Читать книгу Trails of the Angeles - John W. Robinson - Страница 9

Preface to the Ninth Edition

“Keeping a guidebook up-to-date is a never-ending job.”

So wrote John W. Robinson many years ago in the preface to an early edition of Trails of the Angeles, and he has repeated the phrase often since. This has never been truer than in the seven years since the last edition was published. A series of natural and man-made disasters, culminating in the devastating 2009 Station Fire, have conspired to confound and frustrate hikers, nature lovers, and all who love the San Gabriel Mountains.

As a result, there have been many changes to the book. Several hikes—so noted in the text—are still off-limits due to the fire; others have only recently been reopened, and the repairing and reworking of trails is ongoing. These trail trips have been retained in the hope and expectation that nature—aided by the efforts of the US Forest Service and dedicated groups of volunteers—will slowly but surely restore what man has come so close to destroying. I have reluctantly removed and replaced four hikes in the book. Gone is the short stroll up Vetter Mountain and its historic lookout; the lookout burned to the ground in the Station Fire. The Bichota Canyon and Allison Gold Mine trails became so overgrown and eroded that these unsafe hikes have been replaced. Lastly, fire damage and persistent access problems at San Sevaine Flats led to the removal of that trail trip from the book.

In their place, I have chosen four excellent new hikes: two in the front range above Duarte and La Verne, a very scenic trail trip on the north side of the range from South Fork Campground to Vincent Gap, and a spectacular and challenging portion of the old North Backbone Trail on the back side of Mount Baldy, recently reintroduced after a multiyear absence from this guide.

Happily, there have been some positive developments in the past few years. Access roads to upper San Gabriel Canyon and Chantry Flat have finally been repaired. And two new wilderness areas were designated in the San Gabriels in 2009, protecting and preserving thousands of acres of vital habitat and watershed.

There is still much to see and explore, and much to enjoy and celebrate, in this fascinating mountain country.

Doug Christiansen

Pasadena, California

May 2013

Marshall Canyon (Hike 91)