New trail to Hong Wall

I just wanted to say thanks to whoever made the new trail to hong wall. great work and it sure made it a nice approach. FYI -Don't go the old way anymore it is much more work.

Mike.

you can thanks the SLCA's lcc CRAG DAY.

btw- (people other than mike) if you haven't been taking advantage of the new trail starting at the "sign" parking lot, you should. its been a great and cruiser way to get to crescent crack, the coffin, hong wall, the egg, and everything in between. and while no where is entirely safe from a break-in, the chances are much less given there is more traffic and more frequent canyon patrol in that lower lot.

in case you don't know...the trail begins just north/east of the bathroom and bus stop.

also to get to the egg from the trail, you pass the old sketchy trail and continue on towards the hong wall, at the hong wall the trail breaks back left and up canyon to the egg. its a less steep and on a more solid switchback.

When you say the "sign" parking lot are you referring to the park and ride lot or the dirt pull out on the side of the road.

Also, how am I going to know how to get to the Hong Wall if directions aren't carved into a huge boulder where the trail splits? Just kidding, I was speechless when I saw that arrow carved/drilled into the boulder. I really thought the SLCA did that. I'm glad that I was wrong.

park and ride lot.

mike1 wrote:I just wanted to say thanks to whoever made the new trail to hong wall. great work and it sure made it a nice approach. FYI -Don't go the old way anymore it is much more work. Mike.

Allen Sanderson and I started scouting that line (and others) and put together a proposal to the LDS church and the USFS back in about 1998, if I remember correctly. Allen was with the Access Fund still and I was representing the AAC at the time. I have walked, trimmed, and flagged that route and variations to it probably 20 times over the last 10 years. And then last year I helped Jonathan Knight and others to put the layout on the ground, once again, that resulted in what you are now using. Lots of people have contributed, but Jonathan deserves the lion's share of the credit for hanging in there, working with USFS, and bringing people onto the ground to do the work. Goes to show how much perserverence it takes sometimes to get there.

I'm pleased to see a concept finally make it to reality and then be embraced. It really pained me to see a class climbing area with crap for access. There's a lot more to be done and climbers have established themselves as a viable user group with a stakeholding representation in SLCA. If we can use these new trails, if they hold up structurally to the use, and we maintain them, we'll get more latitude to improve more of the trail infrastructure up there and repair existing erosion.

do you guys know what the plan is for maintenance? I've noticed there are a few spots with more than expected erosion near the top that could use a better water break or two. If I could borrow some tools and some muscle it wouldn't take long to shore those spots up.

ten,
there was, as i recall, some discussion about revisiting certain spots along the new egg trail at one of the recent SLCA meetings. i'd be down to join you--perhaps we can plan for something once conditions in LCC get too hot to climb? lemme know, S

Thanks for your help and the acknowledgment ddriver. It did take a long time to get permission relative to the time spent planning and building the trail!

Some other key players were Jeff Porucznik, who has the expertise to layout and build sustainable trails, and Andy Smith with the FS. Andy was willing to get out in the field and work with us to get a stream of projects lined up. Unfortunately, he's working in Idyllwild, CA now, but it's good for him and that ranger district.

Ten and mountainsense, you guys should get with Jeff to organize a work day up there. Jeff is in charge of projects now, and we have been looking at some options to tackle before it gets too hot.

I'll post a little more on this topic, but I don't want what I say to be abused. When the USFS Salt Lake District gave the go-ahead for this work, they (Carol McJesky) said that the trail to the Egg/Hong/Coffin would essentially become part of the official USFS trail network. So, USFS can support work there with their funds, if they have any, and they are expecting some level of coordination on user maintenance projects. Jonathan or Jeff would coordinate.

Carol said that spur trails off of the Egg trail would be treated as what they call "social trails," i.e. they aren't officially recognized and aren't maintained. In most cases they are discouraged, but in this case they would encourage the climbing community to maintain their own social trails. This gives SLCA the latitude to come up with an overall trail plan in that area and do the work. Jonathan knows this, I assume Jeff does as well. The key is not to abuse this privilege.

Robert