, the Los Robles Trail West in Thousand Oaks, wasn’t in very good shape this spring after the winter rains. Long segments were wildly overgrown by mustard and thistle, and some steeper sections had deep ruts. Over the years, the tread of the trail had become U-shaped in cross-section. The natural rims keep rainwater on the trail, where it runs down the middle, taking soil with it and forming a jagged rut.

COSCA hired professional trail workers to fix up the trail in the spring. They cut back the overgrowing weeds and filled in the deep ruts. Unfortunately, they didn’t build water diversions (‘rolling dips’) to keep future rain from running down the trail and reforming the rut. Furthermore, the center of the trail, where the rut had been filled in, was much more loosely packed than the rest of the trail, making it much more susceptible to water erosion.

The rain that we had in the last two weeks of October was enough to start carving new ruts. At the beginning of November, a rut a few inches deep had formed on one of the steeper sections of the trail.

CORBA trail crew members and local residents Danusia Bennett-Taber and Steve Clark spent three hours fixing up the trails. They built two rolling dips on a steeper segment, one near the top and another just above a very steep part. These water diversions will redirect rainwater off the trail so it shouldn’t form another rut. They also filled in the rut on the very steep part at the bottom. Being protected by a rolling dip from above, this rut should not reform once it is packed down by trail users.

View a short photo gallery of the work that was done.

Posted in Adopted trail reports, Conejo Valley, CORBA News, Trail Crew | No Comments »

Sullivan Canyon Update November 2010

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

From Sharon O’Rourke, The Gas Company

I wanted to give you an update of our Sullivan Canyon Pipeline Protection Project.  The project will take longer than originally estimated due to the recent rains we have experienced.  We originally expected to complete the work sometime by November 12th.  The new estimate for completion is now December 10th, weather permitting.

On August 4th, we started construction to repair the access road and install protective concrete mats over 12 pipeline exposure areas.  These exposure areas make the pipelines vulnerable to damage.  Of the 12 exposure areas, 8 pipeline areas have been inspected, repaired and covered with the protective concrete mats.  We have 4  exposure areas to complete.

Due to on-going pipeline construction activity, public access to Sullivan Canyon remains closed.

Posted in Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Access, Trail Crew, Trail Hazards | 7 Comments »

Sycamore Canyon Trailwork Day – Nov 13

Monday, November 1st, 2010

After last winter’s rains, the Wood Canyon Vista (Backbone) Trail in Sycamore Canyon (Pt Mugu State Park) was in pretty bad shape with deep ruts and loose rocks. The outside of the trail had collapsed in places. It was much more than could be fixed during the annual Santa Monica Mountains Trail Day last April. To repair the trail, the State Parks maintenance staff ran a Sweco (miniature bulldozer) down the trail to broaden and level it.

Now we need to add proper drainage to the trail to make sure the ruts don’t reform this winter!

CORBA will be giving away some great prizes to mountain bikers who participate, including a pair of Ergon grips! Go to our events portal page to register so we’ll know how many tools to bring.

BRING: water, lunch, work gloves, eye protection, sunscreen, hat; wear sturdy shoes, long sleeve shirt, long pants. Tools are provided. For some general information on trail work and what to expect, visit our Trail Crew page.

Meet at Wendy Dr & Potrero Rd in Newbury Park for shuttle. From the 101 Freeway take Wendy Rd. south to the end of the road at Potrero Rd. The meeting time is 8:30 am. We will drive from there down to the bottom of the trail, but you may ride your bike in instead if you like.

This is a joint project with the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council.

Posted in Santa Monica Mountains, Trail Crew | No Comments »

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