On Monday, June 10, Michael Ballard (myself), Harrison Scott, Dave Omieczynski, and Richard Valot had a meeting with representatives from the Angeles National Forest. They included Jerry Perez – Forest Supervisor, Justin Seastrand – Environmental Coordinator, Ricardo Lopez – Road Engineer, and Jamahl Butler – District Ranger. Our meeting, which was held on the Ridge Route near the southern end, was to discuss a range of topics regarding the road. We initially met at the Ridge Route and Templin Highway where we made introductions and briefly went over the meeting details. From there, I led the group with my sportbike up the road to the southern gate. At that point, we discussed the land ownership problems and the 2010 paving, which we believe will help us with our goal of getting the road reopened.
After our discussion, they opened the gate and I led the group on a tour of the Ridge Route from the southern gate to Reservoir Summit. The initial plan, however, was to only go about four miles north to see the recently reconstructed section of road. Each stop, the USFS people decided to go a bit further. We didn’t mind this at all! Along the way, we made stops at some of the sections of the roadway that had been repaired as well as some of the historic sites along the road, such as the National Forest Inn site. At each major stop, Scotty brought out his books and showed photos of the sites.
Once we got to Reservoir Summit, we had another discussion regarding the state of the roadway. Overall, it was in very good shape with only a few areas needing more immediate attention. Many sections had been resurfaced and we did make it clear that we didn’t want to see a wholesale repaving of the roadway for the sake of preservation. They seemed to understand this. After our discussion and hike to the reservoir, we all headed back to the southern gate to finalize our meeting.
The meeting was productive and positive. There is still a lot of work to be done, but they were willing to help and to work with us. Instead of a Memorandum of Understanding, we may be entering into a Volunteer Agreement regarding cleaning drains and such along the roadway. They also stated they would do additional research regarding the land ownership issue at the southern end of the roadway. In regards to opening the roadway, there is still no estimate on when it will reopen. Another concern is roadway maintenance, which we may be able to help defray with volunteer effort. There are still additional issues that need to be addressed but we at least have a better understanding of what the Forest Service sees as the problems. One of them, overall condition of the roadway and ability for vehicles to travel safely, I tried to prove by using my sportbike. If I can go on the roadway using that vehicle, most everyone should be able to pass over it safely as well.
Only time will tell if this meeting was truly successful, but I believe it was. I will give additional updates when we hear back from the USFS in the near future.
Well, the road isn’t open yet. We are still working toward that though things are looking a lot more positive than in the past. It may still be a while before it finally does open.
The road looks amazing and I really really believe it will be opened!!
Thank you for the update. I’d love to be able to drive the entire road someday.
First, it’s wonderful to know that Scotty (Harrison Scott, of course) is still engaged in this project that he loves so much. Secondly, this report sounds very promising. I will be moving out of state within the next year, perhaps before the new year, and it would be so exciting to be able to travel the Ridge Route one more time before I have to leave my beloved “home” state. My first trip on the Ridge Route was 1965, I think, because of an article in the L.A. TImes by Russ Leadabrand, and then a number of visits after that. I also got to help a little with the cleanup projects Scotty led a few years back. Once more, just once more, I’d love to see the road from beginning to end before I bid California goodbye!!! Thank you so much for the updates, Michael! They are much appreciated.
Thank you for the update it is greatly appreciated. It sounds very encouraging that those people wanted to go farther down the road. It sounds like they had a genuine interest in seeing the road and learning about the road. We can only hope for the best.
it is a sight into the past that we can actually see now and realize what we have now