Last week Sean and I hiked to the newly restored Gold Canyon trail in Big Tujunga. Sean, Kristin and a few other volunteers had been working on. this for quite some time. The trail had been closed since the 2009 Station Fire. It was a big mess so the crew made a new trail that goes around the old one with lots of swtichbacks for an easier climb up to the road. The new trail is about 2 miles long. We had to hike through the Gold Canyon wash first before reaching the main trail. Its about a mile. There are huge cairins that mark the path just before you ascend the Gold Canyon trail to the left.
Anywyays, I was very impressed. As we hiked thorugh the wash there were lots of colorful conglomerate rocks and beautiful patches of Spanish broom. Once we reached the main trail we were treated with quite an array of beautiful wildflowers. Sean had built a couple of nice rock walls along the switchbacks.
Our main objective for the day was not only to show me the newly restored trail but to see if we could hike to the Yerba Buena high point which we successfully summited.
We were the only ones on the trail. Since they fiinished the restoration a few weeks ago, some parts of the trail are starting to sprout with new growth. Nevertheless, the trail is still quite nice and the wildflowers are very impressive.
Once we reached the top of the road we headed for the Yerba Buena high point summit. There was no benchmark or register. We also could see a water tank in the distance, so we decided to make that our lunch spot. We sat there for about an hour to soak in the views.
All in all, it was a nice day. A bit overcast and chilly but all the wildflowers and beautiful views made it worth it.
A word of catution. The main trail is blocked by one of the residents so we started down the road a short distance from the hike at mile marker 1.38. We had to descend a used path that is a bit trashy before reaching the creek. Kristin placed pink tree markers that led us to through the creek to the Gold Canyon wash from there it is just straight forward for about one mile before you see the huge cairins on the left where the new trail begins.
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