What's happening up in "The Canyon"
June 7 th is National Trails Day
June 7 th - 15 th is National River Clean-Up Week
Download the June 2008 volunteers' newsletter HERE
Calendar of Events
Concerts and Moonlight Hikes are cancelled this summer due to expected road construction which will render Chantry Flat inaccessible to the public for up to two months. We will post more as we are notified.
Headline News
Not to nag, but if you were here more often, you wouldn't need this news page. OK, maybe a little nagging. However, we know that you all have lives outside "The Canyon" but you would like to keep up with all the latest. Keep in mind that the word "news" as it is used here is a relative term. Each article will be newer than the previous, but not necessarily timely. We have many responsibilities more pressing (no pun intended) than typing news stories. Nor will the articles be written with the same diligence and impartiality of those in the New York Times. This is a campy take on the small town newspaper. We are starting fresh with new articles as of August 1, '07. Go to the old news page to read the articles written before then. We will soon have all old articles in a News Archives page.
Chantry Flat Fire or Santa Anita Fire
May 21st, 2008
Three weeks ago a fire broke out along side the road that leads to Chantry Flat and the Pack Station. The cause is still undetermined, but since the point of orgin was at a turn-out in the road, far away from power lines, it is clear that ignition was human in nature. What is unclear to us is whether the fire's official name is the "Chantry Flat Fire" or "Santa Anita Fire". The fire actually started in Lanaan Canyon and burned across private open space in the City of Sierra Madre.
The approximate time of ingition was 2:45 pm on Saturday, April 26th, 2008. Several motorists noticed the small flames and tried to extinguish them, but without proper tools the effort was futile. They did, however, manage to call 911 to report the fire. The first we heard about the fire was about 3:15 pm when our friend Cam Stone called us to report the smoke and the activity; he lives just a few blocks from the entrance gate. Before too long we got a visit from a Sheriff's cruiser to give us the word that nobody would be leaving Chantry for a while.
About this time fire crews were staging in the Chantry Flat parking lot. This is nearly three miles from where the fire was burning, but these crews were present to inform and organize the hikers coming out of the canyon. Meanwhile, Sierra Madre Search & Rescue teams were hiking the canyon to request that hikers and cabin owners leave immediately. With nothing to do but wait, many came to the Pack Station to eat dinner and have an ice cream or a beer. Around 6:00 pm it became clear that the fire was intent on moving west, toward Little Santa Anita Canyon. It was the safe for the Sheriff's deputies to escort small groups of cars down the road to town.
Word of the fire had long since been transmitted by radio to Sturtevant's Camp, four miles from the end of the road, and they were told to stay at camp until further notice.
We at the Pack Station managed to sleep a little that night, but after midnight the smell of smoke was quite strong and by sun-up the air was thick and brown. When we brought the animals down from the upper corral for breakfast we locked them into the lower corral in case we needed to round them up later. We turned on the perimeter sprinklers and laid out the fire hoses. The Sheriff's deputies were here all of Saturday night and Sunday morning, fueling up on coffee, but they had no word to evacuate us.
Greg had back surgery scheduled for that Sunday, and as much as he didn't want to leave, Deb and Sue told him to go take care of it. I think we all knew that the fire was not going to come our way. However, in the interest of safety, the Pack Station and Sturtevant's Camp were evacuated. This presented problems unique to each entity.
The Pack Station is home to one horse, two mules, ten donkeys, six goats, three dogs and several barn cats. With the help of Suzanne Baltzer, who lives at Santa Anita Dam and who is networked in both the horse community and the animal care community, and with help from the Pasadena SPCA, we got enough trailers up here to bring the animals to Santa Anita Racetrack.
Sturtevant's Camp happened to be hosting a wedding party of fifty people thet weekend. Fire officials, including those from the Forest Service, were worried that if the campers started the three-hour hike out of the canyon and the fire changed direction, the people might get trapped. Fortunately, we of Big Santa Anita Canyon and those of Search & Rescue know The Canyon much better than they do. We knew the group would be safe walking north to Newcomb's Pass, where they could be shuttled or air-lifted out of the forest. As it happens, Chris Kasten, manager of Sturtevant's, has long maintained a clear and level helipad just a few hundred yards walk up behind the camp. The big Sheriff's helicopter called "Air 5" was able to "toe-in" and bring the party out to Chantry in small groups.
Chris and his wife, Joan, stayed at camp with a detailed fire plan for how to "shelter in place."
Chantry Flat evacuations were lifted by Wednesday evening and on Thursday we brought the animals home from the racetrack. Had we waited for the weekend, we could have received more volunteer help with trailering the animals. But Deb was committed to packing out the gear that was left behind at Sturtevant's, since many folks had driven here from Colorado. The incredible sales we enjoyed on Saturday from feeding the trapped hikers all went to the animal transport company so the weekend was a wash. But we are still here!
Hopefully the Forest Service will continue the major fuel clearance at Chantry that it started before fire broke out.
More info can be found on the SierraMadreNews.net website.
Chantry Flat Road Closed
November 24th, 2007
Big Santa Anita Canyon Road, "The Road to Chantry Flat", will be closed Saturday & Sunday, November 24th & 25th. The road was closed by the Sierra Madre Police Department, who owns and controls the gate, siting high fire danger. However, the Angeles National Forest remains open. We will update here as we know more.
Sierra Madre Police Dept:
(626) 355-1414
Update: November 26th, 2007
The road is now open.
Angeles National Forest is Temporarily Closed
October 24th, 2007
The folowing is from a news release by the US Forest Service:
ARCADIA, Calif. - As a result of extreme fire activity, and to protect public health and safety, Angeles National Forest officials are implementing a forest closure, effective October 23, 2007. The closure will last until the extreme conditions subside.
While the closure is in effect, going into or being upon National Forest System lands, roads, or trails within the Angeles National Forest is not allowed. The closure will affect the use of all national forest recreational facilities, roads and hiking trails. Violators are subject to fines and/or imprisonment.
For further information about the closure or fires currently burning on the Angeles, contact the Fire Information Center at 626-821-6700.
As a result of the closure, all activities at the Pack Station, such as the Concert Series and the Moonlight Hike are cancelled for the weekend of October 27th & 28th. Stay tuned for more closure info.
Update: October 31st, 2007
Well, we spoke with our District Ranger and he said that because "we are expecting another wind event", the forest will be closed at least through the weekend of November 3rd & 4th.
Update: November 6th, 2007
According to the front desk at the Los Angeles River Ranger District, the Angeles National Forest will be reopen on Thursday, November 8th. Point of information: the reasons for the forest closure was that "resources" (that means firefighters) were spread thin helping with other fires and weather conditions were dangerous. This is not the case now, but the personnel may need a few days to catch up, so give the that time. Unless something else happens, Adams' Pack Station should be open for business on the weekend of November 10th & 11th. Please direct general forest questions to one of the following:
Update: November 8th, 2007
The Angeles National Forest and Chantry Flat are now open!
New Animals At The Pack Station
August 1, 2007
The Pack Station has added three new animals to its pack train. These are a little different from what we have been using. The first difference you might notice is their small size. No, these aren't miniature donkeys. Or you might notice the horns. No, these aren't horny donkeys. They aren't bearded, cloven-hoofed donkeys. They are goats.
Yes, that's right, pack goats! It's not a new concept. Goats have been used for packing and driving carts for centuries, although pack goats are definitely uncommon in the U.S. But a recent article in Hobby Farm Magazine claims that they are becoming all the rage. We have been thinking about packing with goats for almost a year, and an offering of free goats finally came to us.
Mark Woodyard, brother of our Dutch oven chef Eric, told us of some goats out in Rialto that needed a good home. By the way, it's likely that there are a lot of goats in Rialto in need of a good home. Anyway, Mark showed Sue and Greg the way to these particular goats who were running free on a large lot. Fortunately they brought a rope and managed to get a slip knot over their horns, one by one. They were surprisingly easy to get into Sue's pick-up truck, and within an hour the goats were on their way to the mountains.
Rich and Jason had prepared the pen in front of the barn for goats, adding a gate and welded wire mesh. Greg put more mesh in the big stall and Sue picked up a goat feeder from San Dimas Grain. Deb paid for it all. The goats very quickly made themselves at home, but the equine were afraid of them. Goats are used at The Racetrack to calm the horses, but our donkeys did not like the intruders. Fred the mule was especially nervous. Everything settled down within a couple of days.
So why pack goats? Well, first of all they can go anywhere a human can go, and then some. They follow along like dogs and don't need to be tethered at a stop or at camp. They will eat just about anything so you don't need to bring food for them. They don't impact the land any more than a family of deer passing through, and they comply with the Forest Service's "No Trace Concept" of overnight outfitting. Naturally, most of these attributes do not apply to our regular routine of packing. What we want goats for are the overnight tours we have planned for next year. Goats can carry the tents, sleeping bags and cooking gear, and they can just walk along with the people. We also plan to make them available to the cabin owners for fire clearance.
Pack goats, which are the same animal as dairy goats, can carry 25% of their body weight. A good sized goat weighs 160 lbs., so that's forty pounds of gear per goat! All the equipment necessary is available for purchase - sawbuck saddles, panniers, etc. - so we won't need to customize anything. The most work will be in training the goats. But they are smarter than we expected, and we should have a working team by next year.
Check out this link: www.highuintapackgoats.com for more info on pack goats and to see them in action. Check back here for photos of our goats.