FILLING THE GAPS; BACKBONE TRAIL'S LATEST ADDITION IS A STROLL THROUGH ZUMA CANYON.Byline: BRETT PAULY The best aspect of the newest segment of the Backbone Trail - apart from connecting another link in the chain across the world's largest urban park - is its simplicity. Anyone who can hike, bike or ride a horse can tackle the out-and-back five-mile round-trip through the west-central Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: see National Parks and Monuments (table). . ``Every section of the Backbone Trail is a little different,'' said Joe Greenbaum of Reseda, hiking the mild roller coaster of a pathway for the first time. ``This is a beautiful, easy walk that I could bring my wife on if I wanted. Not challenging, just a nice up and down. Not too long, but with pretty views. ``And this is a beautiful day for hiking.'' If you call overcast with no hint of sun beautiful, then, by all means, it was. There is something special when low-flying clouds cover the Santa Monicas. Sounds are muffled muf·fle 1 tr.v. muf·fled, muf·fling, muf·fles 1. To wrap up, as in a blanket or shawl, for warmth, protection, or secrecy. 2. a. , especially traffic. Faraway views are limited, especially buildings that scrape the skies. A little foul weather goes a long way in forgetting the metropolis, even when the trip is a short way. Open to visitors since mid-December, the Zuma Canyon trail meanders across 2-1/2 miles of chaparral, oak woodland and quiet riparian riparian adj. referring to the banks of a river or stream. (See: riparian rights) flora from Kanan-Dume Road at its eastern trailhead to Zuma Ridge Motorway fire road at the western terminus. The route gains just 100 feet of elevation overall, and less than 350 feet from the lowest to highest points - not much of a challenge over that kind of length, believe me. What's more, the trail is in immaculate shape, having received months of manicuring from work crews repairing damage from the El Nino-fueled winter storms of 1998 that had all but negated earlier efforts in the canyon. ``It's terrific - smooth, wide-open, fast, tons of fun,'' said mountain biker Brett Ross of Agoura Hills, who remembers a time years ago when the best access to the upper stretches of Zuma Canyon was via a tiny deerlike trail scratched into the bedrock. ``They did an unbelievable job compacting the hill properly. It's well-groomed. There's not a bunch of rocks. You can cut loose on straightaways Straightaways is the second release of the band Son Volt. Release Date: April 22 1997 Track listing
Ross maintains control and yields to hikers and equestrian, of course, for it is just this type of trail that should attract newcomers. And the time couldn't be more ideal to introduce the uninitiated to one of the area's most accessible outdoors venues; it will be an interesting study in five years to see how the trail holds up to winter's wrath, for it isn't every day that a hiking trail is inaugurated. From the 1,625-foot trailhead, the track switchbacks once before crossing Newton Creek (1,450 feet) and the spillway spillway, n a channel or passageway through which food escapes from the occlusal surfaces of the teeth during mastication. The occlusal, developmental, and supplemental grooves, as well as the incisal, occlusal, labial, buccal, and lingual embrasures, to understated Newton Falls. It then jogs uphill to the northwest a short distance mirroring Kanan-Dume Road and revealing the only vantage of the Pacific Ocean and its numerous freight ships as it breaks away from the blacktop above. Perhaps a half-mile from Newton Creek, after losing some elevation, the trail crosses Zuma Canyon Creek Canyon Creek can mean the following:
Pocket your daydreams and climb through an oak thicket; some of its trees bear the scars of fires past. The trail widens as it opens to sage and chamise cha·mi·se also cha·mi·so n. pl. cha·mi·ses also cha·mi·sos An evergreen shrub (Adenostoma fasciculatum) in the rose family, native to California, having small needlelike leaves in fascicles and clusters of small , revealing the odd sandstone outcroppings that help to define the mountain chain. On the shady sides of some of the crumbly crum·bly adj. crum·bli·er, crum·bli·est Easily crumbled; friable. crum  bli·ness n.Adj. 1. walls you will spy the unusual live-forever - a hardy succulent herb that can be identified by the dead, ashen ash·en 1 adj. 1. Consisting of ashes. 2. Resembling ashes, especially in color; very pale: A face ashen with grief. leaves at its base. Farther on, you will hear a waterfall that you cannot see. In winters when the water table is higher, its cascades are visible from the trail. A nearby rock looking down on passers-by provided a more than adequate spot for lunch. The roller coaster continues for another mile or so to the north end of Zuma Ridge Motorway (1,725 feet) overlooking Encinal Canyon Road. Some visitors, content to stick with the trail that was laid down in the past, question the strategy of building a new route through Zuma Canyon. ``It takes away the mystique,'' said Kevin Landis of Reseda. ``It used to be a lot of fun; it was very secluded. Once you got past the first waterfall, it actually was a lot of work, so that would tend to keep a lot of people out.'' For good or ill, the secret that was Zuma Canyon is out. TALE OF THE TRAIL A glimpse of what went into constructing the 2.5-mile Zuma Canyon section of the Backbone Trail: Start: May 1997 Finish: October 1998 (first 10 months of work were lost to damage from El Nino storms of February 1998) Official opening: Dec. 15 Ribbon cutting: Jan. 14 Paid work hours: 4,300 Employees: National Park Service, California Conservation Corps The California Conservation Corps (CCC) is a state agency modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s and was initiated as a pet project in 1976 by then Governor Jerry Brown. , Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Conservation Corps. Cost: $64,800 for labor and equipment. Biggest equipment expense: $15,000 for footbridge over Zuma Canyon Creek. Dimensions: 45 feet in span, 5 feet in width, 42-inch railings. Materials: fiberglass structure, wood abutments, wood planking. Height above creek: 15 feet. Funding: $40,000 grant from American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the , $14,000 grant from National Park Service's Public Land Corps Program, balance from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area base-operations funds. Average cost per mile of National Park Service trail: $70,000 Cost per mile of Zuma Canyon segment: $25,920 Reasons for savings: Countless volunteer hours provided primarily by Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association, Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a low transverse range in southern California in the United States. Geography They run for approximately 40 mi (64 km) east-west from the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles to Point Mugu in Ventura County. Trails Council and the 120 people who participated in National Trails Day in June 1997; Los Angeles County work hours donated by a female probation facility. Trail width: 5 feet Safety first: No injuries occurred, however, despite cautions, some laborers were clamoring for the calamine lotion calamine lotion A lotion containing zinc oxide–98% of weight mixed with iron oxide, or zinc carbonate; it is mildly astringent and protective, and used for various skin conditions–eg, poison ivy and sunburn after encountering a half-mile section of oak woodland covered with poison oak poison oak: see poison ivy. poison oak Species of poison ivy (Toxicodendron diversilobum) native to western North America and classified in the sumac (or cashew) family. . Most shocking Most Shocking is a reality television show produced by Nash Entertainment and Court TV Original Productions. It generally features a video of criminal behavior, police pursuits, robberies, and shootouts. experience: ``Going out the third week of February 1998, after we had two weeks of just extreme rain, and seeing the damage to the trail,'' said Woody Smeck, chief of maintenance for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. ``It was eye-opening; we stood there in awe of what Mother Nature can deliver.'' - Compiled by Brett Pauly Source: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. IF YOU'RE GOING To reach trailhead for the the Zuma Canyon segment of the Backbone Trail, take the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. (101) north, exit at Kanan Road and turn left. Proceed 8 miles, past Mulholland Highway and Latigo Canyon Road, to the parking lot at the right and in front of the third tunnel. While the trail is not yet found on maps, for reference use the Point Dume 7.5-minute series topographic map or Tom Harrison Cartography's ``Trail Map of the Santa Monica Mountains Central.'' Allow three hours to complete the 5-mile round-trip. Motor vehicles, camping and fires are not permitted. Information: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, (805) 370-2301. Note: If you can't commit to the whole trail, consider walking to the end of the second switchback switch·back n. 1. A road, trail, or railroad track that follows a zigzag course on a steep incline. 2. A sharp bend in a road or trail on a steep incline. 3. Chiefly British A roller coaster. , at the crossing of Newton Creek, and check out the top of Newton Falls, which will be flowing better as more winter rains drop. The footing can be slippery here, so watch your step. You can also bushwhack to the fall's outflow to catch the view - and mist - from below. A longer option is to continue on the Backbone Trail another half-mile or so to the quaint footbridge that crosses Zuma Canyon Creek. - Daily News CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Map, Box PHOTO (1--2--Color) Trekkers pass a waterfall that can be heard but not seen from the Backbone Trail's Zuma Canyon segment, while Reseda's Joe Green baum, inset, saunters through a more wooded section. (3--Color) Among the sage, chamise and sandstone outcroppings along the Zuma Canyon trail, visitors may spot the odd and aptly named live-forever plant. (4--Color) One of several highlights along the new Zuma Canyon segment of the Backbone Trail is the sturdy footbridge that crosses the canyon's modest creek. Brett Pauly/Daily News MAP: BACKBONE TRAIL AND THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA The 2.5 mile Zuma Canyon segment of the Backbone Trail brings to 64 the completed miles of the proposed 70-mile track from Will Rogers State Historic Park Will Rogers State Historic Park is the former estate of American humorist Will Rogers. It lies in the Santa Monica mountains in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades area. in Pacific Palisades Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). to Point Mugu in Ventura County. A portion of $6 million in federal funding is available to finish the final 6 miles. Dionisio Munoz/Daily News BOX: IF YOU`RE GOING (see text) |
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