Pine Ridge Trail

[VWA_Ranger]

Date Hiked: November 27, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

*** VWA/USFS Volunteer Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***

Forest/Trail Status: CLOSED, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-20-22
Current Fire Restrictions: No Campfires, No Stoves in backcountry. Cold Camping Only.

Description:

With the Monterey Ranger District Forest still closed, VWA/USFS Volunteer Rangers continue to prepare for its reopening. Today volunteer Rangers patrolled from China Camp to Divide Camp. They swamped 3 downed trees (2 across the trail, one alongside) and removed an inappropriate fire ring, all near the first saddle about 0.7 miles from trail head. Spot brushing was done along the rest of route. Maintained 2 fire rings at Divide Camp. Spring water is available at Divide camp (estimated flow = 1 liter / min).

Trail conditions are as follows:

China Camp to Carmel River Jct. - Clear with encroaching brush and two downed trees across the trail.

Carmel River Jct. to Divide Camp - Passable is passable with heavy encroaching brush is places.

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DISCLAIMER: This report is for informational purposes only. Trail conditions may change at any time. The Ventana Wilderness Alliance assumes no liability for the use of this information.
The Los Padres National Forest Website can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/
To learn more about the Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger and Trail Crew Programs visit https://www.ventanawild.org/stewardship.

[gfelsman]

Date Hiked: October 21, 2020
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

*** Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***
Forest/Trail Status: CLOSED, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-20-22
Current Fire Restrictions: No Campfires, No Stoves in backcountry. Cold Camping Only.

Description:

With the Monterey Ranger District Forest still closed, Volunteer VWA/USFS Rangers continue to prepare for its reopening. Today volunteer VWA/USFS Rangers carried in a new Wilderness Boundary Sign and a 4x6 post two miles up the Lower Pine Ridge Trail.

They removed the old sign and installed the new one.

Note: the lower Pine Ridge Trail is still closed to the general public.

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DISCLAIMER: This report is for informational purposes only. Trail conditions may change at any time. It is up to the user to find the latest information and be responsible for their safety.
The Los Padres National Forest Website can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/
To learn more about the Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger and Trail Crew Programs visit https://www.ventanawild.org/stewardship.

[gfelsman]

Date Hiked: October 17, 2020
General Condition: Clear (no obstacles and tread well defined)

*** Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger/Trail Crew Report ***

Forest/Trail Status: CLOSED, Los Padres Monterey Ranger District is closed per Forest Order 05-07-51-20-22

Current Fire Restrictions: No Campfires, No Stoves in backcountry. Cold Camping Only.

With the Monterey District Ranger Forest still closed Volunteer VWA/USFS Rangers continue to prepare for its reopening. Today they repaired the Wilderness Boundary Sign at the upper end of the Pine Ridge Trail.

As always do your part to protect your Forest. Leave a place nicer than you found it. Pack out all your belongings and trash.

For more information about the Volunteer VWA/USFS Ranger Program and the VWA visit http://www.ventanawild.org.

For the latest updated information, be sure to check the Los Padres National Forest Website.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf/

[AaronP]

Date Hiked: September 1, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Hiked from Tassajara Rd to Pine Falls before the closure order was in affect. We could see from the top of the first ridge that the Dolan fire had jumped over Marble Peak and into the Lost Valley Area. The trail from the road to the top of the ridge is starting to encroach into the trail but from there down to Jacks Cabin was fairly clear. At Jack's cabin we noticed something had broken into Jack's shed there and strewn miscellaneous tools, cans of oil, MREs, and rags about just behind the cabin. The culprit was obvious after we noticed evidence of bear scats and claw marks on the shed itself. It's going to be quiet the job cleaning all of this up and fixing the shed.

[Snatchcutterz]

Date Hiked: August 1, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

China to the divide is clear wilderness freeway. Divide camp to pine ridge camp is a little brushy with a few developing snatches. Pine ridge to redwood is mostly clear till the lower section right above redwood. The trail still has a few nasty old snatches on it but its mostly clear, tread is pretty washed out and still needs work. The trail is almost back to passible/ freeway.

[Guest]

Date Hiked: May 18, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Hiked 11 miles to Redwood Camp
China Camp to Church Creek is a wilderness highway
Church Creek to Pine Ridge Camp is passable. It's fairly overgrown and there are some deadfalls.
Pine Ridge Camp to Redwood Camp is quite overgrown. There's some tread but it can be difficult to follow. Also a couple of washouts that are mildly treacherous. Passable but difficult.

[taylorg353]

Date Hiked: May 16, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Short weekender into Pine Valley from China Camp trail head. The trail is in good shape for most of first 3.5 miles to Church Creek Trail Junction, however there is some overgrowth on the trail, particularly near the top of the ridge. Trail down into the valley is well traveled however it is becoming moderately to heavily overgrown with brush. The trail down to Pine Falls is even more overgrown, with substantial fallen trees but is still passable. Jack's cabin is still lookin' good.

Hey Captain George, what was the water situation at Pine Valley? Was the river flowing, or did you have to go to the spring?

[Captain George]

Date Hiked: May 16, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Short weekender into Pine Valley from China Camp trail head. The trail is in good shape for most of first 3.5 miles to Church Creek Trail Junction, however there is some overgrowth on the trail, particularly near the top of the ridge. Trail down into the valley is well traveled however it is becoming moderately to heavily overgrown with brush [Ed. Note- this is the Carmel River Trail). The trail down to Pine Falls is even more overgrown, with substantial fallen trees but is still passable [Ed. Note- This is a use trail, there is no trail to the falls].

[jfelts]

Date Hiked: January 7, 2020
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

Church Creek Divide to Pine Ridge Saddle and to Campsite.

Evident erosion on a burned creek drainage before divide camp. Tread still momentarily in tact.

Counted 13 downed trees before Bear Basin Jct. A mix of oak, manzanita, mostly charr. Brush is non issue for most this section, with little issue. Didn’t seem to burn as much on this shaded, often moist N facing slope.

A section of widow makers starts right before saddle that starts the Tassajara creek drainage to the S.
I counted around 6 downed trees before the saddle. Brush was a non issue. Most severely burned portion of the trail.

The section from the saddle downhill to Pine Ridge Camp is looking solid. With the only down trees right before the camp, deadfall maybe 1ft width.

Spring and creek across from camp had a very strong flow.

[pantilat]

Date Hiked: November 10, 2019
General Condition: Passable (some brush and/or deadfalls, tread evident)

From China Camp to Church Divide: Clear. No blowdowns, but some light brush developing in a few spots where the post-fire regrowth is vigorous.

From Church Divide to Bear Basin Connector: Passable. There's about a dozen blowdowns on this stretch, some new and some old (from last winter/spring). Most are step-overs. A couple are messy with a short work around off the covered tread. One large burnt ponderosa trunk (3+ ft thick) is new and is the most difficult to surmount. The tread is characteristically thin in a couple spots west of the Carmel River headwaters with leaf litter and gravel build up. There's water still water flowing near Divide Camp and also the reliable Carmel River headwaters crossing has plentiful water.