INTEREST UP IN NEWLY REOPENED CHANTRY FLAT ROAD HIKERS, BIKERS AND PICNICKERS RETURNING SLOWLY TO SCENIC AREA.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

CHANTRY FLAT - Rebuild it and they will come.

That is what has happened to Big Santa Anita Canyon. The road to Chantry Flat has been open for just over three months and hikers, bikers and picnickers are slowly returning to the idyllic canyon.

``It's still beautiful,'' Susan Heck of Pasadena says. ``It's a pleasant area to hike.''

Three months ago, Heck and her cousin, Ravn Barns of Montara, would have had the trails practically to themselves if they had started hiking from the bottom of the canyon. A fire burned through the area last December and when the rains came, a February mudslide wiped out the only road into the canyon.

It took City of Sierra Madre, Caltrans and U.S. Forest Service officials six months to fix the road, which opened on Aug. 17 and has two one-lane sections.

Chantry Flat, the starting point for various scenic trails, received roughly 2,000 visitors a day on Thanksgiving weekend. It averaged about 3,000 visitors per weekend day before the closure.

The count has dropped, volunteer ranger Roger Waters says, because of the road's rain clause. Sierra Madre officials insist that if there is a forecast of at least 50 percent chance of rain, the road will be closed.

``People don't know it's open or if it is open,'' said Waters, who grew up in Arcadia but commutes from Valencia to work 8-12 hours a month at Chantry Flat. ``I think that may turn people off.''

During the October rains, forest-service personnel even had to chase people out of the canyon.

The closure had little affect on the wildlife habitat, Angeles National Forest biologist Patti Krueger said.

Even with the road's closure, the canyon was open, although hikers had to go up via the streambed. Those who own cabins in the canyon went to them and the canyon's packing company, recently bought out by We Um Altaxxum Pack Station at Xoxamongna (renamed after its Tonguan owners), continued to operate.

``There were less people (in the canyon), but it did not affect the wildlife,'' Krueger said. ``It takes five to 10 years to recover.''

She said the forest service closes a portion of Charlton Flat - located north of Chantry Flat by seven miles, but just off Highway 2 - for 10-year increments to help the wildlife recover.

``With trails being closed, we can help improve erosion,'' she said. ``But at Chantry Flat, there are a lot of different trails. People follow wildlife trails or cut through switchbacks.''

And plants are unable to grow back in time, leaving the newly formed trails.

Waters says it's only natural for hikers to flock to the area. There's easy access off Santa Anita Ave., little mountain driving and in 15 minutes, hikers can be out of the city, above the smog and in the forest.

``It's always been a popular area,'' said Waters, who hiked the area as a youth. ``There's hiking trails where you make five- or six-mile loops, two different waterfalls and neat picnic areas.''

Although there's a relatively steep grade out of the canyon up to Chantry Flat, it's a natural place for the family to go hiking.

``It's nice to get out of the city,'' said Robert Palaomera of El Monte, who was with his 2-year-old son, Matthew. ``It's nice to get up here again.''

Even with the little rain Southern California has had this year, the water is running. It's not a torrent, but it's running.

``It's really pretty,'' Margie Henkes of Irvine said. ``We love to come here and hike.''