Point Mugu State Park Signs Project

In the first half of 2022, the Trails Council (led by Jerry Mitcham and Jon Sheldon) partnered with State Parks to assess and improve the trail signage in Pt. Mugu State Park. This includes funding and installation of new signs plus the removal of obsolete signage. All new signs will have UV protection and be installed with tamper-resistant hardware.

Multiple survey trips throughout the park revealed that many existing signs:

Were unreadable due to fire, vandalization or extensive sun damage
Referenced incorrect or obsolete trail names
Indicated incorrect mileage
Confused readers on what the destination
Were nearly non-existent along the route of the Backbone Trail

Finally, only about 10% of the trail junctions were completely signed.

Each existing sign and all junctions in the park were photographed, mapped and documented in a spreadsheet with comments as to current status and recommendations for improvement. Suggestions were also added for new signage at unsigned junctions and for signs that should be considered for removal, resulting in a comprehensive plan for signing the entire park.

One of the outcomes of this effort was realizing the complexity of the trail system in Pt. Mugu State Park. There are 39 named trails/roads covering 72 miles with 7 entry points and 64 junctions. This made developing a signage plan challenging as there are oftentimes multiple routes to a specific point in most areas of the park.

Given the large size of the park, it was decided to implement the project in multiple phases. Phase 1 includes 33 signs in the areas with the highest traffic: trails easily accessible from Sycamore Canyon Campground, the Ray Miller Trail, the Mugu Peak area and the signs leading to the waterfall in Upper Sycamore Canyon including for the first time a sign at the turnoff to the waterfall. The westernmost Backbone Trail signage from the La Jolla Canyon Day Use Area to the Wood Canyon Vista Trail was installed in this phase.

Phase 2 signs were installed along or near Sycamore Canyon Fire Road, Old Boney Trail, Chamberlain Trail.

Phase 3 signs were installed along Wood Canyon, Hidden Pond and Two Foxes trails. At this point more than 97 signs have been installed.

Phase 4 will be signs in La Jolla Valley and Phase 5 will be Serrano Valley.

Date	Activity	Vols	Hours	Description
2022-01-09	Trail Sign Survey	10.0	2	Jon Sheldon and Ruth Feldon started up the Chumash Trail to inspect the erosion on the Mugu Peak Trail about 0.2 miles east of Chumash Saddle in advance of the next scheduled outing. The deep hole in the trail had not deepened significantly with the recent rains and remained slightly above knee deep but there was a bit more erosion on the downhill slope. While surveying the area for large rocks to be used to shore up the eroded edge, we deterred one small group from using the eroded section to take a shortcut down to the Chumash Trail and observed a mother picking up her young son, step into the hole and proceed to carry him down the slope. We then continued east on the Mugu Pk Trail and looped around the trails in La Jolla Valley surveying 18 existing signs and identifying locations for 9 additional signs. We noted significant parallel ruts, some up to 2 feet deep and 8 inches wide, on the La Jolla Valley Fire Road which could cause problems for vehicles driving to the usual parking spot. Returned to car at the Chumash TH. Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 5 hours = 10 hours
2022-01-13	Trail Sign Survey	16.5	3	Two Trail Council volunteers and one CSUCI Student met at Wendy and Potrero, drove to the Danielson Multi-Use Area and hiked the Blue Canyon, Old Boney/Toe Stubber, Big Sycamore Canyon Trail, Sycamore Canyon FireRoad and Two Foxes trails to survey signage. Seventeen existing signs were surveyed and locations for six additional signs were identified. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Katie Eikenberry. Returned to car at Wendy and Potrero. Total volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 5.5 hours = 16.5 hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A
2022-01-14	Trail Sign Survey	5.5	1	Starting from the RSV parking lot began hiking to survey signs on Danielson Rd, Old Boney Trail (North), Sin Nombre Trail, Ranch Center Road and the Sycamore Canyon road. Surveyed 21 signs and possible identified locations for 12 additional signs. Total volunteer hours: 1 volunteers x 5.5 hours = 5.5hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A
2022-01-18	Trail Sign Survey	10.0	2	Two Trail Council volunteers began hiking from Triunfo Pass to survey the most remote sign in the park at the east end of Chamberlain Trail at the State Park/NPS boundary. Unfortunately this sign was burned in the Woolsey Fire and is unreadable so will require replacement. The posts are good, though. Returned to car. Began hiking down Serrano Rd from the Cotharin intersection to survey the least visited sign in the park. (The road turned out to have been cleared very recently, but I didn’t want to take a chance on being blocked by slough, brush or rocks as there is no way to turn around before the end.) Accessing the sign at east end of Serrano Valley is shorter from Cotharin than from the Serrano Canyon Trail. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon Total volunteer hours: 2 volunteers x 5 hours = 10 hours Feet of trail maintained: N/A
2022-02-13	Trail Sign Survey	25.0	5	Two Trail Council volunteers and three CSUCI students met at the Sycamore Cyn Day Use Parking area and carpooled into the park to begin hiking at the Serrano Cyn TH for an excursion around Serrano Valley with a break at the Serrano Homesite. Six signs from the 2007 installation project were surveyed, one of which was found to be missing. We determined that four new signs would be beneficial in Serrano Valley and found three signs (two unreadable) that were not included in the 2007 package. We also found that the Harrison map and State Park GIS data do not reflect the obvious, well used path between the southern terminus of the Serrano Valley Loop Trail and the Serrano Homesite. The main route in this section is clearly delineated in apps (Gaia, Alltrails) based on OpenStreetMap data
2022-02-17	Trail Sign Survey	9.0	3	Activity: PMSP Sign Restoration Project Field Survey Location: Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Jon Sheldon Still feeling energetic after the morning’s outing with Dave removing three downed trees in Serrano Canyon, we elected to complete the survey of signs in the southern section of the park. We hiked in to check out sign conditions at the top of the Scenic Trail, the junction of Scenic Trail and Overlook Fire Road and at the top of the Fireline Trail. Five existing signs were surveyed and locations for four additional signs were noted. One more survey is needed in the middle of the park to complete the first phase of the project. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon.
2022-02-20	Trail Sign Survey	18.0	3	Activity: PMSP Sign Restoration Project Field Survey Location: Point Mugu State Park Crewleader: Jon Sheldon Drove to the Sycamore Cyn FR/Wood Cyn FR junction to begin this last survey of signs. Surveyed 10 existing signs and identified locations for three additional signs. Returned to Wendy/Potrero. This completes the Field Survey portion of the project. Participants: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Bryan Loya (CSUCI) PRELIMINARY STATISTICS (subject to change) All 73 signs installed by the Trails Council in 2007 were surveyed. Of this number, 4 signs are missing, 9 signs are unreadable due to fire damage and 5 signs have partial fire damage. Most of the remaining 56 signs have some form of degradation due to sun exposure or vandalism. An additional 39 signs were located in the park in various conditions. Some signs have incorrect trail names, some have incorrect mileage to destinations. There are many inconsistencies between various sign’s trail names and destinations that will be detailed later. There are a total of 39 named trails/roads in the park. There are 64 junctions in the park. Six junctions are fully signed, 39 are partially signed and 19 are unsigned. Serrano Valley is completely unsigned. The BBT traverses 8 different segments in the park with 2 entry points and 8 intermediate junctions. A total of 18 signs should have a BBT indication. We found only one BBT directional sign in place. A total of seven trips into the park, including this one, were made to complete the field survey. Today's volunteer hours: 3 volunteers x 6 hours = 18 hours
2023-09-06	Trail Signs Project	19.0	5	This was the first outing to install newly purchased signs in Pt. Mugu State Park. This was a pilot event so we chose easy-to-access signs to better gauge efforts needed on subsequent, harder to reach areas of the park. Up to five more outings will be needed to complete the Phase 1 effort. We met at the Sycamore Canyon Day Use parking lot at 8:30am. After discussing the goals for the day we drove into the park in one vehicle and dealt with signage issues at the Serrano Canyon Trail, Fireline Trail, Overlook Fire Road, and Scenic Trail junctions of Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and at the yellow gate at the campground. We then drove to the La Jolla Canyon Day Use area for one installation (Ray Miller TH) and one removal (La Jolla Canyon Trail) and finished the day installing a sign at the Chumash TH finishing at 12:30pm. One participant left at 11:30a for a prior engagement. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Signs Installed: 9; Posts pounded: 6 Crew: Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Ruth Feldon, Barry Dydyk, John Reynolds
2024-01-03	Trail Signs Project	51.5	9	This was the second outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install signs along the Old Cabin Trail (aka Danielson Road). Ruth and I had recently scouted the trail to evaluate the effort to remove the fasteners from the old signs and to check on the trail conditions and creek crossing due to recent storms. Nine SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero to drive into the park. We were accompanied by Ann Stansell, a State Park archaeologist as one of the new sign locations is in a culturally sensitive area. Because of the rain that occurred overnight, we parked the cars by the water tank at the top of the asphalt hill to avoid driving on the dirt road to the usual parking spot 0.3 mi to the east. This meant that the farthest location was a 2 mile walk each way. We carried six signs, three posts, a post pounder and miscellaneous tools aided by Dave's deer-hauler. We carried out three old signs, one removed post from an old two-poster sign, the post pounder and tools. New signs were installed where the Old Cabin Trail heads downhill towards the creek (1), at the Old Cabin Trail/Upper Sycamore Trail junction (2), at the Waterfall Trail/Old Cabin Trail junction (2) and at the Old Cabin Trail/Old Boney Trail junction (1). Signs installed: 6 today, 15 total. Posts pounded: 3 today, 9 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 18. Feet of trail cleared: N/ACrew: Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds, Anne Russell, Barb Thomas
2024-01-11	Trail Signs Project	39.5	6	This was the third outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install four signs along the Mugu Peak Trail. I had previously hiked up the Chumash Trail to scout the various trails and fire road to ensure that there was no mud after December's storm and to determine if there were any impediments due to brush. Six SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a to drive into the park. We were accompanied by Ann Stansell, a State Park archaeologist as all of the sign locations are in culturally sensitive areas. We drove in two cars down Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and up Hell Hill into La Jolla Valley. We carried four signs, four posts, a post pounder and miscellaneous tools aided by Dave’s deer-hauler. The farthest sign was a 2.4 mi walk from the vehicles. Three new signs were installed near the top of the Chumash Trail and the fourth sign was installed at the Mugu Peak Spur Trail 0.2 mi E of the summit. These were all new installations so only the post pounder needed to be carried out. We arrived back at Wendy/Potrero at 2:30p. Signs installed: 4 today, 19 total. Posts pounded: 4 today, 13 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 14. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Dave Edwards, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, John Reynolds
2024-01-15	Trail Signs Project	32.5	5	This was the fourth outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today's objective was to install signs along/near the Overlook Fire Road and completely remove some old,unneeded, signs and their posts. Five SMMTC regulars left Wendy/Potrero at 8:15a and drove into the park with the first destination being the top of Hell Hill where we replaced two signs. We then proceeded to the Wood Canyon Vista Trail where we installed one new sign, replaced an older sign and then installed a new sign 0.1 mi down the trail to alert downhill users that the trail continued to the left and not straight ahead along a use trail. On the way to the Ray Miller trail junction, we removed an obsolete sign/post and when arriving at the junction removed another obsolete sign/post, installed a new sign and replaced a heavily vandalized sign. We then installed a new sign 0.4 mi from the Overlook Fire Road on the Ray Miller Trail to provide guidance to trail users heading uphill that the official trail continues to the left and not up the steep use trail straight ahead. Just as we finished installing this sign, two hikers approached us coming down the steep use trail and commented that they would have stayed on the actual trail had the sign been in place earlier but they chose the uphill route by mistake. We finished the day's work at the Fireline Trail junction by replacing one vandalized sign and installing one new sign and arrived back at the meeting point at 2:45p. Signs installed: 10 today, 29 total. Posts pounded: 5 today, 18 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 4. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Hours worked: 32.5 (6.5 hours x 5)Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, John Kross, Carlyn Taggart, Jerry Mitcham
2024-01-25	Trail Signs Project	12.0	4	PHASE ONE IS DONE! This was the fifth and final outing to install Phase 1 signs in Point Mugu State Park. Today’s objective was to install signs near the Scenic Trail junction with the Overlook Fire Road and completely remove one unneeded sign and two unneeded posts. Four SMMTC regulars met at the Sycamore Canyon Day Use parking lot at 8:30a and drove in one vehicle up the Overlook Fire Road to its junction with the Scenic Trail. We removed one unneeded reassurance sign/post and one unneeded hollow square metal post and installed two replacement signs at the junction. We then proceeded to carry tools, a post and two signs 0.1 mi down the Scenic Trail to its junction with the Great Dune View Trail and the path to the viewpoint where we installed one new sign/post and replaced one vandalized sign. As on previous outings, we were able to discard the old signs in the State Park dumpster at the La Jolla Canyon Day Use Area (painted aluminum cannot be recycled) and completed the outing by 11:30a. Statistics: Signs installed: 4 today, 33 total. Posts pounded: 1 today, 18 total. Phase 1 signs remaining: 0. Phase 2 signs ordered: 34. Expect delivery by the end of March. Phase 3 signs. Expect to place the order in early March with delivery by mid-May. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants : Barry Dydyk, Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours worked : 12. (3 hoursx4 participants).Crew: Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon, Jerry Mitcham
2024-03-04	Trail Signs Project	18.0	3	PHASE TWO SIGN INSTALLATIONS BEGIN! Phase 2 encompasses the balance of the Boney Mountain Wilderness Area (except for Serrano Valley) and all signage directly on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road north of the Serrano Canyon Trail. The entire Backbone Trail will be signed when this phase is completed. Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and drove into the park. We installed six new signs and replaced three damaged signs along Sycamore Canyon Fire Road: at the top of the asphalt hill and at the junctions with Hidden Pond Trail, the “Spur” Trail, Ranch Center Road and the Sin Nombre Connector Trail. Statistics: Signs installed: 9 today, 42 total. Posts pounded: 6 today, 24 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 24. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants: Jerry Mitcham, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours worked: 18. (6 hours x 3 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham
2024-03-12	Trail Signs Project	24.0	4	Four SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and drove into the park. We were accompanied by a State Park archaeologist as some of today's locations are located in culturally sensitive locations. We installed five new signs, replaced three older signs and removed two obsolete signs. Most of the signs were easily accessible from Sycamore Canyon Fire Road, but the sign at the top of the Fossil Trail required carrying a new sign 1 mile up the trail and the old sign back down to the car. Statistics: Signs installed: 8 today, 50 total. Posts pounded: 5 today, 29 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 16. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Hours worked: 24. (6 hours x 4 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds
2024-03-15	Trail Signs Project	24.0	4	Another day, another sign. Four SMMTC regulars met at the Sandstone Peak TH at 8:30a and hiked over 6 miles round-trip to install one replacement sign at the junction of the Chamberlain and Tri-Peaks trails near the State Park/NPS boundary and carried out the old sign. It was a glorious SoCal day: blue sky,clouds, cool temps, birds, butterflies, flowing water and lots of wildflowers starting to bloom. Statistics: Signs installed: 1 today, 51 total. Posts pounded: 0 today, 29 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 15. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Hours worked: 24. (6 hours x 4 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, Anne Russell
2024-03-18	Trail Signs Project	25.0	5	Five SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a and carpooled into the park driving as far as the Wood Canyon Vista Trail where we installed two signs. We then backtracked to the Wood Canyon Fire Road installing another two new signs and removed two obsolete signs/posts. We finished the installation portion of the outing at the Blue Canyon TH by removing two signs/posts and installing one post with signs on the front and back. We then scouted the Blue Canyon Trail to see if there were any impediments to the sign outing scheduled there for next week. We determined that it would be problematic carrying loads up to the Old Boney Trail junction due to brush, bank erosion at some crossings and having to wade across the creek multiple times. We will postpone the outing scheduled for 3/26/2024 until the water recedes. Signs installed: 6 today, 57 total. Posts pounded: 4 today, 33 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 9. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham, Anne Russell
2024-03-20	Trail Signs Project	32.5	5	Five SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a. After a discussion of the plans for the day, we drove to the Old Boney TH and installed two signs and one post. This completes the signing of all junctions on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road. From there we carried the post pounder, two posts and three signs up the Toe Stubber section of the Old Boney Trail and installed two new signs and posts at the previously unsigned junction with Serrano Valley Trail. (A huge thanks to John Reynolds for carrying the post pounder in his backpack!) We noted that so much rutting occurred on the upper half of the trail during the recent rains that perhaps this section should be renamed Ankle Buster,especially in the sections where the brush on either side and the deep rut in the middle of the tread made it difficult to find good footing. After working at the trail junction, we proceeded down to the middle of Serrano Valley where we installed one temporary sign on an existing wooden post to direct park visitors to the exit route via Serrano Canyon. This should help reduce some confusion until a complete signage plan for the entire valley is developed in a later phase. On the way back, we sawed a very old 6 inch post in half and carried it and the post pounder back out returning to Wendy/Potrero at 3:00p. This was the most difficult sign outing to date given the number of items that needed to be carried, sub-optimal trail conditions on Toe Stubber and the length/elevation gain involved. Good spirits and great company definitely helped us get through the day. Statistics: Signs installed: 5 today, 62 total. Posts pounded: 3 today, 36 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 4. Phase 3 signs: Under development. Phase 4 signs: TBD. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Denise Pomonik, John Reynolds
2024-03-28	Trail Signs Project	18.0	3	Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy/Potrero at 8:30a. After a discussion of the plans for the day, we drove to the Old Boney TH and hiked 2 miles up via Toe Stubber to install two signs at the Chamberlain/Old Boney junction. For this outing we only needed to carry two new signs up and the two old signs out, so we carried minimal tools (socket wrenches, channel-locks and a hacksaw.) Part of the purpose of this outing was to do advance scouting of Toe Stubber with Dave for remedial work either on a scheduled outing or on Trail Days. After completing the swap out of the signs at the foot of the Chamberlain Trail around 11:30a, we decided to hike out via Blue Canyon to assess the trail conditions from that junction to Danielson. The Old Boney Trail section between Chamberlain and Blue Canyon is in fairly good shape. There is some rutting from the heavy rains last month and some drains need cleaning but all-in-all the trail is quite passable. The Blue Canyon Trail, however, suffered some moderate rutting in the top section and, worst of all, is completely gone in the middle section. We had to wander through brush and up and down the stream banks to find a passable route through the middle 0.3 mi of the trail. In a few sections, the stream has gouged deep channels up to 10' deep. It will take a significant effort to restore the semblance of a path in the middle section. The lower section of the trail is in good shape except for the need to wade through the stream crossings. Even after the water in the creek recedes, it may be some time before we will be able to install the two final Phase 2 signs at the Blue Canyon/Old Boney junction as carrying the post pounder and 7' post will be difficult until a clear path is established. Statistics: Signs installed: 2 today, 64 total. Posts pounded: 0 today, 36 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 2. Hours worked: 18 (6.0 hours x 3 articipants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards
2024-04-16	Trail Signs Project	15.0	3	Scouting for Trail Days and Sign Installation Outing #12. Three SMMTC regulars met at Wendy and Potrero at 8:30am to drive down to the Danielson Multi-Use Area. After unloading a full load of firewood from Dave's truck, we began hiking up the newly rerouted Blue Canyon Trail to scout and flag sections for Trail Days. On the way up we determined and flagged the actions (drains, ramp, treadwork) needed at various points. We also carried up one new trail sign and a battery operated drill to remove one old sign and install a new one on an existing square metal post at the Old Boney Trail junction. Sign Statistics: Signs installed: 1 today, 65 total. Posts pounded: 0 today, 36 total. Phase 2 signs remaining: 1. Phase 3 signs: Preparing order for 30 signs. Phase 4 signs: Under development. Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants: Dave Edwards, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon Hours: 15 (5.0 hours x 3 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Dave Edwards
2024-04-19	Trail Signs Project	12.0	4	PHASE 2 IS COMPLETE! Four SMMTC regulars hiked up the Blue Canyon Trail from Danielson Multi-Use Area to install the final Phase 2 sign. We only need to carry the sign and a shovel as we had previously stashed the post pounder at the junction and had determined that the old 2007 post was loose and could be relocated to a new location. On arriving at the junction we attempted to remove the old loose post and found that it wasn't as easy to extract from the ground as we had thought. It took quite a bit of digging and effort but the four of us succeeded in pulling the post out of the ground without damaging it. This meant that we didn't have to hike back down to Danielson where we had a left a new post just in case. After removing the old, stubborn, sign from the newly freed post we pounded the post in a new location for a brand new sign identifying Blue Canyon Trail. Unfortunately the new post was crooked despite our using levels while pounding. So we proceed to attempt to straighten the post by digging down to loosen the dirt and then reset it. We were unable to get the post perfectly vertical, but having made some progress, declared victory and affixed the last Phase 2 sign. Statistics: Signs installed: 1 today, 66 total. Posts pounded: 1 today, 37 total. Phase 3 signs: Preparing order - 30 signs Phase 4 signs: Under development Feet of trail cleared: N/A Participants: Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Ruth Feldon. Hours: 12 (4.0 hours x 3 participants).Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, Carlyn Taggart, John Reynolds
2024-08-19	Trail Signs Project	27.5	5	The latest batch of signs has been received and we are beginning the installation phase. On this first outing we installed 8 of the 31 new signs. Five SMMTC regulars met at 7:30am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We drove to the old water tank on Ranch Center road where we installed replacement signs at the Coyote Trail,Hidden Pond Trail and Ranch Center Fire Road junctions. We then proceeded down to the Sage Trail junction and installed one replacement sign and one new sign. The Hidden Pond Connector Trail was next where two signs were installed, one at Ranch Center Road and the other at the Hidden Pond Trail. The last effort of the day was on the Hidden Pond Trail side of the Ranch Center Road/Hidden Pond/Sin Nombre junction where we installed one new sign/post while removing three old sign/posts making the directions clearer and reducing unneeded clutter. Statistics Signs installed: 8 today, 74 total. Posts pounded: 4 today, 41 total. Posts removed: 5 today, 18 total. Phase 3 signs remaining: 23 Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under developmentHours worked: 27.5 (5.5 hours x 5 participants). Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Don Brusselars, Jerry Mitcham
2024-08-26	Trail Signs Project	20.0	4	Four SMMTC regulars met at 7:30am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We started the day by driving to the shortcut route to the Hidden Pond Trail on Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and then hiked 250' to the creek where we installed a new post with two signs at the point where the main Hidden Pond Trail exits the creek bed. We removed one obsolete legacy post just above that point and then hiked 0.1 miles east to place a new post and sign alerting trail users of the correct routing of the Hidden Pond Trail at a junction where an illegal bike trail heads north into Broome Ranch. We then drove to the junction of Wood Canyon Fire Road and Two Foxes Trail where we installed one replacement sign and one new post/sign and then hiked 0.5 miles to the Coyote Trail/Two Foxes Trail junction where we installed one replacement sign and one new post/sign. We finished up by driving to the lower Ranch Center Road/Hidden Pond Trail junction where we hiked in 0.25 miles to install a new post and sign to alert trail users of the proper fork to take at a junction with an illegal bike trail that heads north into Broome Ranch. We finished the day's work at about 12:30pm Statistics Signs installed: 8 today, 82 total. Posts pounded: 5 today, 46 total. Posts removed: 2 today, 20 total. Phase 3 signs remaining: 15 Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under development Phase 5 signs (Serrano Valley): TBD Feet of trail cleared: N/A Crew: Ruth Feldon, Jon Sheldon, John Kross, Jerry Mitcham
2024-10-14	Trail Signs Project	22.5	5	Five SMMTC regulars met at 8:00am at Wendy/Potrero to carpool into the park. We were joined by Ann Stansell, State Park Archaeologist, as we were installing signs in culturally sensitive areas. We started the day by driving to the junction of Sycamore Canyon Fire Road and Wood Canyon Fire Road where we moved a sign that we installed last spring a few feet further away from the road. We then drove up Wood Canyon Fire Road to the bottom of Hell Hill where we removed three legacy signs/posts, replaced one sign and installed one new sign/post. The next objective was at the Wood Canyon Fire Road/Guadalasca Trail junction where we replaced one existing sign and installed a new sign/post. Rather than continue driving up Wood Canyon Fire Road to the Ranch Center Road junction, we decided to drive back around and approach the junction via Ranch Center Fire Road to avoid deep and difficult crossings. At the junction of the old Ranch Center site we removed the two existing signs/posts as they were hard to see in heavy brush and installed two new signs/posts in more visible locations. We finished the day’s work at about 12:30pm. For statistical completeness, a replacement sign/post was installed at the Serrano Canyon Trail/Sycamore Canyon Fire Road during a regularly scheduled trail maintenance outing on 9/14/2024. The time worked is included in the report for that outing. Statistics (including 9/14 and 10/14/2024) Signs installed: 7 this report, 89 total. Posts pounded: 5 this report, 51 total. Posts removed: 8 this report, 28 total. Phase 3 signs remaining: 8 Phase 4 signs (La Jolla Valley): Under development Hours worked: 22.5 (4.5 hours x 5) Crew: Dave Edwards, Ruth Feldon, John Reynolds, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham
2024-10-21	Trail Signs Project	22.5	5	PHASE 3 INSTALLATION IS NOW COMPLETE! Five SMMTC regulars were again joined by Ann Stansell, State Park Archaeologist, as we were installing signs in culturally sensitive areas. Today we installed signage on the Sin Nombre and Two Foxes Trail. We started at the junction of Ranch Center Road and Sin Nombre Trail where we removed one sign/post that was located in the middle of the trail and installed a new sign/post in a better location. A new sign/post identifying the correct routing of Sin Nombre was installed at its junction with the illegal "Art's Trail". We then removed an old rotted wooden post with its attached signs from the Hidden Pond Trail a few hundred feet east of its junction with Ranch Center Road. The final parking spot was at the junction of Ranch Center Fire Road, Sin Nombre Trail and Two Foxes Trail where we updated the Ranch Center Fire Road sign and installed two new signs/posts indicating the termini of the Sin Nombre and Two Foxes trails at that junction. A short distance away, we removed the bent post and damaged sign for the Sage Trail and installed a new post/sign in a more visible location. An unneeded post/sign was removed 0.2 miles south of the junction. We then walked 0.2 miles north of the junction and removed an old post/sign and installed two new posts/signs at the intersection of the Sin Nombre Trail and Sin Nombre Connector Trail. We were back at Wendy/Potrero at about 12:30pm. The signage in the majority of the park has now been updated. The only areas left are La Jolla Valley and Serrano Valley. Statistics: Signs installed: 8 this report, 97 total. Posts pounded: 7 this report, 58 total. Posts removed: 8 this report, 36 total Phase 4 (La Jolla Valley): Under development Phase 5 signs (Serrano Valley): TBD Hours worked: 22.5 (4.5 hours x 5 ) Crew: Ruth Feldon, Carlyn Taggart, Jon Sheldon, Jerry Mitcham, Anne Russell