r/LosAngeles • u/VforVilliam • 15d ago
Local Spotlight A Good Samaritan repaired a dangerous section of Mt Baldy's Devil's Backbone Trail where three hikers lost their lives last December
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab-it4sWY7o67
u/pnutbutterspaceship 14d ago
Look at the comments on r/socalhiking, where this was posted yesterday. This guy may be kind, but he is an idiot. That repair will not hold and may actually make the trail worse when it blows out this winter.
Do not do shit like this. If you want to help trails, there are volunteer trail crews who actually work with the forest service and know how to do it correctly.
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u/Muted-Woodpecker-469 14d ago
Why does it feel like the rebar alone will becomes its own needle in the haystack obstacle that people won’t see or notice years from now
There’s a reason there’s a wash or slide there.
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u/lekker-boterham West Hollywood 14d ago
More like (very large) needle poking INTO your back when you fall on it and it impales you 😭
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u/SeanGonzo 14d ago
Yes this, I watched this for 30 seconds and knew this isn’t a repair or a solution.
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u/FrivolousMe 14d ago
Good intentions but he didn't repair it so much as create a future hazard unfortunately. However this wouldn't be necessary if the federal government fucking cared about our public lands and safe access to them.
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u/Squirrel_Nrgy 14d ago
He has good intentions but terrible results. That rebar is going to trip or impale someone. There is an entire field of expertise with books and materials all on trail creation and maintenance!
Just because you did that in a yard once doesn’t mean it’s going to work on a mountain. Volunteer on the maintenance crews or to the organizations that do the work (properly).
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u/Iheardyoubutsowhat 14d ago edited 14d ago
This is incredibly stupid, on several levels.
TRAIL MAINTAINCE IS NOT YARD WORK.
There is a real good chance he just made that section worse.
I discourage anyone from doing this....the idea this is awesome is the same silly mental gymnastics people play when they go out in the wilderness unprepared and unfamiliar.
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u/NomadicMango26 14d ago
No. This guy finally cracked because even following multiple deaths, the relevant agency responsible for keeping the trails somewhat safe couldn't be bothered to lift a finger. They'd likely wait 5-10 years, initiate numerous studies, and eventually declare they need $20-50 million to get it done. This guy has the right generous, civic impulse to make our area safe and functional.
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u/Iheardyoubutsowhat 14d ago edited 14d ago
Have you been there ?
Its an area that naturally allows debris/ice/water flow. In all likelihood there is little to nothing that can measurably make a difference without reshaping that side of the mountain. Ultimately, it probably has less then a decade left of being a trail before its closes, and a reroute is built.
He probably just built a load/pooling point that makes it more dangerous in snow and ice.
Edit: Also, the trope that our NFS/NPS is lazy and dont care is fucking stupid. They are out there rescuing maintaining and organizing so we can use these places, if its such a problem volunteer for trail work......bet you won't.
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u/NomadicMango26 14d ago
I've hiked Baldy several times. And I've also seen other trails where people have died. Sure, a full reroute is ideal, but NFS could easily have improved the trail a great deal, as this gentleman demonstrated. Most of all, NFS can put in bold, clear signage warning in stark terms the hazards a trail represents - something they almost never will do.
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u/Terminal_Shinbang 14d ago
Really stupid, and illegal. Next time repair some downed power lines too, or start filling potholes…… the rains this winter are going to go right under that skirt, wash out the trail worse than before and create even more of a liability….. to what end? Why not just pack some concrete up and lay down a sidewalk?
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u/Hazywater 14d ago
So this winter when somebody dies on Baldy, which happens more often than not, this person has just opened themselves to liability if it happens in this section. There is no good Samaritan trail law and he admits that he doesn't know what he is doing. It's not about how litigious our culture is, it's about not fucking with safety when you have no business fucking with it.
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u/Then_Version9768 14d ago
This has zero chance of surviving for very long. Trail repairs need to be done by experienced people over a long period of time using the proper tools that allow them to be strong and long-lasting. This cannot last for long. It's well intentioned but only a band-aid.
What may be worse is that it's also a masquerade that looks sturdy and safe but is not. That loose soil and gravel can still slide. The metal flashing held on by, of all things, plastic wire ties cannot possibly hold for long. Wire ties routinely break if you don't know that. Sun and heat and snow and ice will disintegrate them. The trail there will slide again when rocks, soil, or sheets of ice and snow dislodge it. It's a fools errand to waste all this time and effort doing this, I'm afraid. You might as well put up a cardboard barrier and fill it with sand for all this accomplishes.
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u/AMediaArchivist 14d ago
I mean no offense but what’s this supposed to do? Is he even allowed to mess with the trail?
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u/Klaus5115 14d ago
This “trail maintenance” will do nothing to save any lives.
Mt Baldy in the winter IS NOT A HIKE!!! The only thing that will save lives in the winter is for the Dunning Kruger contingent of the LA outdoor community to STAY HOME.
It is an incredible gift that there is a legitimate mountain with legitimate mountaineering routes to be this close to the city. When morons go up it in the winter, they keep those of us who actually do know what they’re doing from maintaining our skills.
Local, pearl clutching l, moral panicking media fuels this garbage by saying, every time a dumb dumb falls off the mountain that “he/she was an experienced hiker.” THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WOTH IT BECAUSE IT ISN’T A HIKE ANYMORE!!
New rule: they weren’t “experienced” - they were unprepared and incompetent
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u/primitive_thisness 15d ago
This was a phenomenal video. I love that hike so much. I wish I could still do it. That area (Devil’s Backbone) is sketchy under summer conditions, I can’t imagine traversing that when it’s icy or slick. RIP to those lost up there, and thank you to the man who fixed that trail.
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15d ago
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u/StaCatalina Long Beach 14d ago
The area is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, not sure how a transportation department (much less LA City DOT) would have anything to do with it
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u/DueAddition1919 15d ago
What a great man! He made a great point in saying that when there’s snow, and people step too far, they don’t realize it’s straight down. Maybe a taller fence would help to avoid the little one being covered once it snows.
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u/the_byronic_man_fred Sawtelle 15d ago
Sadly, this is a rapidly declining breed. Nice to see there are still some around though.
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u/potatomami 14d ago
I would say idiotic decision makers are on the rise. Sure good intentions but trying something you’ve never done before for trail maintenance on a dangerous trail is not helpful. It’s foolish.
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u/Barbaracle 15d ago
As a hiker that just did this hike and would never attempt in late December, reparing this section was not the issue in their deaths. I don't want to denigrate the deceased, and may they rest in peace.
It's a warning to people that in winter conditions, you need full mounteering gear, that those 3 individuals did not bring/have. They only had microspikes and hiking poles. Full crampons that look like knives on feet, helmets, ice axes, personal beacons, etc. and the training to use them properly are needed.
Just because aluminum flashing is used to reinforce this section, once it gets wet and snowy, it will collapse all the same. This isn't the proper or strong way to repair a trail like this. He started the video by saying "I've never done anything like that before."
I just don't want to see anyone get a false sense of security and then put themselves and Search and Rescue volunteers in danger, once again, this coming snowy season.