Angeles National Forest News!

[The Boys Dad]

Was at Guffy this morning and the road crew has opened the gate to Lupine.   I had the pleasure of getting stuck behind the loader on the way out.

[hikin_jim]

Nice!  I was hoping to hike to Little Fish Fork or even Upper Fish Fork on the 4th, so that's great news that the road to Lupine is open at last. 

Anyone been down there and know what kind of shape the road is in?

HJ

[Nolena]

Yay! Been waiting for that road to open. 

[Wrightwood]

[Joe Schmoe]

Nice!  I was hoping to hike to Little Fish Fork or even Upper Fish Fork on the 4th, so that's great news that the road to Lupine is open at last. 

Anyone been down there and know what kind of shape the road is in?

HJ

This is a little late for you but nonetheless...

We rented a Jeep (considering buying one) and did our first ever off road excursion today down to what I only now learn is the Lupine campground.  I had a very general idea of where I was going based on playing around with Google Earth in the past - all I knew was that a road went down into the canyon off of Blue Ridge and it led to a campground that was closed for a few years.  Now that we're back I did some searching and found a reference here that described the condition of the road at one time as being passable by 2wd sedans - I wouldn't describe it that way unless you really dislike your sedan .  It's plenty passable and we made it back up in 2WD most of the way.  The only area that needed a bit more traction was a point where a small stream crosses the road on a somewhat steep section.  We made it through with little drama.  Once we made it there was no one and no thing there.  The views of Pine Mountain were cool - it was really neat to see a place of that size hidden in a spot that can't otherwise be seen from a paved road.  The sheer face on the mountain was really different for around here - it's no wonder the overlying rock is all sloughing off into the canyon. 

[Joe Schmoe]

Large pic: http://mysite.verizon.net/res7weom/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/pinemtn.jpg

[ChrisLynnet]

Great picture! I haven't driven to any of these places because I'm scared of encountering another car and having to reverse down the "road." I could hike with my dog but haven't penetrated that far yet. It looks so beautiful.

[Nolena]

I'm planning drive down to Lupine (and then a hike) soon. I would advise not going on a day with a chance of thunder storms. When that stream starts running with storm waters, the road washes out and you can be stuck down there.

[Joe Schmoe]

Great picture! I haven't driven to any of these places because I'm scared of encountering another car and having to reverse down the "road."

Going into it we weren't familiar with the etiquette but we ran across a guy who did this for us (he backed up, but he yeilded to us going uphill, not vice versa).  So when it came our turn to make way for someone else the quandary was how to get out of the way when doing so requires putting the vehicle half into some bushes?  I was very cognizant of the fire danger and didn't want to get the exhaust anywhere near any vegetation.  Luckily the gentleman must have caught the fact that we had no idea what we were doing ( ) and pulled over for us instead.  On the tighter and steeper parts of the trail I really have no idea how one would handle that.

Oh, and a correction to what I said earlier, I think Pine Mountain is visible from Highway 2 near Grassy Hollow.

[Tall Trees]

Just for information the person driving up hill has the right of way on forest service truck trails.  When using these trails always note specially designed wide spots and turnouts that you can back into.  Sometimes you may have to back up a couple of hundred yards before vehicles can pass each other.  The north American monsoon is set to develop tomarrow (7-12-12) and a flash flood warning has been issued by the San Diego National Wather Service office.  I would not venture down into the Prairie Fork to Lupine Campground and Trail head tomorrow because you might be stuck if the road washes out.  Last year a couple a fellows camping at Lupine were trapped for over a week after a thunderstorm washed out the road.  They had to hike out and wait before heavy equipment could clear the truck trail so they could retrieve their vehicles.

Trivia question?  Why does the U.S. Forest Service officially identify all the dirt roads in the forest as "Truck Trails" and when were most of them built.

[Toolman]

Interesting reading: http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Publications/first_century/sec4.htm

The story of "sedans" down in Lupine is true. While on patrol, I've seen Cadillac Escalade's down there as well as Honda Civic's. Must have taken them hours to get there, not to mention the paint damage from the brush and the need of suspension alignment.
 
 Joe, glad you enjoyed yourself down there but don't be tempted to drive to Cabin Flat. The road, or what was a road has been closed to motorized vehicles and is posted. The GPS units still recognize it as being a road and that's been a problem down there. Jeep clubs still go in there and we've caught them doing so. What I will say is, they do a mighty fine job of picking up after themselves, as most responsible off roader's do. But it's still closed to motorized vehicles. It's not a difficult hike into Cabin Flat and the serenity of it all is worth it.

 The Wilderness area is my favorite place to go. The fish fork trail, and up to Pine Mtn. and there is a waterfall if you go far enough on the back side of Baldy, is a great decompression time from the stresses.

[Tall Trees]

My trivia question is a bit misleading because it addresses Forest Service Truck Trails and there construction and not specifically the construction of the east blue ridge road and the road to Lupine Campground which used to continue to Cabin Flat I remember driving to Cabin Flat and camping and I felt like I was in one of the remote places that you could find on the forest.  You can still hike there if you want from Lupine but the elevation gain/loss is about 1500 feet and it is a waterless arduous hike back to camp.

[ChrisLynnet]

Thanks Tall Trees and Joe, I got the right-of-way wrong. 

Still makes me nervous though.

[Joe Schmoe]

Joe, glad you enjoyed yourself down there but don't be tempted to drive to Cabin Flat. The road, or what was a road has been closed to motorized vehicles and is posted.

Not knowing where I was or where I was going, the fact that it is posted would have kept me out.  Frankly we circled the Lupine campground and I didn't even notice that the road continued.   

We're gonna try the Big Tree Truck trail and/or Applewhite Road and call it quits.  We decided that renting a Jeep to get a fix every once in a while vs. purchasing one is the way to go.

[Joe Schmoe]

I felt like I was in one of the remote places that you could find on the forest.

We found a road to Sulphur Springs via the Santa Clara Divide/Pacifico Mountain road a while back.  It ended at a gate where I think the road was considered the Little Rock Truck trail.  After we got back we mapped out where we had been and THAT was really nowheresville.

[Tall Trees]

Thanks Toolman for your link to the CCC's during the depression in the 1930's/40's.  It is a great read and has alot of history that many people are not aware of especially in regards to recreation development on National Forest Lands.  The East Blue Ridge Road and the dirt road to Lupine Campground and Cabin Flat predate the CCC era of the 1930's.

[Dave C]

 The Wilderness area is my favorite place to go. The fish fork trail, and up to Pine Mtn. and there is a waterfall if you go far enough on the back side of Baldy, is a great decompression time from the stresses.

It's been a couple years since I was on that trail, but it's quite a treat. I would be really surprised to see anybody there beside me if I went there on any given day, and I love being so close to real wilderness within a short distance from the Inland Empire and LA.

[Joe Schmoe]

Applewhite road was interesting - kinda neat to see both the Cajon pass and Lytle Canyon at once.  Big Tree Truck trail was closed .

[Nolena]

I drove my Chevy Tahoe down to Lupine today and some friends and I walked down to Cabin Flat and back. The road was bumpy in places, but fine.
Lupine is in great shape (and there's even a nice supply of toilet paper in the out houses!!).
There are 2 good camping sites with picnic tables & fire rings at Cabin Flat, and the out house is still standing and serviceable. The stream has a good flow of water in it.
Unfortunately, someone has made a road around the blocked off road to Cabin Flat, and it appears that vehicles of some sort have been driving the road. We found tire tracks all of the way to Cabin Flat.
There was very little trash in the area, and we carried out what we found.

[Joe Schmoe]

The stream has a good flow of water in it.

That must be from your recent storms - it was bone dry when we were there.