Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Preventing Damage To The Front Country Trails Post Rain

All the Front Country Trails are extremely saturated right now and very fragile! Please consider waiting for the trails to dry out before using your favorite route. All water crossing are running extremely high and extremely fast, use caution when crossing creeks esp. in the burn area. Rocks are loose and can slide onto the trails at any time, one large slide on Cathedral Pk this afternoon. Information about trail conditions and the following photos were gathered to share info with the USFS.

Jesusita Trail(Tunnel Side)- Water crossing running too high to allow passage to Inpiration Pt or 7 Falls or Cathedral Pk

Tunnel Trail- Very muddy the entire length and slippery, several areas with rockslides.



Tunnel Trail has seen better days
Jesusita Trail creek crossing was flowing too high and fast to cross

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Heavy Rains/Flood Warning For Santa Barbara And Montecito Mountains

...A SERIES OF UNUSUALLY WET PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL IMPACT
SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA WITH STRONG WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS
THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...

A HIGHLY PERSISTENT PLUME OF VERY DEEP SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE COULD
PRODUCE SOME OF THE HIGHEST RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS THIS REGION
HAS SEEN IN RECENT YEARS. THROUGH THE WEEKEND...RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS ALONG THE COASTS WILL RANGE ONLY IN THE 2 TO 4 INCH
RANGE...BUT MUCH HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS...
ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTH AND WEST FACING SLOPES. DUE TO THE
SUBTROPICAL NATURE OF THIS SYSTEM...OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT OF THE
RAINFALL WILL BE EXTREME WITH 4 TO 8 INCH AMOUNTS EXPECTED TO BE
WIDESPREAD IN THE FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS. LOCAL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS
OF 10 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN COULD BRING SOME
AREAS TO NEAR SATURATION...AND THIS IS JUST THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

WHILE RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF IN MANY AREAS ON MONDAY...
MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER
EASTERN PORTIONS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY...INCLUDING MOST OF THE SAN
GABRIEL MOUNTAINS. AN ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE
POSSIBLE IN THIS REGION. THIS WILL BRING THE TOTALS IN THE SAN
GABRIEL MOUNTAINS UP TO AROUND 12 INCHES BY LATE MONDAY...WITH MORE
STORMS EXPECTED THROUGH MID WEEK. PERIODS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS
WITH LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL BE POSSIBLE BOTH TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY AS A STRONG PACIFIC FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. SNOW
LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE 7500 THROUGH TUESDAY. SNOW
LEVELS WILL LOWER TO AROUND 6500 FEET ON WEDNESDAY.

RAINFALL IN THESE AMOUNTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD
AREAL FLOODING AND DANGEROUS DEBRIS FLOWS BELOW RECENT BURN AREAS.
INTERESTS IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS NEED TO BE
PREPARED FOR THESE EVENTS.

ALONG WITH THE RAINS...WIDESPREAD AREAS OF STRONG WINDS ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THE WEEKEND STORM SYSTEM. WINDS ARE ALREADY INCREASING ALONG
THE CENTRAL COAST AND MOUNTAINS FRIDAY EVENING. AS THE EVENT
UNFOLDS...STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS...BUT THE
STRONGEST WINDS ALONG THE COASTS SHOULD SHIFT INTO THE CALIFORNIA
BIGHT SATURDAY EVENING AND SUNDAY.

RESIDENTS OF SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA NEED TO BE AWARE THAT THE AMOUNT
OF RAIN EXPECTED WITH THESE STORM SYSTEMS WILL POSE A SIGNIFICANT
THREAT TO THE REGION. WATCHES...WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE LIKELY
TO BE ISSUED THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

LINK TO NWS PAGE

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Mountain Lion On Romero Canyon, Xmas Bell Building Party...

Dear Trail Users,

This morning on Romero Canyon Trail a woman who was hiking alone(husband had hiked ahead) was surprised by a mountain lion that bound onto the trail in front of her in hot pursuit of a coyote it was chasing. Although the lion was not interested in her, the brief experience did leave her frightened. The location was along the lower canyon trail and the time was around 8am.
Mountain lions have been seen on Romero over the years and will continue to be there in the future, be prepared when traveling in mountain lion country!
The following tips from the DFG are helpful when traveling on Romero or any other trail where mountain lions call home:
Never Hike/Ride Alone!
Avoid using the trail during feeding times- dawn, dusk, night
Don't run if you encounter a lion
Careful with small children in lion country.
For more info visit the Department of Fish and Game's mountain lion page
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Ever wonder how all those bells you like to hear get on bikes out there on our trails? SBMTV is the group that provides them and they need a little help assembling them.....
Next Tuesday night, Dec 14th, SBMTV will be supplying Pizza to all who show up to the Rusty's Pizza upstairs backroom on Castillo and Bath at 6pm.
The catch? You gotta cut a piece of velcro and stick it in a bike bell. Yep, you could say this is SBMTV's bike bell build Xmas party.
Any way, help you your local trail system next Tuesday by eating pizza and putting some bells together!
Xmas Bell Build PartyTuesday Dec 14th, 6pmRusty's Pizza,
Upstairs back room232 West Carrillo Street, Santa Barbara
Contact : chris.orr@sbmtv.org
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Finally, with nice weather brings heavier use out on the trails. Now is a good time to remind everyone of some simple steps to how we can all get along better. Our trail code page has some good tips for all users- learn it, know it, live it!