Southern Sierran - Sierra Club - Angeles Chapter

Get Outdoors! 10 great hikes to get you started
By Mary Forgione
SOUTHERN SIERRAN EDITOR
Each April, the Angeles Chapter Sierra
Club celebrates Earth Day with more than
one trail-thumping tribute to Club founder
John Muir. Muir turns 175 this April 21, and
the Chapter has organized special rendezvous
hikes in his honor. Hikers start at different
trailheads and meet up to toast the man whose
name launched an environmental movement.
April 21: Join us on a series of hikes to
4,688-foot Muir Peak in the front range of the
Angeles National Forest high above Pasadena
and Altadena. Choose among various routes –
moderate to hard – for a rendezvous around
12 to 12:30 p.m. on the peak.
April 28: It’s party time! The 30th Annual
Great Rendezvous Hikes in the Santa Monica
Mountains leave from 5 different hikes at five
different trailheads. All hikers meet up for a
celebration of the Sierra Club founder.
Of course, at Sierra Club, every day is
Earth Day. Find more hikes and events at our
website at www.angeles.sierraclub.org/activities.
(Look up the following hikes by date for
details.)
5 great hikes for beginners
South Bay: Spend an evening walking the
greenbelt and hills streets of Hermosa Beach
and Manhattan Beach at 7 p.m. on April 9
and every Tuesday night.
Fullerton: Hit the city’s gentle hills on 4 –
to 5-mile hikes that go at a slow to medium
pace. April 9 and every Tuesday night.
From Chapter Reports
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bulldozed a 48-acre wildlife area
near Sepulveda Dam in December, touching off a fierce response from
activists who opposed the action and said it lacked community input.
For the moment, things have changed -- and for the better.
The Angeles Chapter’s Sepulveda Basin Task Force members Terrie
Brady and Jan Kidwell joined Conservation Coordinator George
Watland at a Feb. 21 meeting hosted by the Corps of Engineers.
Representatives from several environmental organizations and the
Encino Neighborhood Council along with
Michael Tou from U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman’s office also attended.
Discussion centered on alternative solutions for management of the
Sepulveda Dam site. As a result of the meeting, the current operating
project and the Corps of Engineers preferred solution of planting salt
grass throughout that area -- an action opposed by Sierra Club and
other environmental groups -- has been stopped in its tracks.
New alternative solutions were put forth, and the Corps of
Engineers agreed to begin working on more discussions to refine
these ideas over the coming weeks. This activity will result in a new
solution to be produced, reviewed and published according to federal
NEPA requirements.
Activists who care about this critical habitat in the San Fernando
TOM POLITEO/CAMERA COMMITTEE
Pasadena: Take a stroll on level trails along
the Arroyo Seco and learn about the natural
and human history of the area. April 10 and
selected Wednesdays.
Orange County: Take a 5-mile hike and
discover the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve,
one of the last remaining wetland ecosystems
in Southern California on April 21, May 5
and June 6.
Santa Clarita: Take an easy 3- to 4-mile
hike along the famed Pacific Crest Trail to
Vasquez Canyon County Park. Vasquez Rocks
has been a hideout for banditos and a star in
Hollywood films. 9 a.m. on June 16.
5 great wildflower hikes
Trabuco Canyon ramble: Enjoy spring
wildflowers on a relaxed pace hike of about
4 miles with 400 feet of gain at O’Neill
Regional Park, a woodland filled with live oak,
buckwheat, sagebrush and other native plants.
The hike starts 8:30 a.m. April 7.
California’s State Flower: Climb
Saddleback Butte (4 miles and 1,000 feet of
gain) and check out the California Poppy
Festival in Lancaster with music, activities
and (hopefully) a golden carpet of poppies on
April 20.
Malibu Creek State Park Wildflower
Photo Hike: Wildflowers and great views are
the start of this photography outing. Hike up
to 5 miles with 700 feet of gain in the Reagan
Ranch Meadow and Century Lake areas. It
meets 8:30 a.m. April 20.
Dominguez Gap Wetlands Earth Day
Celebration: Take an easy to moderate flat
hike 2½ miles long along the Los Angeles
River in Long Beach. Learn about the rich
biodiversity of this green oasis. It begins 9:30
a.m. April 21
Nature Knowledge Workshop: Spend
two days in a streamside camp in the San
Bernardino Mountains where you’ll take walks
and hikes to learn about the natural surroundings.
Cost for the two-day event June 7 to 9
is $153 for members, $173 for non-members;
must register in advance.
Activists keep up the pressure over Sepulveda Dam plan
GEORGE WATLAND/CONSERVATION COORDINATOR
Valley should join the task force to work toward making better use of
this area in the Sepulveda Basin. To join the task force, contact: Hillary
Gordon: hillgordon@verizon.net; Jennifer Robinson: jennifer.robinson@sierraclub.org;
George Watland: george.watland@sierraclub.org.
SOUTHERN SIERRAN APRIL-JUNE 2013 3