A few weeks ago, I wrote about an optimistic report about the Angeles Crest Highway potentially being fully-open by Turkey Day, but also wondered when the heck the Crystal Lake area was going to open up again.

This morning, I got a message from Frederic Rice, who runs a web site devoted to the Crystal Lake Campground. Apparently, even though we don’t hear a lot of news from the Forest Service, there are some dedicated volunteers who are helping to repair the fire-damaged area — and they’ve got a good opportunity coming up for anyone who’s interested in helping!

He writes:

The old wood foot bridge across Laura Gulch is going to be replaced with a modern foot bridge shortly, with the San Gabriel Mountain Trailbuilders doing the actual assembly and coordinating volunteers.

We work with the U. S. Forest Service which will be providing the helicopter transport of as much of the materials as can be carried across on two trips, and we will be working with the Horsemen’s Association which will hopefully carry in much of our drinking water and whatever else we might get the horses and mules to carry to try to limit what the volunteers carry in on our backs.

Fun! Exercise! Adventure! And yes, really hot sweaty work, but it’s rewarding and allows hikers to do something good for the forest and for fellow hikers.

They’re still getting together all of the details, but if you are interested in volunteering some time and work to help improve your local National Forest, email Frederic and keep an eye on his web site for more information.

Image by Lost Albatross.

Tags: Angeles National Forest, crystal lake campground, crystal lake trail work, San Gabriel Wilderness, trail work, trailbuilders